I’ve checked the ongoing count of votes in the Attorney General’s race ten times today. Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell are neck and neck, with McDonnell leading by 1,486 votes with three precincts remaining to be counted. (Those three precincts may well include twice as many votes as the difference.) That number of votes has changed today during the period that only three precincts have been left, so things are still fluid.
Of course, with a difference of 0.08%, there will be a recount, and the percentages may well shift significantly. There’s no point in predicting a winner — nobody can know who will come out ahead in this one.
I never could see the point in recounts. Sure, every time you recount, you’ll come up with a different answer because of the inherent errors in the process, but the new number won’t necessarily be more accurate than the first number. All the recount manages is a different set of errors on different ballots. There’s no way to say the recount was more accurate than the first go around.
Now hand-recounts make sense. They use a different method (than machine counting) and are more accurate.
Machine recounts are pointless.
I say all this non-partisanly. I don’t care whether it’s a Dem or Repub.
I agree — there’s no point to machine recounts. It may be wise to re-inspect machinery in areas where the results are atypical, but I’m not aware of any such erroneous results being in the tally right now.
does this count include absentee ballots?
Josh ….and would some of those absentee ballots be from SCOTT COUNTY….I think that if the recount would FOCUS on the absentee ballots and ferreting out the living from the dead, the real from the surreal, Deeds will win. Kilgore Familiy has a mini-Byrd machine apparatus in their area AND they have a track record for playing fast and loose with truth….JUST ask the Mayor from Gate City…he knows how Willie Mae plays…those boys didn’t get the way they are from just breathing country air, ya know?
Here’s something that I’ve been trying to understand for a few hours. It is now 9:04 pm the evening of the 9th. I am looking at the Virginia Board of Elections “Nov 8 real-time results”http://sbe.virginiainteractive.org/
It says that Deeds total is 967,532. That total is broken down by district into 11 districts. One of those districts is #007.
District #007 lists Deeds with 94,989 votes as of 5:38pm (latest shown).
District #007 is further broken down into 13 localities of which “Richmond City” contributes 10,137 votes. You can see this here: http://sbe.virginiainteractive.org/nov2005/c_05_007.htm
OK, now here is what confuses me.
If you look at the “Richmond City” locality by precinct it is composed of 67 precincts (66 reporting). The total Deeds votes for the 66 princincts is 34,951 on this list: http://sbe.virginiainteractive.org/nov2005/detail760.htm#05
OK, so why does the list total 34,951 votes for Deeds for the 66 reporting princincts making up the locality of “Richmond City” yet when you look at district #007 it shows “Richmond City” as giving Deeds 10,137 votes.
This is not the only place I see this “effect” so I think that the charts are showing some slice that isn’t the same. For instance Richmond City may be part of more than one district so only the district 007 portion is 10,137.
Is there someone out there who can explain what I am seeing because I know that others would be writing too, if there were really 24,814 votes due Deeds from “Richmond City” (34,951 – 10,137).
Now don’t bother looking at this unless you already know the answer or you will just waste as much time as me and I think the answer requires understanding how localities contribute to districts.
So, help.
michael m.
SoccerMom, of course you conveniently forgot to include the logic linking the Kilgore (who, oh by the way, lost) family’s alleged shenanigans with another race altogether.
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I always knew liberals were doing some interesting stuff with “non-traditional family structures”, but soccer mom is the limit. How does one, erm, achieve the potential to become a soccer mom? (to put it delicately) Aren’t they rather hard to pop out, as well? Real soccerbirth pains going on there… It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase applied to kids: “He just sits there like a lump on a log.” becomes “He just sits there like a soccer ball on the field.” Also gives new meaning to the phrase “kicking someone when they’re down.”
Michael Munroe: For instance Richmond City may be part of more than one district so only the district 007 portion is 10,137.
This is the most likely explanation.
SoccerMom? How about enlightening us dumb conservatives on how this theory of yours would work?