Barack Obama Wins Florida And 332 Electoral Votes

The victory in Florida brought the Democratic incumbent Obama's electoral-vote total to 332, compared with 206 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

The result did not matter. Obama had already secured re-election by winning more than 270 electoral votes in the Electoral College.

In the Sunshine State, Obama leads Romney by 73,858 votes, according to Florida Department of State figures on Saturday. The former received 4,236,032 votes, or 50.01 percent, while the latter received 4,162,174 votes, or 49.13 percent. The difference between the two totals was greater than the 0.5 percent margin of victory required to avoid triggering an automatic computer recount under state law.

Because Florida election officials did not order a recount Saturday -- the last day they could have done so -- the AP and other major media outlets are on solid ground in calling the state for the president.

Military and overseas ballots are not due in Florida until Nov. 16, but, under state law, the possibility of a recount is based on the results of the regular vote as of Saturday.

Democrats in Florida declared victory in the presidential election on Thursday, and Republicans in the state essentially admitted defeat largely by staying silent.

As a result of Obama's win in Florida, the president swept all of the battleground states, with the exception of North Carolina, which he won narrowly in 2008.

Florida was the scene of a bruising battle over ballot-counting in the 2000 presidential election, which the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided in favor of George W. Bush and against Al Gore.

The delay in finalizing Florida's result this year did not affect the national outcome, but it raised concerns that some of the problems of 2000 still have not been resolved 12 years later. Many voters in the state had to wait in long lines, as well.