Two days after he was re-elected President of the US, Barack Obama’s campaign said today he has won 29 electoral college votes in Florida, the only state which had not declared a winner on Election Day.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s campaign too conceded defeat in Florida, a key battleground state.
With the win in Florida, 51-year-old Obama’s tally reached 332 against Romney’s 206. In the 2008 presidential elections, Obama, the first black American to occupy the White House, had secured 358 votes.
In the state-by-state electoral college system, a candidate needs 270 votes for victory and Obama already had 303 before Florida was called.
“On behalf of Florida Democrats, I wish President Barack Obama congratulations on his re-election and on winning Florida’s 29 electoral college votes,” Florida Democrats chair Rod Smith said in a statement.
After the counting of votes, Florida was declared too close to call as Obama had received 49.9 per cent of the total votes as against 49.3 per cent of Romney, forcing election officials to count the thousands of provisional and absentee ballots.
“We feel we will be the official winner in Florida,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina told the Miami Herald as the lion’s share of the outstanding ballots came from the Democratic stronghold of the State.