Down to the Provisionals: 55 Vote Margin (or Less) Out of 2.2 Million Cast in Virginia AG Race

[BradBlog]

Down to the Provisionals: 55 Vote Margin (or Less) Out of 2.2 Million Cast in Virginia AG Race
Memo from State Board of Elections delays final tally in heavily Democratic Fairfax County, where hundreds of provisionals remain...

As of late Saturday, just 55 votes separated the Democratic candidate from the Republican in the Virginia Attorney General's race, according to the State Board of Elections (SBE) website. 55 votes out of more than 2.2 million cast after four days of canvassing, double-checking and processing a number of provisional ballots cast across the state during last Tuesday's election.

The state's 55 vote spread, however, is still larger than the margin cited by the election geeks who have been following this race on a county-by-county and often precinct-by-precinct (even ballot-by-ballot) level. For what it's worth, it's the Republican state Sen. Mark Obenshain currently leading the Democratic state Sen. Mark Herring by either 55 votes or 15 votes or somewhere in between right now. But there still remain between 400 and 500 provisional ballots to be adjudicated and possibly added to the totals in heavily Democratic-leaning Fairfax County as of Saturday night, according to Michael McDonald, a specialist in American elections at George Mason University in Fairfax.
...
Indeed, it was a surprise edict concerning provisional ballots, as issued by the Republican State Board of Elections, that stopped the Fairfax County Electoral Board dead in their tracks on Saturday before they were able to adjudicate all of the county's provisionals as previously planned...

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10363

[Tx4obama]

1. New UPDATE: According to Wasserman - Herring 'might be' 72 votes ahead now

Dave Wasserman ?@Redistrict

Ok, folks. @VirginiaSBE says RIchmond 501 went Herring (D) 830-144. Trusted source: registrar's results sheet says Herring 983-181. #VAAG

https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/399382317287735297

Dave Wasserman ?@Redistrict

IF that is correct, Herring (D) would net 116 votes, putting him in the lead by an estimated 72 votes even before Fairfax proviz #VAAG

https://twitter.com/Redistrict/status/399382879018299392

[chillfactor]

2. very good to hear!.....

so the GOTP thinks they can change the rules AFTER the election is over? really? the only way the GOTP can win an election is lie, cheat, or steal......they are worthless slime swimming at the bottom of the barrel..

[Tx4obama]

3. From the link up in the OP

-snip-

The instruction led the Republican-majority Fairfax County Electoral Board to extend their deadline for voters to come in and plead their case until Tuesday. On Saturday, according to Tribbett, they voted "2-0 with 1 abstaining to condemn (the) state board of elections ruling prohibiting legal rep for voters not here."

The action to allow voters more time to argue for inclusion of their provisional ballots also resulted in plaudits for Fairfax County Electoral Board member Brian Schoeneman --- a Republican and former Bush Administration staffer --- from normally ideological opponents, and also condemnation from at least one of his fellow Republicans, who asked: "Why is Brian Schoeneman, who purports to be a Republican, helping Democrats by extending this deadline?"

For his part, Schoeneman took to Twitter to explain what was going on and to respond to questions about the ruling. He tried to calm concerns by asking that folks "don't blow the SBE issue out of proportion. This is simply a disagreement between lawyers. It has little impact on voters."

"To be clear, this wasn't an SBE change. They believe this has always been their policy," he said, adding "This was reminder guidance to localities. Not every locality had our past practice."

That practice, he explained, is "to allow voters to present us with evidence as to why they voted provisionals. It's a courtesy to them." He tweeted late Saturday that provisional voters "don't 'need' to come in. They may if they want. They are given a sheet when they vote provisional explaining it." Schoeneman went on to vow, "we will review every ballot on a case by case basis and decide each ballot, regardless of whether the voter appears."

-snip-

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10363

[elleng]

5. Right. I suspect

FFX Dems won't tolerate theft of this.

[bluestate10]

4. This has all the hallmarks of Florida 2000, sans Ralph Nader.

A tight election result and a republican controlled body that has influence over vote counting. Imagine what would now be true if people that thought they knew best had taken time to vote, or vote for a Democrat who they didn't feel was perfect.

[BradBlog]

6. Kicking self for Sunday...

...and noting story includes a Republican criticizing another Republican for allowing votes to be counted in insanely close VA AG race...