Then again, maybe only one

Hampton Roads, Local, Norfolk, Politics, Virginia 1 Minute

As in maybe only one Democratic Congressional pickup in Virginia.

The race in the 5th has Democratic challenger Tom Perriello up by just 31 votes over Republican incumbent Virgil Goode. The number of lead changes in this race has been astonishing. The folks over at cvillenews.com have been following this quite closely.  With a recount coming, we may not know the winner of this race for a while.

In the 2nd, I relied on the SBE tallies to declare Democratic challenger Glenn Nye the winner over Republican incumbent Thelma Drake. While the SBE is a great resource for overall totals, what it doesn’t tell you is how many votes have been left uncounted. According to the SBE, Nye’s lead is a little over 7,900 votes. But as The Virginian Pilot explains today,  nearly 27,000 absentee ballots in Virginia Beach have not been counted, along with some unknown total in Norfolk. As the result, Drake has declined to concede, although the major news outlets have called the race for Nye.

Now would be a good time to mention that we need to change the absentee ballot voting process. In Norfolk, we used paper ballots that had to be counted by hand. Had Norfolk switched to opscan ballots – my preferred choice since they leave a paper trail for recounting, even though Virginia doesn’t use them when they do a recount – the process would be completed by now. I assume Virginia Beach is in the same boat.

A second point – why not start counting absentee ballots earlier than Election Day? Is there a rule on the books that I’ve missed that prohibits this?

Finally, a note to self: don’t be out of town on Election Day. Too hard to try to catch all of the normal sources of information.

UPDATE 7:09pm: Perriello leads Goode by 639 votes. And this article explains that Drake would need about 2/3 of the uncounted absentee ballot votes in order to make up the difference.

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11 thoughts on “Then again, maybe only one”

  1. Even though I live just a few miles outside of DC, missing out on sources of info is one of the main reasons I decided not to go to the NPR bloggers event even though I was invited. So many of my sources were going to be at the McLean Hilton that I felt like I simply couldn’t pass it up.

  3. AP and CNN have called it for Nye. .
    Plus, Glenn is not the kind of person who would prematurely declare victory.
    While I’m watching the 5th like a hawk, I feel very comfortable with calling my new representative “Congressman-elect Nye”!!!

  4. § 24.2-711. Duties of officers of election.

    After the close of the polls, the container of absentee ballots shall be opened by the officers of election. As each ballot envelope is removed from the container, the name of the voter shall be called and checked as if the voter were voting in person. If the voter is found entitled to vote, an officer shall mark the voter’s name on the pollbook with the first or next consecutive number from the voter count form, or shall enter that the voter has voted if the pollbook is in electronic form. The ballot envelope shall then be opened, and the ballot deposited in the ballot container without being unfolded or examined. If the voter is found not entitled to vote, the unopened envelope shall be rejected. A majority of the officers shall write and sign a statement of the cause for rejection on the envelope or on an attachment to the envelope.

    § 24.2-709.1. Alternative procedures for counting absentee ballots.

    The electoral board may authorize a general registrar at his option to take one or more of the following measures as needed to expedite counting absentee ballots capable of being read with optical scan counting devices and returned by mail before election day: (i) examine the ballot envelopes to verify completion of the required voter affirmation; (ii) mark the pollbook, or the absentee voter applicant list if the pollbook is not available, that the voter has voted; or (iii) open the sealed ballot envelopes and insert the ballots in the optical scan counting equipment without initiating any ballot count totals. If the board authorizes optical scanning as provided in clause (iii), at least two officers of election, one representing each political party, shall be present during all hours when a general registrar uses the expedited procedures authorized in this section. No person present while sealed ballot envelopes are opened and ballots are inserted into counting equipment pursuant to clause (iii) shall disclose any information concerning the ballots.

    § 24.2-712. Central absentee voter precincts; counting ballots.

    D. Absentee ballots may be processed as required by § 24.2-711 by the officers of election at the central absentee voter precinct prior to the closing of the polls but the ballot container shall not be opened and the counting of ballots shall not begin prior to that time. In the case of punch card or mark sense ballots to be inserted in electronic counting equipment, the ballot container may be opened and the absentee ballots may be inserted in the counting equipment prior to the closing of the polls in accordance with procedures prescribed by the State Board, including procedures to preserve ballot secrecy, but no ballot count totals shall be initiated prior to that time.

  5. Tom Perriello led by 31, according to the latest information I have seen. Meanwhile, Tom is touring the district to thank volunteers, while Virgil Goode huddles with attorneys and fundraisers to challenge absolutely everything available.

    It figures he would be a sore loser, man.

    😉

  8. Tom Perriello is up by over 800 votes right now, and over 50%. If this continues, and the margin moves out of .50% territory, it will be interesting to see if Virgil will want to pay for a recount or not.

  9. Nope…we still have six congressional seats won on Tuesday.

    I can’t see how we lose the 5th now. And the 2nd is a total lock.

    We’re a blue state now. Lets keep it that way in 09.

  10. WAVY just reported that Glen had 13,000 to Thelma’s 9,000 of the absentee ballots. She conceded right after that announcement. GO NYE!!!

  11. This is a little late for this thread, but I thought I should point out that Norfolk does use opscan for absentee ballots, with the exception of a new email ballot for overseas military that they print out locally and that has to be hand counted. It took as long as it did because they only had three readers to handle 8000+ ballots, a number they never budgeted for.

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