Looking through the window as DoE employees count Anchorage absentee ballots
Watching paint dry...that's what it's like looking on through a window as people count early and absentee ballots. However, it's probably the most important example there is of our Alaska Democracy in action!
Each Dept. of Election worker doing the counting goes through one state house district at a time, grabbing stacks of ballots in huge, white envelopes (frequently, there are more than one...district 28 had four). The counter completes the district than turns the tape that's running on their machine into the supervisor sitting at a tall table. The results are checked and then two tapes are run of each district's and brought to the door...one for the Republican representative and one for the Democratic rep.
   
District 19 gave Begich 185! / More questioned ballots arriving / Made her smile! / Winning candidate Chris Tuck!
The drama happens outside of the counting room among candidates and/or their representatives who have their noses pressed up against the glass like a kid at Christmas. As the tapes are brought out, they grab it excitedly and then, with cell phone in hand, run into the other room to call their respective offices with the news. Sometimes, new campaign workers come to relieve the others or keep them company, as Begich people kept coming in and out while John Vezina (Begich's Finance Director) stayed there like a permanent fixture). At other times, like when District 19 Republican candidate Bob Roses saw that the absentee count had him down a further seven votes (the early vote knocked him farther down as well) it's just time to leave and he and his campaign manager walked out.
Details inside. |
| I showed up in the afternoon when they were already finished counting the 9,500 early votes and the Begich folks were bursting with optimism. They had gone from a 3,500 to a 700 vote deficit behind Ted Stevens. Considering there were still another 80,000 votes to go, we all couldn't help but feel good about what was happening. Even David Shurtleff from the Berkowitz Campaign was positive, even though Ethan wasn't gaining enough votes to provide a lot of hope for a complete turnaround.
Of course the REALLY tense room was next door...that was where the "questioned ballots" were being processed. I had to practically beg to be let in there for picture-taking (as I was only a blogger and not part of the REAL media) but they relented. (My nametag said "Black Oasis Blog" for some reason.)
Most bins were empty...they were on the last few districts
From what I could see, each "station" covered about 5 districts and contained a DoE worker (sitting) plus one rep from the Begich camp and one from the Stevens camp (standing on either side). They would go through each questioned ballot to determine if the person was eligible to vote at all, then whether or not they were eligible to vote in both of the AK Congressional races and if the ballot was otherwise acceptable. I had to sign a confidentiality agreement because they would occasionally talk about names, districts and other personal information as they were working through each ballot.
Shhhhh..."questioned ballots" being processed
It was quite civilized when I was there but I've heard of past elections where the arguments between the two campaigns over a ballot have become heated.
When I left there, I decided to head over to the Begich Campaign office to see how folks were doing. Talk about tense!!!! I wanted to start biting my nails just walking in the room!
Now THIS is a tough room!
![](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/3026076061_573f9a5f2e.jpg?v=0")
I got a quick update from the tireless and always helpful Bethany Lesser
Not so surprisingly, I couldn't really do anything but take pictures there as folks were either so busy crunching numbers or, like Bethany, getting constant phone calls (her phone rang 2 seconds after the picture). What was surprising...my daughter and I walked out of the office with a computer chair for her! It seemed that they were giving away all kinds of office furniture from both the Begich and Berkowitz campaigns!
As my husband says, we'll take schwag any way we can get it!
The best news of all, however, arrived much later in the evening. First, it came from two phone calls before it was official, then from an email at 8:28 PM when it was:
Hey, below is a statement from Mark Begich after today's ballot counting. According to the Division of Election, at the end today, Begich is ahead by 814 votes. (Begich: 132,196 at 47.41%, Stevens: 131,382 at 47.12%) I will send along an update on the process for counting the remainder of the votes tomorrow morning (Alaska time). As always, feel free to call or email with any questions.
Thanks,
Bethany
"I've always said that this would be a close race. After watching the votes today, I remain cautiously optimistic. As I have said before, we ran an aggressive campaign, especially when it came to early voting and absentee. From what we're seeing, thousands of Alaskans, like me, did come out and vote early. I'm confident that Alaskans, like the rest of the country, want a new direction in Washington , and ultimately that will be reflected in the results."
-- Mark Begich
Yup, it was a good day. However, there are still 40,000 ballots to go!
As it stands, there won't be any ballot-counting in Anchorage until Monday while Fairbanks, Wasilla, Nome and Juneau will do theirs on Friday. Until then, I'll be putting cayenne pepper on my fingers to try and save my nails!!!!! |
