Although McCain is leading the vote count, Missouri is still a toss up for this Presidential election.
It coming down to the provisional ballots.
(Plus, there's another 'first' for Obama down below.)
"Republican John McCain's 5,868-vote edge in Missouri over Democrat Barack Obama and the state's 104-year record as the nation's best presidential bellwether both hinge on 7,085 votes in the state that have yet to be counted.
All are "provisional ballots" cast by people whose status as registered voters could not be verified when they showed up at the polls Tuesday.
St. Louis County election officials estimate that about 3,000 of those ballots were cast in county polling places. Another 750 came from the city of St. Louis. About 800-plus were cast in the Kansas City area, and the rest are sprinkled from around the state.
All sides agree that the geography implies that most of the provisional ballots included votes for Obama. (sounds kinda prejudiced, to me. - lb1901)
Election officials have two weeks to check out the ballots and decide which ones should count.
State Republican and Democratic politicians and officials already are zeroing in. So are voting-rights lawyers who accuse some polling-place officials, especially in African-American neighborhoods where lines were long and voting equipment short, of inappropriately handing out provisional ballots Tuesday instead of taking the time to check out a voter's status with Election Board officials.
Since their use became required by federal law in 2004, a majority of provisional ballots in Missouri have ended up getting tossed in the trash.
The chief reason? Under the law, "If you cast a provisional ballot in the wrong polling place, it won't count," said Laura Egerdal, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan(D). And most people casting provisional ballots often are doing so because their name couldn't be found on that polling place's voter rolls. Usually, it's because those people are at the wrong poll."
Per usual, Dems & their lawyers will seek to circumvent any rules, and have the votes counted anyways. Rules? Laws? We don't need no stinking rules & laws...
But looky here!
Obama wins electoral vote in Nebraska.
It's just one vote, but it's a first for an always Red State that can split its electoral votes.
"For the first time ever, a blue circle will appear in Nebraska on national electoral maps.
Democrat Barack Obama won the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District on Friday, scooping up one of the state's five electoral votes.
In the process, he made history and shone the spotlight on Nebraska's unusual electoral college system.
Obama won 8,434 of 15,039 mail-in ballots counted Friday by Douglas County election officials. These early ballots arrived in the election commissioner's office too late to be included in Tuesday's election results.
The additional votes gave Obama a 1,260-vote lead over Republican John McCain in unofficial returns. McCain won the popular vote statewide and four electoral votes.
About 5,000 provisional ballots in Douglas County remain to be counted next week, but they are unlikely to change the 2nd District outcome. About half of such ballots typically are disqualified."
TY NS
