Posted on 11/28/2005 1:01:32 PM PST by LdSentinal
Republican Bob McDonnell once again declared victory in the Virginia attorney general’s race on Monday after the state Board of Elections certified the results of the Nov. 8 election.
But Democrat Creigh Deeds immediately announced plans for a recount in the closest statewide election in modern Virginia history.
McDonnell edged Democrat Creigh Deeds by a mere 323 votes – a margin of less than 0.01 percentage points. More than 1.94 million votes cast ballots in the contest.
The elections board also certified the results in the races for governor, lieutenant governor and the House of Delegates. Democrat Tim Kaine was certified as the winner of the governor’s race and Republican Bill Bolling was certified as the winner in the election for lieutenant governor.
But it was the close contest for attorney general that drew a swarm of reporters and lawyers for the two candidates to observe Monday’s certification process, which most political observers treat as a formality. McDonnell, who saw his lead diminish substantially during a locality-by-locality canvassing process, expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
“I am grateful that the state Board of Elections today confirmed what the election night returns and the canvass process clearly demonstrated – that the people of Virginia have chosen me to be the 44th attorney general of our great commonwealth,” McDonnell said in a statement issued shortly after the board declared him the winner.
McDonnell, a state delegate from Virginia Beach, said he is continuing with his transition plans with an eye toward taking office on Jan. 14. But Deeds, a state senator from Bath County, plans to file a petition for a recount on Tuesday, starting a process that could leave the outcome of the election in doubt until mid-December.
“It is the right thing to do to make sure every vote is fairly and accurately counted, so the votes of the people of Virginia will ultimately decide the outcome of this election,” Deeds said. “I will respect the recount process that both Delegate McDonnell and I supported in the General Assembly to ensure that the people’s votes and their best interests are put ahead of partisanship.”
Hurry and send me a donation. I am only $10 away from proving that Bush stole the election and his minions at Diebold are stealing elections all across the country!
Sore Loserman
McDonnell edged Democrat Creigh Deeds by a mere 323 votes – a margin of less than 0.01 percentage points. More than 1.94 million votes cast ballots in the contest.
(323/1,949,999)*100 = 0.0166%
(1,949,999 is the most it could be as "more than 1.94 million")
No political statement here, but just wanted to point out the math.
Bev already grifted the DUmmies of all their ten dollar bills. Sorry.
Time for all those boxes of "misplaced ballots" from Fairfax County to start turning up. The Dims don't even try to hide their election theft shenanigans anymore - why should they? The media just smiles at them.
email from Tim Kaine on this issue:
We Need Creigh Deeds in the Attorney General's Office
Dear Friend:
I am writing to you today because I want to share some very strong feelings I have about this day and what it means. Today is an important day for the Commonwealth of Virginia and a very special one for me personally.
I am both enormously grateful and deeply concerned.
On this day, the results of the November 8th elections are certified by the Board of Elections. This is the final step before I am inaugurated as Governor January 14th. Words can never express my sincere gratitude to you for all of your unwavering loyalty and generous support.
But, for my good friend and running mate, Creigh Deeds, who ran for Attorney General, today is not the end but rather just the beginning. Creigh and his family thought the race for Attorney General would be decided on the night of November 8, but a final resolution is going to take longer.
And while Creigh and his transition team prepare to take office as Virginia's next Attorney General, his campaign team of volunteers, activists and supporters are working hard to make sure that all the votes are fairly and accurately counted. I am writing to you today to ask for your help on their behalf.
Please consider making a special contribution to help pay for the costs associated with the re-count of the Attorney General's contest between Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell.
Since time is so critical, I'm asking you to make a secure online contribution to Creigh's campaign today.
Creigh is a very fine man who has served in the State Senate with honor and distinction. He ran an exceptional campaign and I believe he will be a great Attorney General for Virginia. He was an extraordinary asset to the ticket and a tireless campaigner who worked not only on his own race but did a great deal to help others running all across Virginia. I was proud to be on the same ticket with him
Since the night of November 8th it has been clear that the outcome of Creigh's race would not be resolved easily. But the momentum is clearly in Creigh's favor.
On Election night Creigh trailed his Republican opponent by 3,400 but that gap has narrowed to 322 votes since Election Day. In one locality there was a 1,000 vote swing in Creigh's favor because it was discovered that the candidates' totals had been transposed. Another area found 20 uncounted paper ballots just last week. Things are shifting daily.
Whatever the final result today; one thing is for certain . . .
A re-count is inevitable.
By law a candidate involved in a race that is decided by a winning margin of less than one percentage point is entitled to request a re-count. The public cost of a re-count is paid for by the Board of Elections and that, I believe, is a very fair way to guarantee that democracy prevails in any and all elections.
But what many people don't understand is that there are enormous costs involved with this process that that the candidate must assume to ensure an accurate re-count and a reliable outcome. It is critically important that the re-count be conducted with the proper oversight.
In many ways, this process is a lot like a campaign – volunteers need to be recruited who will help monitor the re-count and that literally means keeping an operating headquarters open during the entire four-week process. Materials to explain the re-count procedure and instruct the volunteers need to be printed, extra phone lines added and satellite "command centers" set up. Many of the largest expenses involve legal and administrative costs.
And to make it even tougher, the funds for these costs must be raised in the next ten days in order to affect the outcome of this process.
Please contribute to Creigh's recount effort today.
Creigh and his team are going to have to work extremely hard for the next month. And they are going to need the help and support of thousands if Democrats across the state. You have been a very good friend to me; can I ask for your help one more time?
Please consider sending your most generous contribution to help Creigh pay for his re-count. As I said earlier in this letter, Creigh seems to get closer to victory every day. I think that he can pull through this with a win if he can ensure that the re-count is fair, accurate and the numbers are reliable. The only way to make sure of that is to give Creigh the support he needs to run a strong re-count operation.
Will you help by sending your most generous contribution today?
Many thanks for all you have done.
Sincerely,
Tim Kaine
P.S. I know that I have you to thank for my transition from candidate to "Governor-Elect". You believed in me when I was 15 points down in the polls, and you stuck with me when the race was neck and neck - our victory on the night of November 8th was truly a team effort. I will never forget your help.
There is someone else who could use your kind loyal, generosity, my friend Creigh Deeds. Please consider making your most generous contribution, in the next 48 hours if possible. -TK
As was the case with Florida 2000, the Dems definition of "fair" is to keep recounting until their candidate has the lead then stop.....election over.....we won! (See how easy that is?)
Watch out for those ballots! As in WA gubernatorial race where the race was very close after a Pubby was declared a winner twice--the official and a recount, the RATS paid for a hand count and "mysteriously" found a box of uncounted ballots in the heart of the RATS territory (King County-Seattle). The Secy of State without further investigation or another recount declared the RAT a winner.
Gosh darn it, I feel like I'm living in Washington state! It's that old Dem tactic 'count all the votes, and keep recounting till I'm ahead, then declare the election resolved'!
Mike! how ya been!?!? how you liking these new South Parks?
What can we do to stop this B.S. ?????
"McDonnell, who saw his lead diminish substantially during a locality-by-locality canvassing process..."
What type of voting machines do Virginia voters use? Do they have paper ballots in some areas, and scanners in others etc...
The more this stuff happens, the more I support a completely computerized voting system.
I would also like to see every voter have a digital picture taken and stored in a database when they vote.
The goal is to stop the corruption. Anything that can do that should be looked at.
Governor-select Gregoire, please pick up the white courtesy phone.
been doing well...
The new South Parks have been great.
Between Tom Cruise coming out of the closet, to the episode with Butters being forced to dress in drag to 2 days before the day after tomorrow to the Ginger kids episode, it's been hilarious....
Fairfax Co. uses touch-screen voting machines ... they could manufacture 'absentee' ballots. Those are paper. But manufacturing the signatures and postmarks might be problematic.
Thanks for the info, though it just means they'll have to find another heavily Dim county in which boxes of paper ballots can "magically appear." I'm sure there's a couple of those they can tap.
regarding the Scientology episode...
At first, I thought it was a good episode.
Then I found out that Trey Parker and Matt Stone had been sued by the Church of Scientology twice before, and the "SO SUE ME" at the end was an honest challenge. It became a GREAT episode.
A few days later, John Smith and Jane Smith receive the male and female animators of the year award from some animation company for their work on the South Park episode, which was just a legal out for when they did in fact get sued by Scientologists. It became an AWESOME episode.
Lastly, I find out that "Trapped in the Closet" is a 40+ minute long song (12 parts) by R. Kelly, which is why he sings the whole episode. I downloaded it and listened to it. AWFUL. Yet, the episode then became SUPERB.
Don't you love things that keep revealing themselves as more and more brilliant as time goes by?
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