The Miller v Murkowski write-in ballot counting continues
Dateline Sunday, November 14, 2010, Juneau, Alaska. (Okay, I'm really in Wasilla, just wishing I was in Juneau.) The counting of write-in ballots for Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller (and presumably other people, including "Gwen") continues.
Here are the Miller/Murkowski write-in ballot latest updates:
- Over 98,500 write-in ballots have been cast.
- More absentee ballots are expected from military and overseas ballots until the deadline for those ballots this coming Wednesday.
- More than 15,000 ballots still need to be counted.
- Ms. Murkowski has been receiving a consistent rate of 89.6% uncontested ballots.
- An additional 7.9% of the ballots have been awarded to Ms. Murkowski but challenged by the Miller campaign.
- As of now, the Miller campaign has 87,517 votes, and the Murkowski campaign has 74,449 votes, but remember there are still 15,000+ ballots left to be counted.
Miller campaign legal maneuvers
The Miller campaign has filed a state lawsuit, seeking access to lists of registered voters from more 30 precincts "to ensure there was no possible fraud, mistake, irregularity, or inconsistency."
The Miller campaign has also set up a fraud hotline, and they claim to have received 300 "legitimate" phone calls in the first 24 hours, though they didn't define "legitimate", and IMHO, their campaign is already scarred by challenging ballots that were clearly filled in correctly, a tactic I assume was used to put pressure on ballot-counters, much like an NFL or NBA coach working over referees and umpires during a sporting event.
Also, apparently in an effort to make me happy, Mr. Miller won't pursue a legal challenge against these disputed votes unless it could possibly affect the outcome of the race. On behalf of the citizens of Alaska, we than you for that decision.
More Miller v Murkowski write-in ballot news
You can find more details on the election at the Anchorage Daily News and this Associated Press article.