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I remember one one governor's election count that went on for months:

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/opinion/10066533.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Mon, Nov. 01, 2004
Richard McFarland Commentary
"Now this was a close election"

The value of a good election recount system has been proven many times, no more so than in the 1962 Minnesota gubernatiorial election - so close that "election night" lasted 4 months.

It may have been the longest, most hair-raising gubernatiorial election in the history of the country. The lead went back and forth the night of the election Nov. 6, and through several recounts and canvasses and a recount trial ...

Lt. Gov. Karl F. Rolvaag of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party led in the original canvass by 58 votes over Republican Gov. Elmer L. Andersen. But the Minnesota Supreme Court approved some county corrections, giving Andersen the lead by 142 votes and certified him as the winner. Then, at Rolvaag's request a three-judge panel appointed by the state Supreme Court directed a recount trial and Rolvaag won that election by 91 votes. …

The race between United Press International and The Associated Press in collecting, adding and reporting the votes was almost as exciting as covering the election. As Minneapolis bureau manager, I set up and ran the coverage for UPI while AP bureau chief George Moses headed the AP operation. Each of us had county reporters phoning returns to us. At times one of us would have one candidate ahead by a few votes while the other had the other candidate in front by a few votes. It went on like that all night and all week. …

For about three months, the judges and attorneys and others from both parties pored over the ballots in the statewide recount. Meantime, the state legislature was holding its session in the state capitol.

On March 25, Rolvaag led by 91 votes in the recount trial, there were only a handful of ballots still to check, and Andersen had agreed not to appeal the result. At noon Rolvaag took the oath of office as Minnesota's 31st governor. …

A book, "Recount" by Ronald F. Stinnett and University of Minnesota professor Charles H. Backstrom, observed that the judges in the recount tried to count every ballot that was "even remotely savable" and it was a "remarkable demonstration" of respect given to the voters.

"One must also emphasize again, in Minnesota at least, that it is now virtually impossible for a voter to lose his vote, unless he clearly marks two names for one office, or admits he truly intended to destroy the secrecy of the ballot," their book said. "Careless marking, extraneous marks, numbers or even sometimes initials, will not now normally invalidate a ballot."

The book quoted the Washington Post as saying at the time, "The complete canvass of the returns disclosed no evidence of fraud, corruption, ballot stuffing or other deliberate irregularity. Minnesotans can say, with more evidence than the citizens of any other jurisdiction, that their election was honest."