ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — President Barack Obama was declared the
winner of Florida's 29 electoral votes Saturday, ending a four-day count
with a razor-thin margin that narrowly avoided an automatic recount
that would have brought back memories of 2000.

No matter the outcome, Obama had already clinched re-election and now has 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206.

The Florida Secretary of State's Office said that with almost 100
percent of the vote counted, Obama led Republican challenger Mitt Romney
50 percent to 49.1 percent, a difference of about 74,000 votes. That
was over the half-percent margin where a computer recount would have
been automatically ordered unless Romney had waived it.

There is a Nov. 16 deadline for overseas and military ballots, but
under Florida law, recounts are based on Saturday's results. Only a
handful of overseas and military ballots are believed to remain
outstanding.

It's normal for election supervisors in Florida and other states to
spend days after any election counting absentee, provisional, military
and overseas ballots. Usually, though, the election has already been
called on election night or soon after because the winner's margin is
beyond reach.

"Florida has spoken loudly in support of moving our nation forward,"
Ashley Walker, the Obama campaign's director for Florida, said in a news
release. She added that the win was a testament to the campaign's
volunteers and staff.

When reached by phone Saturday, Mitt Romney's communications director Gail Gitcho said the campaign had no comment.

Obama's win came in part from heavy support from black, Hispanic and
younger voters. Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press showed
Obama was favored by more than 9 of 10 black voters and 3 of 5 Hispanic
voters in Florida. The president also was the choice of two-thirds of
voters under age 30.

Republican challenger Mitt Romney led among both white and older voters.

In the end, the facts of who voted for which candidate in Florida faded into memory as voting issues emerged election night.

On election night this year, it was difficult for officials — and the
media — to call the presidential race here, in part because the margin
was so close and the voting stretched into the evening.

In Miami-Dade, for instance, so many people were in line at 7 p.m. in
certain precincts that some people didn't vote until after midnight.

The hours-long wait at the polls in some areas, a lengthy ballot and
the fact that Gov. Rick Scott refused to extend early voting hours has
led some to criticize Florida's voting process. Some officials have
vowed to investigate why there were problems at the polls and how that
led to a lengthy vote count.

If there had been a recount, it would not be as difficult as the
lengthy one in 2000. The state no longer uses punch-card ballots, which
became known for their hanging chads. All 67 counties now use optical
scan ballots where voters mark their selections manually.

Republican George W. Bush won the 2000 contest after the Supreme
Court declared him the winner over Democrat Al Gore by a scant 537
votes.

The win gave Obama victories in eight of the nine swing states,
losing only North Carolina. In addition to Florida, he won Ohio, Iowa,
New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada.