It won’t be official until provisional and absentee ballots are counted, but it’s fairly clear that Barack Obama eked out a narrow win in North Carolina on Tuesday:
Democrat Barack Obama is the unofficial winner in North Carolina, but the victory over Sen. John McCain won’t be sealed until provisional ballots are counted and certified next month.
Unofficial returns show Obama ahead by 13,746 votes.
Trends over the last 14 years point to Obama having a wider lead after the provisionals are counted, said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections.
“It widens the lead for the winner, no matter who that may be,” Bartlett said.
His office will know tomorrow how many provisional ballots the counties have. Usually, about 65 percent of the voters who cast provisional ballots were eligible.
The only way the apparent loser ends up winning is if an elections official inverted a number, or through some other error involving the count, Bartlett said.
“Our law allows us to say who the unofficial winner is,” Bartlett said, “but you know we have a formal process in which we audit records.
So, the only way that McCain could win North Carolina is if there were more than 13,746 absentee ballots and McCain won them all. The second part seems incredibly unlikely.
Therefore, it’s fairly clear that the final Electoral College tally will be Obama 364 McCain 174.
H/T: Donklephant
January 19th, 2009 at 12:59 am
Borack has already inspired me and I am a life long Republican. I have struggled with health issues and weight mfor years. I am off again on again dieter and the president expalined his take on excercise.
It is a daily requirement. Not for leaisure. To be a valuable part of society for as long as possible you must be fit so everyday you must do your part and excercise. I have only missed two days this month. I am not perfect but I think the pres would be proud