Duval County's hand recount begins Friday, voters with mismatched signatures have until Saturday

The next step in Florida’s recount is a manual recount.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner officially ordered it Thursday, but Duval County started preparing for it well before it was officially ordered.

It’s safe to say the staff at the supervisor of elections office in Duval County hasn’t stopped working since Election Day.

The machine recount wrapped up Thursday, and several hours later they got official word from Tallahassee that a manual recount is needed in the Senate and Commissioner of Agriculture races.

If a race falls within the 0.25% margin, Florida law mandates a hand recount be conducted.

Only overvotes and undervotes will be counted by hand.

A machine will sort the ballots by race.

Staff will begin with the Senate race between incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson and challenger Gov. Rick Scott.

Twelve tables have been set up for staff members to sit at and count one by one.

They will separate ballots into two stacks, one for undervotes and the other for overvotes.

An undervote is when someone leaves a race blank. Those don’t need to be reviewed.

However, if a person overvoted, that means they voted for more than one candidate.

The overvotes will be reviewed by the canvassing board, who will make the determination on voter intent.

Representatives from both parties will be in attendance, watching the process closely.

Also Thursday, a judge ordered all Florida counties to give voters with mismatched signatures on their ballots the opportunity to correct the problem.

This applies to absentee ballots.

If they’re able to prove their identities by 5 p.m. Saturday, their votes will count toward the 2018 midterms.

Hogan said they’ve already pulled the problematic absentee ballots.

He said there are 171 that have a signature that doesn’t match what’s on file and 97 didn’t have a signature at all.

The extension on the deadline to cure signatures comes after Sen. Bill Nelson’s campaign sued to challenge signature rejections by canvassing boards.

A judge ruled in their favor calling the process “questionable” and that Florida doesn’t give voters the opportunity to challenge signature rejections by canvassing boards.

Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson said there are simply too many variables when it comes to verifying a signature.

Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign called the decision “baseless.”

They’ve filed an appeal.

To check the status of your ballot head to duvalelections.com. If there's an issue with your signature, there are three ways you can fix the problem. You can go in person to 105 E. Monroe Street, email mhogan@coj.net with a scan of your ID and affidavit or you can fax the information to 904-630-2920.

Cox Media Group