They now have until Tuesday 14 November to finish the count. The state is also legally bound to continue counting postal votes until Friday 17 November. Florida uses punch-card ballots which are read and counted by computer. Each of Florida's 67 counties have been running the ballots through the computers again, with representatives of both parties looking on. The county election supervisors then report their results to the state Division of Elections in Tallahassee, which compiles the state-wide total.
Republicans say they are confident of victory.
The Democrats say the race is too close to call and will wait and see. Either way the battalions of lawyers who have been dispatched by both sides to scrutinise the recount as well as the vast press corps which has descended on Palm Beach County, will ensure that neither candidate is likely to be able to claim that they are the undisputed winner.