Florida election night results will not be out till after 8:00 pm

Florida election night results will be held back an hour People waiting for early election night indications about whether Barack Obama is winning Florida's 27 electoral votes won't be able to get them from one Web site when the first returns start coming in. Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who oversees the statewide compilation of election results, said today he would not allow the release of any results until 8 p.m. Eastern time on election night, an hour after the polls close in most of the state. That's because Panhandle voters will still be voting until 7 p.m. Central time, which is 8 p.m. in most of the state. Browning said he didn't want an early report of statewide results to influence Panhandle voters' decisions as they still might be gong to the polls. Browning said he was concerned only with the statewide compilation of results from all 67 counties. He said he wasn't encouraging county supervisors of election to do the same thing and wouldn't order them to withhold results. "Certainly you can release your own totals as you see fit," Browning said in a morning conference call with supervisors of elections from Florida's largest counties. 954-394-4980