Election officials halted the vote count in Florida amid a tight race in the southern state between President Barack Obama and his defeated Republican rival Mitt Romney, US media reported today.
As in 2000, Florida found itself trailing in the count, although this time Obama had already scooped up 303 electoral votes — more than enough to be re-elected to a historic second term in the White House.
With some 98 per cent of precincts counted, Obama led by 49.85 per cent compared to 49.29 per cent for Romney, Florida’s official state election Web site said.
The Miami Herald reported that the Miami-Dade county would not have full results until later today.
In 2000, Florida decided the fate of the knife-edge race between Democrat Al Gore and his Republican rival George W. Bush.
After weeks of delay, an intense recount and a Supreme Court decision, Bush was finally deemed to have won the state, and with it the election.