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.