Alaska counting of absentee ballots begins - Go Miller!! [Murkowski just conceded.]

Alaska Politics Blog - Anchorage Daily News ^ | August 31, 2010 | Alaska_Politics

[CedarDave]

From Sean Cockerham at the Alaska Division of Elections office in Anchorage --

Update, 11:10 a.m.: Joe Miller's lead over Lisa Murkowski narrowed from 1,668 votes to 1,325 with the first count of absentee ballots this morning.

It looks like 2,391 votes were counted in this first batch. They're from Districts 17 through 26, all Anchorage.

More numbers to come.

Read more: http://community.adn.com/adn/node/152974

[CedarDave]

Click on the link for updated numbers.

Ballot counting for the Mat-Su elections office was to start at 10 a.m. (Sarah's area IIRC) and Fairbanks was to start counting at 1 p.m. Alaska time.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

“Ballot counting for the Mat-Su elections office was to start at 10 a.m. (Sarah’s area IIRC) and Fairbanks was to start counting at 1 p.m. Alaska time.”

Thanks. I think you imply the numbers will swing with Miller when counting from these districts? I would certainly hate to see the Republicans develop their own “ALGORE” chad monster.

[GoCards]

Anchorage is more Dem, right? being big city and all. We should see more for Miller in other places. I am a nervous nelly? Praying for good news!

[NewHampshireDuo]

I guess I’d expect Anchorage’s tallies to swing a bit toward Murky.

[nutmeg]

Thanks for the update... praying for a Miller win!

[Eldon Tyrell]

National Republican party better pray Miller wins, or else they are facing a split party.

They already aren’t getting the normal amount of donations - but a Miller loss without a fantastically good reason will lead to insurrection.

Rinos are no better than Dems anyway.

If Miller loses - its hard Conservative or nothing for me.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

Sounds like Minnesota all over again...with RINO Murkowski playing Stuart Smalley.

[heiss]

Looks like RINO Lisa got 57% of the votes (assuming every vote went either for RINO or Joe).

57% is not enough if there are only 7000 votes left, but it is enough if there are much more than that (e.g. 57% of 12,000 votes looks to be enough for RINO).

[Crichton]

Murkowski won Anchorage districts, the southeast (so Anchorage down to Juneau & Ketchikan), southwest, and rural north/west.

Miller won the interior from Fairbanks down into the Mat-Su valley (fast growing area N/W of Anchorage).

PDF
link

[Drango]

If my math is correct Murkowski got 63% of the absentee votes from Anchorage where she did well in the general. In other words this was expected.

Unlikely she can hold that ratio as more rural areas are counted. I believe I read she has to eek out 60% to take the election.

[heiss]

Does anybody know how many votes there are to be counted?
I have seen various numbers.

Or is at, “as many as needed for RINO to win” ?

[Minus_The_Bear]

"Or is at, “as many as needed for RINO to win” ?"

Welcome to Cornyn and McConnell's world.

[Crichton]

My take was:

Murkowski 1367 more (57%)
Miller 1024 more (43%)
Net change 343

[wilco200]

“Murkowski won Anchorage districts, the southeast (so Anchorage down to Juneau & Ketchikan), southwest, and rural north/west.
Miller won the interior from Fairbanks down into the Mat-Su valley (fast growing area N/W of Anchorage).”

So, just like in the lower 48. Coast goes for the Lib. Conservatives win the “heartland”

[Drango]

I’ll go with your numbers as I slept through my math classes.

The Fairbanks count will be interesting...

[Vision]

Funny how the conservative candidate always loses votes in these types of circumstances.

[CedarDave]

Does anybody know how many votes there are to be counted? I have seen various numbers.

From the blog: "About 15,000 ballots are supposed to be counted today, the bulk of them from voters who cast absentee ballots."

Or is at, “as many as needed for RINO to win” ?

Yours is the cynical answer. And mine too most of the time when it comes to counting ballots here in New Mexico.

[Free_at_last_-2001]

Rinos are no better than Dems anyway. No they are worse they work from within: "An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

[Deb]

What in the Hell is taking so long, there’s only 12 people in Alaska.

[Hoodat]

National Republican party better pray Miller wins, or else

The GOP will always find a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. In this case, the National Party is working behind the scenes for Murkowski.

[jimbo123]

The fix is in.

[heiss]

57% of 15,000 means say hello to another 6 years of RINO senator. I just hope that Anchorage was exceptionally good area for her and the rest of the state is more even.

[Retired Greyhound]

there’s only 12 people in Alaska.

Only two of them can count.

[FarNorth]

These precincts are predominantly from Anchorage area where Lisa took them 9923 to 8864 a 52.8% lead.

The absentees gave her 57.6% not surprising given the area. There’s a lot more to come.

Southeast and Western Alaska also gave her the majority of votes, but they have a lot fewer voters than these first 10.

There’s still Mat-Su Valley, Kenai Peninsula, and all interior to come. Joe won those area by a lot.

Plus we still have the military votes.

[Pollster1]

I hope that the RINO party leadership knows that choosing Murkowski by fraud will lead to the Dems taking this race. It’s not worth the risk of faking the count, even with the fact that Murkowski is practically royalty and her family has a generations-old divine right to rule over us. We’re going to take a huge number of seats, and this is not the time to throw one away for the good old boys’ club.

[Kaosinla]

Update

Miller, Joe REP 49566
Murkowski, Lisa REP 48106

Miller up by 1460

[wireman]

As of 12:04, Miller's lead is back up to 1,460

(per http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/10PRIM/data/results.htm)

[Tzimisce]

Don’t count your vote until the liberal judges do. :D

[Carry_Okie]

I hope that the RINO party leadership knows that choosing Murkowski by fraud will lead to the Dems taking this race.

From what I can tell, they don't have a problem with that.

[ichabod1]

Well, at least if she wins we’ll know the pubs know HOW to cheat if they have to.

[American Dream 246]

small gain for Miller:

Miller, Joe REP 49566 50.75%
Murkowski, Lisa REP 48106 49.25%

[WWRD]

Looks like another 2,895 Republican ballots counted in this latest update.

[Iron Munro]

"Miller's lead over Murkowski narrowed"

[Scythian]

Miller will lose is my guess, to bad too.

[arthurus]

Now the DemocratsRINO ops will start finding "misplaced" ballot boxes or touch screen units full of only Murkowski votes. There will be recounts and in this day and age Democrats win recounts and Democrats will be working hard for Murkowski. They know they can't win as Democrats this year but they can help ensure that some Democrat-compliant Republicans will go to Washington.

[jveritas]

It is highly unlikely for a recount and absentee ballots to change the results of any elections if the initial count was over 1000 votes difference. This apply to almost any elections and not just this particular Senate primaries in Alaska.

Joe Miller is going to win this primaries by no less than 800 votes.

[wk4bush2004]

“As of 12:04, Miller’s lead is back up to 1,460”

Great to hear! I’m praying for a Miller victory. If (God forbid!) Murkowski cheats her way back in, there will likely be protests throughout Alaska and the rest of the country.

The Age of the RINOs ends NOW!

[hoosiermama]

WHen two or more.....AMEN to a Miller win.

[bray]

Miller will win.

[jveritas]

Not a chance he is going to lose this one.

[GoCards]

I almost called the NRSC again to tell them they better hope Miller won but I felt like I would sound like Guido! I will wait and see before I go to the mattress.

[hoosiermama]

Not what I heard...Everybody counts!...(It’s reading they don’t do well.)

[Onelifetogive]

(Miller loses 343 votes)

I'm not sure that's how absentee ballots work...

[GoCards]

Why???

[wk4bush2004]

“WHen two or more.....AMEN to a Miller win.”

YES! And there are definitely more than two on FR and across the country that are praying for a Miller victory.

Lord Jesus, we come before You right now and we speak victory for freedom in America. Lord, we come against all forces that are trying to steal and manipulate the elections and we speak that their power is vanquished, in Jesus’ Name! Their attempts to cheat are in vain and shall not be rewarded, in Jesus’ Name! You are raising a righteous Senator out of Alaska and other leaders from across our great country. We will never back down and we will never give in to the forces of darkness. Thank You, Lord, for Joe Miller and thank You, Lord for Sarah Palin and we speak blessings upon them, in Jesus’ Name, AMEN!

[hoosiermama]

Anyone here from Alaska?

[hoosiermama]

So may it be.

[Drango]

I almost called the NRSC again...

I called Monday but no one answered? What number are you calling? (202) 675-6000 http://www.nrsc.org/about-the-nrsc

[FairWitness]

New data from adn.com:

Joe Miller's lead over Lisa Murkowski just grew slighly with absentee and questioned ballots from the Mat-Su.

Miller now leads Mukowski by 1,460 votes.

The Division of Elections reported counting 2,895 votes from Legislative Districts 13 through 16 in the Mat-Su.

[FarNorth]

Standing by here in Fairbanks.

Go Joe GO!

Wait till the troops votes are counted!