Sunshine State will finish presidential count Saturday

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Florida will soon finish counting its presidential ballots and it appears likely that Barack Obama will get some padding for his re-election win.

The state's 67 counties have until noon Saturday to finish their counts and report them to the secretary of state.

As of Saturday morning, the president led Republican challenger Mitt Romney 49.9 percent to 49.2 percent, a difference of 64,000 votes. Romney would have to cut that lead to 42,000 votes for there to be a recount. The winner will get Florida's 29 electoral votes.

Obama has already clinched re-election, leading in the Electoral College vote 303 to 206.

A win would give Obama victories in eight of the nine swing states, losing only North Carolina. He won Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada.