Sunday, November 14, 2004
The Count Begins!
According to Cleveland's Plain Dealer reporter Scott Hiaasen, the counting of the provisional ballots began on Saturday (Cleveland.com). Mr. Hiassen should be commended for his work on the election that was called for Bush before all the votes were counted.
It might be weeks before we know for sure. Mr. Hiassen writes, "This verification takes time; officials in many of Ohio's large counties don't expect the work to be finished before the middle of next week. Only then will they begin recounting the rest of the ballots cast, a process that could take until the end of the month in some counties."
But it's not just the Presidential race that is up in the air (fuck you if you think that it's hopeless...it's not). Mr. Hiassen writes, "In the race for the 41st Ohio House District seat in Summit County, Democrat Brian G. Williams and Republican Marilyn Slaby are now separated by just 268 votes; about 850 provisional ballots were cast in that district. In Lake County, just 374 votes separate Republican B.J. Kresnye and Democrat Timothy Cassell in their race for the 63rd House District seat. And several local tax issues hang in the balance, too. A tax for financially strapped East Cleveland failed by just 73 votes in the unofficial count and could be decided by the provisional ballots." It looks to me like, no matter how close Kerry gets to Bush's numbers, Ohio will indeed face additional recounts.
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