Recount of nearly 250,000 ballots underway in Florida's 27th Congressional District race, expected to run overnight

A machine recount is officially underway in the race for Florida's 27th Congressional District, with election officials expecting counting to stretch overnight into Tuesday.

The race between incumbent Republican Maria Elvira Salazar and Democrat Elliot Rodriguez ended within the half-percentage-point margin that triggers an automatic machine recount under Florida law.

Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia, a Republican, was allowed to remain on the canvassing board after a judge ruled against a lawsuit filed by the Rodriguez campaign. The campaign argued Garcia could not be impartial because her son-in-law is a campaign attorney for Salazar, and cited comments Garcia made to the Miami Herald in which she said Salazar won "with or without a recount".

Garcia maintained there is no conflict of interest.

Following the court ruling, Rodriguez's campaign attorney, Juan Carlos Planas, addressed the decision.

"We are obviously disappointed, but it was very obvious that the judge saw her statement to the press as egregious," Planas said. "In fact, the judge even called the statement 'stupid,' which I think was a big thing".

Nearly 250,000 ballots are being recounted at the Miami-Dade Elections Headquarters in Doral. Officials said the count will proceed without interruption until every ballot is tallied, running through the night and into Tuesday morning.