[ambrose]

I read that late on election night the two campaigns quietly agreed to count 20,000 random provisional ballots. The idea was that if Kerry was winning 70 or 80 percent of them, then he had a justification for not giving up right away. It turned out the majority of the 20,000 ballots broke for Bush and that was what prompted Kerry to concede the next morning. The count was unofficial, but a good indication that the numbers just weren't there.

Provisional ballots are kept in sealed envelopes, and I believe today is the first day they are legally allowed to open them.

The provisionals are spread all throughout the state, not just in the Cleveland area. While it is tempting to think that only DIMwit types don't know where to vote, historical evidence shows that provisional ballots pretty much follow election day voting patterns.

[Hank All-American]

Perhaps the account was false. Or maybe election officials allowed for a sampling to be opened and counted under strict supervision (which would explain why nobody's talking about it, since it may have been extra-legal).

Hey, I didn't make this story up. I merely circulated it without regard to its veracity in a shameless display of rumor-mongering.