US President Barack Obama has won the presidential vote in Florida - widening his electoral victory margin over Republican rival, Mitt Romney.
The vote count in the only state which had not declared a result from Tuesday's election gave Mr Obama 50% to Mr Romney's 49.1%,according to Florida state department figures.
Mr Obama has now won 332 electoral college votes - Mr Romney has 206.
The slow count brought back memories of the bitterly contested recount in 2000.
The Sunshine State's famous "hanging chads" sparked a crisis in that year's Bush-Gore election, eventually leading to a Supreme Court ruling that installed George W Bush in the White House.
The figures released by the Florida state department suggest Mr Obama won 4,236,032 votes out of a total of 8,471,095 cast - 73,858 more than Mr Romney and well above the 0.5% difference which would have triggered an automatic recount.
The result will not come as a surprise to either President Obama or Governor Romney - it has been assumed that the president would win since late on Tuesday, says the BBC's Zoe Conway in Washington.
But it is significant nonetheless, our correspondent adds, as it further strengthens President Obama's negotiating position when it comes to doing deals with Republicans in Congress.
And because there are so many Latino voters in the state, the result will also reinforce the message that Republicans need to do more to win the Hispanic vote, our correspondent says.
Exit polls suggest that Florida's Cuban Americans voted for the Democratic party in record numbers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20282797
The slow count brought back memories of the bitterly contested recount in 2000.
The Sunshine State's famous "hanging chads" sparked a crisis in that year's Bush-Gore election, eventually leading to a Supreme Court ruling that installed George W Bush in the White House.
The figures released by the Florida state department suggest Mr Obama won 4,236,032 votes out of a total of 8,471,095 cast - 73,858 more than Mr Romney and well above the 0.5% difference which would have triggered an automatic recount.
The result will not come as a surprise to either President Obama or Governor Romney - it has been assumed that the president would win since late on Tuesday, says the BBC's Zoe Conway in Washington.
But it is significant nonetheless, our correspondent adds, as it further strengthens President Obama's negotiating position when it comes to doing deals with Republicans in Congress.
And because there are so many Latino voters in the state, the result will also reinforce the message that Republicans need to do more to win the Hispanic vote, our correspondent says.
Exit polls suggest that Florida's Cuban Americans voted for the Democratic party in record numbers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20282797
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