What's the matter with Missouri? Still too close to call. 6300 provisionals left, 2000 f/Dem County

[KittyWampus]

Less than 5000 separate McCain and Obama tallies.

The thread title is based on the actual article posted below.

By ALEXANDER BURNS

Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Americans know who their next president will be. But voters in Missouri still aren’t quite sure which candidate their state preferred.

With John McCain leading Barack Obama there by fewer than 5,000 votes with thousands of provisional ballots yet to be counted, election-watchers have been reluctant to toss the battleground into either candidate’s column, and it will still be days before the outcome is finally resolved.

Hanging in the balance along with Missouri’s 11 electoral votes is the state’s reputation as a national bellwether — Missourians have voted for the winner in every presidential election since 1904, except for 1956.

“It looks like we’re going to have about 6,300 that are going to be reviewed statewide,” said Laura Egerdal, a spokeswoman for the Missouri secretary of state, adding that about 2,000 of those ballots will come from heavily Democratic St. Louis County.

But though those ballots provide a glimmer of hope for the Obama campaign, even Democrats concede that it would be an astonishing turn of events for their candidate to overtake McCain.

“It’s possible, but unlikely,” said Jack Cardetti, communications director for the Missouri Democratic Party. “We’re obviously watching to make sure that every eligible voter that wanted to cast a vote was able to.”

Tina Hervey, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party, was more blunt in her assessment of Obama’s chances of pulling out a win thanks to provisional ballots.

“He’d have to win them all,” Hervey said. “It looks like the victory for Sen. McCain will be roughly similar to two or three thousand individual votes.”

Missouri Republicans have already declared victory on behalf of the McCain-Palin ticket, with Doug Russell, the state GOP chairman, writing on the party’s website: “We were the only target state that Senator McCain won.”

Whatever little doubt remains about the state’s presidential preference will probably be resolved next week, according to Egerdal. The deadline for counties to send their final tallies to state election authorities is fast approaching: local authorities must post their election returns by Tuesday.

A few weeks later, on Dec. 9, state officials will certify a final vote count to determine the winner of the state’s electoral votes.

With so much time already having passed since Election Day, and the outcome of the presidential race beyond doubt, election officials seem content to let the ballot-counting proceed at a calm pace.

More surprisingly, so do national media outlets, most of which have been content to leave Missouri colored gray on a map otherwise filled with blue and red.

“With an election this close, it just makes sense to wait until all the votes are tallied, and probably to wait until they are certified,” said CBS News survey director Kathy Frankovic, who helps manage the network’s election decision desk.

The Associated Press, from which many news organizations get their information on election returns, has also deemed Missouri too close to call, and an AP spokesman said Friday that the wire service “continues to follow the Missouri situation closely.”

Though the state’s electoral votes will not impact the result of the national presidential election, that doesn’t mean partisans aren’t still invested in the outcome: both Democratic and Republican representatives are working with election officials to supervise the counting of provisional ballots.

“We had voters that stood in that line for hours for Election Day,” Cardetti said. “And whether they cast a vote for Barack Obama or John McCain, that vote should certainly be counted.”

And Missouri’s bellwether reputation?

“We don’t want the victory stolen from Sen. McCain in order to have Missouri hold on to some bellwether status,” Hervey said. “Our main goal is to not have this stolen from us.”

[ej510]

1. McCain won Missouri.

[KittyWampus]

2. Not yet he didn't. It's still gray on the "scoreboard" and MO hasn't declared it yet.

[riqster]

3. What it's all about:

“We had voters that stood in that line for hours for Election Day,” Cardetti said. “And whether they cast a vote for Barack Obama or John McCain, that vote should certainly be counted.”

Damn skippy! Elections are about the electorate, not the elected. It is great to see that recognized.

[Terran]

4. Our SOS Robin Carnahan has publicy advocated for early voting

If we'd had early voting in place, the turnout in KC and St. Louis would have been much better; as it is, only 66% and 61%, respectively. If it had been even 1-2% better, Obama would have won Missouri hands down.

We have a new Democratic Governor, so hopefully between him and Robin, we'll have early voting in place by 2010.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. Is there a link?