As of election night there were 155,428 provisional
ballots still to be counted in Ohio. The eagerly
awaited Ohio recount cannot possibly begin until after
the votes are counted for the first time.
It is now Friday, November 26, 2004. Twenty-four days
have passed since the presidential election. There
are 88 counties in Ohio. To my knowledge, only 13
have examined their provisional ballots, counted them,
and posted the results on their websites. The 13
counties are: Ashland, Brown, Butler, Clinton, Geauga,
Greene, Hancock, Montgomery, Pickaway, Preble,
Tuscarawas, Union, and Warren.
Altogether, there were 23,873 provisional ballots
issued in these 13 counties, or 15.36% of the
statewide total. At this rate, it would take five
months to count them all. This strikes me as a
deliberate stalling tactic to delay the Ohio recount
until after the electoral college meets in December.
Here are the unofficial results in the 13 counties,
with the sum totals compared with those reported on
election night, so as to compute the net gains:
ELECTION RESULTS AFTER COUNTING PROVISIONAL BALLOTS
County
Bush
Kerry
Others
Ballots
Not
Cast
Counted
Ashland
16,171
8,555
234
25,739
779
Brown
12,647
7,140
105
20,281
389
Butler
109,866
56,234
696
168,976
2,180
Clinton
12,938
5,417
58
18,674
261
Geauga
29,974
19,588
205
51,286
1,519
Greene
48,377
30,530
361
80,602
1,334
Hancock
25,101
10,343
140
35,926
342
Montgomery
138,361
142,977
1,205
287,635
5,092
Pickaway
14,160
8,578
123
23,132
271
Preble
13,733
7,274
119
21,559
433
Tuscarawas
23,825
18,854
260
43,760
821
Union
15,869
6,665
96
22,911
281
Warren
68,035
26,043
337
95,512
1,097
BushKerryOthers
Total529,057 60.04%348,198 39.51%3,939 0.45%
Earlier516,376 60.18%337,902 39.38%3,753 0.44%
Net Gain12,681 54.75%10,296 44.45%186 0.80%
John F. Kerry is actually gaining on George W. Bush as
the counting of provisional ballots proceeds. In
counties that Kerry lost by 20.8% on election night,
he is losing by only 10.3% among the provisional
ballots counted. In the 75 counties yet to be heard
from, Kerry actually held a lead on election night:
ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
BushKerryOthers
88 counties2,796,1472,659,66425,993
13 counted516,376337,9023,753
75 uncounted2,279,7712,321,76222,240
There are 208,696 uncounted ballots in these 75
counties, including 131,555 provisional ballots, and
77,141 regular ballots, mostly punch cards, which will
have to be examined by hand during the recount. For a
county by county breakdown of the uncounted votes,
read "JOHN KERRY CONCEDED TOO SOON" at
web.northnet.org/minstrel/uncounted.htm
Half of these uncounted votes, 104,748 (50.19%) are in
9 counties, 8 of which were won by John Kerry.
web.northnet.org/minstrel/summary.htm
There are also 14,799 ballots still uncounted in the
other 13 counties, according to the table above. No
wonder Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is
trying to slow down the counting of provisional
ballots, and trying to delay the recount until after
he certifies the winner. There needs to be a
firestorm of protest to cause him to recuse himself,
or a restraining order issued by the courts.
--
http://www.northnet.org/minstrel