All precincts reporting - Johnson ahead by just over 500 votes

http://www.state.sd.us/sos/results/statwide.shtml ^ | 11/5/02 | SD SoS

[frmrda]

U S SENATE (L) EVANS KURT 3071

(D) JOHNSON TIM 167477

(R) THUNE JOHN 166949

[Letitring]

Johnson was talking and I couldn't hear him. What was that about? Was on CNN a few minutes ago.

[twyn1]

Wow -- what you report here is very interesting -- almost all Republican State with the exception of the most important race ?? Fraud rears it's ugly head higher and higher --

Can you tell us if there was any kind of decision made over the contested Indian Absentee ballots ? Did they just toss those out but not check the others in the same precinct/area ?

[Ingtar]

Talent for Majority Leader, or Coleman, or Chambliss.

[Jened]

someone posted earlier (on this thread or another) that johnson was going to give his victory speech shortly.

[Tree of Liberty]

Someone on another thread reporting that, according to a SD newspaper reporter talking on C-SPAN, there is going to be a lengthy recount, and it'll probably take a few months to complete. I'd guess that'd be due to FBI involvement.

How many fraudulent ballots did they find before the election?

[Mo1]

On another thread there was a post about a "failed" chip in one of the computers -- replacement had to be shipped in -- weird co-incidence if it just happened to be in the Indian part of the state -- there is more than a hint of voter fraud among the Indian absentee ballots, this one could take a while

Yep I remember the story last night about the chip

[ZULU]

Somebody held up the Pony Express.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Thank heaven that Senate control doesn't turn on this bit of cheating.

[spycatcher]

Johnson was patting himself on the back and saying how foolproof and honest the voting system is in S Dakota.

He knows something smells horrible, and is trying to lay the groundword for claiming that Thune is challenging the integrity of all South Dakotans.

[DWPittelli]

I thought Thune was supposed to pull away once they got to the western precincts. What happened?

According to the CNN map, Thune did win the west.

www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2002/pages/states/SD/S/01/map.html

The one exception is Shannon County, in the SouthWest (still gray on this map as of 11 AM Eastern Time), which apparently went 92% for Johnson (a 2,600 vote margin).

Does anyone know if Shannon's results should be seen as suspicious in terms of percentages or vote totals or recent fraud accusations?

Johnson 2,856

Thune 248

Evans 14

[Teacher317]

IIRC, the recount is automatic if the difference is one-foutrh of one percent. A difference of 500 out of 237,000 is one-fifth of one percent. Recount is automatic.

[Pining_4_TX]

Gag, after seeing that picture, I may not be able to eat lunch today. What a pair of snakes.

[Letitring]

How can Johnson give a victory speech if the vote is going int recount? Remember how long we had to wait before we could call President Bush, President Bush? (I love saying those words).

[fire and forget]

That's a shame ... and a product of vote fraud. The clinton justice department would applaud this event. If it can, the Bush JD will do something about it. Particularly empowered as it now is.

[Teacher317]

OOPS! Typo... 337,000 votes, so 500 is only one-seventh of one percent.

[Tree of Liberty]

Does Mr. Thune retain his right to sue in state court if the recount is automatic under the law?

[FollowingTheGrace]

"Thank heaven that Senate control doesn't turn on this bit of cheating. "

Yeah, I think that's what they said about Carnahan in 2000 and look what happened. We can't let this one go!

[sox_the_cat]

There was an election clerk that received a large number of new voter registrations signed by the same person. There was an Indian consultant for the Democrats who was canned for illegally requesting absentee ballots for dead and non-existent persons. FBI is investigating because reservations come under federal control.

[Pining_4_TX]

I thought Indians were supposed to be their own nations, and were exempt from taxes and some laws, etc. So, if that's the case, why do they get to vote in US elections? Either they are citizens or they aren't.

[cake_crumb]

"I thought Thune was supposed to pull away once they got to the western precincts. What happened?"

The libetarians happened, that's what. The 1% of the vote they gave to the libertarian candate probably lost it for Thune...and probably kept a pro-Second Amendment candidate OUT of the Senate, as well as possibly screwing up Daschle's demotion as "plurality" leader.