LAUDERHILL, Fla. — For nearly a week, the parking lot behind the Broward County elections office has been the scene of an unfolding postelection drama, with protesters demanding the arrest of the local elections supervisor and politicians claiming fraud in the ballot-counting process. Gov. Rick Scott has fueled the fury, sending his lawyers to court in a bid to call in the police to prevent any possible tampering with ballot-counting machines.

So fraught has Florida’s election recount become that on Monday, the chief circuit judge in the county, Jack Tuter, issued a warning to the powerful political lawyers standing before him in court.

Words matter, the judge said. People are listening. Watch what you say.

“I am urging, because of the highly public nature of this case, to ramp down the rhetoric,” the judge said. “Everything the lawyers are saying out in front of the elections office is beamed all over the country. We need to be careful what we say. These words mean things these days, as everybody in the room knows.”

The judge’s words of caution came nearly a week after the 2018 midterm election, which left behind prolonged ballot counts in three states, including recounts in three close statewide races in Florida.