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10 more days of this.
Nov. 3rd, 2004 07:47 amYou heard right- 10 more days.
Why?
Because Ohio waits until the second Friday after election day to start counting absentee ballots. Ballots with an election day postmark are valid, and are given that much time to arrive before they are counted. (Unfortunately, the Republicans are already going to court about this- they want them counted sooner, and to hell with Ohio law!)
Estimates of the number of provisional ballots (people who were challenged at the polls, but swore an oath that their information was correct, are allowed to vote on provisional ballots which are verified in the days after the election and counted) and absentee ballots range from 100,000 (some Republican groups) to over 250,000 (estimates by most other observers).
The latter number is more than enough to change the results.
Also, the precints that have not yet reported in include many from Franklin County, where voting continued far past the 7:30 p.m. closing time. (Some were apparently still being cast at 11pm; if you're in line when the polls close, you still get to vote.) In Knox County, home of Kenyon College and large numbers of voting students, votes were still being cast at 1 a.m.
(at this hour: 135,000+ confirmed provisional ballots to be dealt with; 10 counties, including some of the largest ones, not yet reporting how many they received.)
New Mexico and Iowa are also on hold, in a practical sense. In NM, Bush may be ahead by around 10,000, but there are over 20,000 known provisional ballots yet to be counted. In Iowa, Bush had a lead of less than 15,000 - with over 60,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted.
No, it doesn't look good. And I've got a sick feeling in my gut. But, let's make sure that THIS time, all the votes really are counted.
Why?
Because Ohio waits until the second Friday after election day to start counting absentee ballots. Ballots with an election day postmark are valid, and are given that much time to arrive before they are counted. (Unfortunately, the Republicans are already going to court about this- they want them counted sooner, and to hell with Ohio law!)
Estimates of the number of provisional ballots (people who were challenged at the polls, but swore an oath that their information was correct, are allowed to vote on provisional ballots which are verified in the days after the election and counted) and absentee ballots range from 100,000 (some Republican groups) to over 250,000 (estimates by most other observers).
The latter number is more than enough to change the results.
Also, the precints that have not yet reported in include many from Franklin County, where voting continued far past the 7:30 p.m. closing time. (Some were apparently still being cast at 11pm; if you're in line when the polls close, you still get to vote.) In Knox County, home of Kenyon College and large numbers of voting students, votes were still being cast at 1 a.m.
(at this hour: 135,000+ confirmed provisional ballots to be dealt with; 10 counties, including some of the largest ones, not yet reporting how many they received.)
New Mexico and Iowa are also on hold, in a practical sense. In NM, Bush may be ahead by around 10,000, but there are over 20,000 known provisional ballots yet to be counted. In Iowa, Bush had a lead of less than 15,000 - with over 60,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted.
No, it doesn't look good. And I've got a sick feeling in my gut. But, let's make sure that THIS time, all the votes really are counted.
