Thursday, April 23, 2009

Kramer Picks up Three Votes in First Canvass (Updated)

Delegate Ben Kramer (D-19) picked up a net total of 3 votes in today's first canvass. There are very few votes left to be counted. That means Nancy Navarro has likely won the District 4 race.

The first canvass counted 597 Democratic ballots. 272 went to Kramer, 269 went to Navarro, 35 went to Cary Lamari, 12 went to Rob Goldman, 5 went to Thomas Hardman and 4 went to Michael Bigler. That means Navarro's lead has decreased from 78 votes to 75 votes.

On Monday, 86 provisional ballots will be examined. Many will be thrown out because of undervotes or non-residency. So far, 45 overseas ballots have come in and will be counted at the second canvass on May 1. More could come in later. In last year's special election, only 11 absentee ballots were counted at the second canvass.

Unless hundreds of new votes come in from overseas and tilt overwhelmingly to Kramer, it is now almost mathematically impossible for him to win.

Update: Here are the polling place results from election night, the first canvass of absentee results and the total so far.