BREAKING: votes are counted and @SenMarkHerring leads by 163 !!! Congrats to AG-Elect Herring! #VAAG

[Tx4obama]

BREAKING: The votes are counted and @SenMarkHerring leads by 163! Congrats to AG-Elect Herring! #VAAG

https://twitter.com/CollegeDems/status/400458390469488640

If Obenshain files for a recount then the recount will be held in December.


Edited to add...

Ben Tribbett ‏@notlarrysabato

. @senmarkherring becomes Attorney-General Elect when State Board certifies on Nov 25th.

https://twitter.com/notlarrysabato/status/400458064723464192

College Democrats ‏@CollegeDems 3m

RT @TashaKenzie: This is the first Democratic sweep in Virginia since 1969. #VAAG

https://twitter.com/CollegeDems

Note:
Previous updates that happened over the past week can be found on Coyotl's DU live blog thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024000076
And Coyotl's thread regarding a 'machine' that was found, here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014645290

[JanT]

1. AWESOME !!!!!! NT

[libdem4life]

2. This is such good news...a Virginia trifecta, well, almost. Unlikely to change, recount or no.

[Coyotl]

65. Democrats in control of all 5 statewide offices in Virginia for the 1st time since 1969.

K. Travis Ballie ‏@KTravisBallie 15h
Huge step tonight towards potentially having Democrats in control of all 5 statewide offices in Virginia for the 1st time since1969. #VAAG

[sheshe2]

3. Fantastic!

Thank you so much Tx!

[Dawson Leery]

4. K/R

[questionseverything]

5. happy night!

Donald brownlee was the activist that first noticed the 3000 ab votes missing in Fairfax.....then others picked up the tweet and the rest is history

[Neurotica]

11. So thankful for the local activists and bloggers

who kept attention focused on this race.

[questionseverything]

62. me too

it is something all of us can help with....this activist in fairfax had simply gotten the ab count the night before the election,when the count came up 3 grand short he called bs

blackboxvoting.org calls this "protecting the count"

[Heather MC]

6. SO PROUD OF MY BELOVED STATE!!!!!

Virginia is for Sanity Once again!!!

[JaneyVee]

7. Dems sweep a southern state. Has the tide of crazy finally started to recede?

[Nevernose]

13. Kind of a Southern state

When they sweep Tennessee, I'll get back to you. I don't think the crazy will ever recede; the main difference is the height of the retaining wall.

But congratulations to Virginia! Good on y'all!

[joshcryer]

20. Technically it wasn't a full sweep because we lost some Democratic State Senators.

But yeah it's amazing.

[questionseverything]

63. boysko in the 86 district should try

suing for a hand count

every one of her precincts in fairfax went dem in top 3 races and then rep in her race in 6 or 7 of them

she is only 40 some votes behind

the law in virginia disallows any hand counting unless the ballots were originally hand counted...it is a travesty to justice

[Blue_Tires]

8. Bravo

let this be a lesson to all the pseudo-hipster, too-cool-to-vote idiots...

[riqster]

67. They come in all demographic groups.

And are definitely idiots. This race shows that our teeny tiny little votes can have a big impact!

[malaise]

9. Congrats all

Great news

[Half-Century Man]

10. In spite of the police warning

I feel like screaming victory from the rooftop naked.

[Tx4obama]

12. Herring's Va. attorney general edge 163 votes after Fairfax count

Herring's Va. attorney general edge 163 votes after Fairfax count

12 November 2013 | 10:18 PM ET

Mark Herring's statistically miniscule edge over Mark Obenshain in the attorney general race grew to 163 votes Tuesday evening as a midnight deadline approached for localities to finish counting ballots and report their tallies to the state.

That updated count came after the Fairfax County Electoral Board finished tabulating provisional ballots, leading several Democrats to declare Herring victorious after a week of fluctuating returns since last Tuesday's too-close-to-call election.

(Fairfax's numbers were widely reported Tuesday evening on Twitter, leading several people to declare Herring victorious, though they had not posted to the State Board of Elections web site as of 9:45 p.m.)

Herring was similarly emphatic about the outcome Tuesday night: "The margin was close, but it is clear that Virginians have chosen me to serve as the next Attorney General."

"Today we begin the process of governing. I look forward to working with Virginians from all regions and all background, Democrats, Independents and Republicans to move our Commonwealth forward," he added.

-snip-

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/11/herrings-va-attorney-general-edge-163-votes-after-fairfax-count-1

[s-cubed]

14. As a Virginian, I am very pleased about this! Cooch's was an awful AG.

But, since the vote is still so close, there will undoubtedly be a recount, and there may well be a court challenge to the provisional ballot rules interpretation. Remember Al Franken? It took months to get him certified as Senstor. And, if I'm very cynical, other votes could be "found".

[CatWoman]

27. ditto!!

Tidewater here

[Setsuna1972]

50. Western Branch here

Wow, I have some DU people in my local area ?! Awesome !!!

[calimary]

59. Welcome to DU, Setsuna1972!

Glad you're here! What a nice thread to come across, 'eh? I was holding my breath on that one. It makes me shake my head sometimes - WHY do Neanderthals and other pre-Bronze-Age thinkers even get close? How could cooch even get close? How could this guy even get close - knowing how they think and what they view as important positions for policy-making? Up here (in my head) I can understand the weird "magical" thinking and the Biblical (read: Old Testament)-everything et al. But down here (in my gut) it just doesn't make ANY sense.

[Sophiegirl]

73. Ditto

But it isn't over yet. There WILL be a recount. I am certainly aware that there will be some underhanded moves involved. So there is still a fight to be made.

I live in VA. I also voted a straight D ticket.

The Cooch will stay out of MY coochie, and other VA woman's, forevermore.

What a sicko.

Let me say that again with emphasis.

WHAT A SICKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel a bit better now.

[johnnyreb]

15. Congratulations Virginia!!

Run 'em out on a rail!!

[randome]

16. Don't mention the closeness of the vote. What matters is...

...a Democratic CLEAN SWEEP! CLEAN SWEEP!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]

[rocktivity]

17. Well, at least it didn't take a year, like with Al Franken

CUE THE VONAGE THEME!


rocktivity

[Tx4obama]

18. Well, it still isn't completely over yet. Votes to be certified Nov 25th - then a recount...

... in December and most likely lawsuits filed in court.

[Iliyah]

26. With the probability of a recount and lawsuits happening

Cooch would be still AG? If so, that sucks big time.

[joshcryer]

19. We'll see how big a wrench they throw into it.

Franken was a US Senator, the stakes were super high, so the lawyers filed and filed and filed and the entire process was gummed up for no reason.

I don't think they'll do that for VA AG.

[Tx4obama]

21. Mark Herring's tweet

Mark Herring ‏@SenMarkHerring

Voters in VA have spoken & I am honored to have won their votes and their trust to become VA's next AG http://www.herringforag.com/blog/herring-wins-race-for-virginia-attorney-general … #VAAG

https://twitter.com/SenMarkHerring/status/400463992943955968

AND below is a link to the update on the Herring for AG page...

HERRING WINS RACE FOR VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL

http://www.herringforag.com/blog/herring-wins-race-for-virginia-attorney-general

[ffr]

22. Congratulations to all those unsung GOTV heroes.

YOU made this happen and you should be congratulated along with Mark Herring.

[freshwest]

48. For all of you that followed this advice, thank you:

[DianaForRussFeingold]

23. Congratulations Virginians!!!

[Tx4obama]

24. Obenshain (R) has released a statement...

For Immediate Release
November 12, 2013

Statement of Mark Obenshain on Completion of Local Canvass

HARRISONBURG – Mark Obenshain issued the following statement regarding the completion of the local canvass.

"At this stage, we are in the closest statewide election in Virginia history. The State Board of Elections currently estimates a difference of fewer than 200 votes out of more than 2 million votes cast. That's less than 1/100th of a percent difference. With the completion of the canvass of local boards, we have finished two of the three automatic steps of vote counting. The State Board of Elections will now conduct its own review, scheduled to be complete November 25th. We owe it to the people of Virginia to make sure we get it right, and that every legitimate vote is counted and subject to uniform rules. We have seen significant swings in the vote count over the last several days as errors are corrected as a part of the regular canvass process. The State Board of Elections will now conduct its own review and we will await their results. I thank our dedicated election officials who have put in long hours and given great care to their duty. We will make further announcements in the days ahead."

http://obens.campaign-view.com/ua/SharedView?od=11287eca3778d2&cno=11a2b0b1cd1db10&cd=13551b2618a810

[Iliyah]

30. In order words, we, the GOP are plotting

to steal the AG election. Stay tuned cause we have the corporate media 24/7 on our side.

[Bohunk68]

60. "subject to uniform rules"

Hmmmmm, does that mean that all jurisdictions get counted the same way, or just the one county?

[Drew Richards]

25. Does anybody have a link to why this happened in the first place? It still smells funny

[LisaL]

28. What happened in the first place?

[NBachers]

46. You can also get excellent information about the whole bloomin' situation at Bradblog

http://www.bradblog.com/

[Tx4obama]

29. A link to what? Lots of various errors were found during the canvass phrase

Small amounts of votes for both candidates were found over the past week - some were typos some were a few votes not counted.

The BIG error was 3200 votes that a counting machine miscounted. Those were added in a day or so ago.

Today they counted the provisional ballots and added those numbers to the totals.

[Drew Richards]

32. Thx TX been in hospital missed explanation on how votes were missed.

[Tx4obama]

36. The two links below have tons of OLDER updates that happened over the past week...

Most of the older UPDATES are here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024000076

and

This thread is about a 'machine' that was found yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014645290

Those two links should have everything you missed.

Glad to hear you're out of the hospital - I hope you are feeling better

[Drew Richards]

45. Thank you for info and concern.

[questionseverything]

66. official changes doc

http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/webdocs/electionresultschangelogs/20131105.pdf

dems need to make copies of the official change doc so totals are "protected" for recount

easy to do and costs nothing

[No Vested Interest]

35. What is known about the provisional vote count?

Last I heard (last evening on Rachel Maddow, I believe) the AG's office (Cuccinelli) had ordered that the provisional voter had to come in to the BOE to verify the provisional ballot. That was an order just delivered, post-election.
Did a lot of voters comply with that new rule? If so, were they contacted by the local BOE or the Democratic party?

I had also heard that a recount would not be much different, in that Diebold touch-screen voting machines were used, and there is no verifying paper trail. Is that what is generally understood?

[Tx4obama]

38. All I know at the moment about the provisional votes is that the ones they counted are added...

... to the totals now and Herring is 163 votes ahead.

The votes will be certified November 25th. Then Obenshain has 10 days to request/file for a recount.

[Tx4obama]

39. Statement From Fairfax County Electoral Board on Nov. 12, 2013 - See below...

Statement From Fairfax County Electoral Board on Nov. 12, 2013

Nov. 12, 2013
Statement From The Fairfax County Electoral Board

“After a lengthy process that began on Friday, Nov. 8, we announced this evening that 271 of the provisional ballots from the Nov. 5 general election were approved. However, two of the approved ballot envelopes were empty.

The ballots were voted on optical scan machines by the three Congressional Districts in Fairfax County – the 8th, 10th and 11th.

The result of the voting of approved provisional ballots for attorney general was 160 votes for Mark Herring and 103 votes for Mark Obenshain. In the 86th House of Delegates race, the voting of approved provisional ballots for Tom Rust was 3 votes and Jennifer Boysko was 6 votes.

Throughout the provisional ballot review, the Electoral Board has followed the letter of the law as we understand it, even when we disagreed with the guidance we were given. We gave all voters the benefit of any reasonable doubt and we are confident that the voters of Fairfax County, thanks to our transparency and willingness to give them every opportunity to be heard, felt that their vote really counted. There were 159 voters who came to the Government Center to defend or check on the status of their provisional ballot. The rejection of ballots was based on weighing our internal staff research, outside evidence, information provided by the voters and the credibility of the information presented to us, and in every situation we followed the letter of the law. Every ballot was adjudicated on its own merits, as required by law.

The Electoral Board sincerely thanks the Office of Elections and county staff for their hard work and commitment during this process. We also sincerely thank the citizens of Fairfax County and the commonwealth, both political parties, as well as the candidates for their patience as we worked to get it right.

We are now working to certify the results by tonight’s deadline."

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/2013/electoral-board-statement-election-nov-12-2013.htm

[No Vested Interest]

43. Thanks for clarification- at least some questions are answered here.

"159 voters came to the Government Center to defend or check on the status"...
"271 of the provisional ballots ....were approved".

[Gore1FL]

34. It went something like this:

* They counted the vote on election night.
* Statistical anomalies suggested that absentee ballots were missing in the bluest of place in Virginia. They discovered the error and counted the additional votes.
* They began counting the provisional votes. the election was close so the AG Cuccinelli changed the rules on how to count them in the bluest of place in Virginia that required each voter return in person. (it was done with representation in previous years there, and currently across the rest of the state.)
* They found a voting machine in the bluest of place in Virginia that they failed to include in the vote total.

Whether nefarious or not, (I tend to lean towards incompetence) an awful lot of votes in the blues part of the state were missed in the initial count. The rule change seems dubious based on what I know. If any of this was an attempt to steal the election, it looks (at this time) like it didn't work.

[Coyotl]

54. Here is a quasi-LIVE blog of events since the "smoking gun" moment:

This needs to be at the bottom of the OP:

#VAAG Race - Multiple Dem sources - "smoking gun" something is up Fairfax Co = 3,000 missing votes
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024000076

[Tx4obama]

71. I beat cha to it. Gave Drew your link in Comment #36

[MADem]

31. OHHHH!!!!!!!

MFG!!

That is MARVELLOUS news!!!!!

[sheshe2]

33. We are going to rock in 2014!

You can take that to the bank, MADem.

After that, it is onward and upward for 2016!

Democrats!

[MADem]

41. +1,000 !!!! And THEN some!!!!!!!! nt

[Left Coast2020]

44. I certainly hope so. We need to GOTV Bigtime.

None of this 30, 35, 37% voter turnout. We need 60-70 percent--with a lot of new voters.

But in regards to southern voters, I'm wondering how effective people can in changing these so-called "red-states". I should say transform. But I want to know is anyone in DNC (or any other organization) employing any form of a "50 state strategy" on national level or state level? Dr. Dean is not DNC chair now. I believe when he was dems had major successes.

If someone getts off their duff in DNC, perhaps we could see not only Texas go blue (a big nail in coffin for GOP), but Tenn, Florida, and South Carolina. Was thinking of another too. But now I can't remember my question because I can't see posts on top.

[ancianita]

37. THANKS, VIRGINIA! Sooner or later it comes down to fate...you might as well be the one!

[Tx4obama]

40. Statement From Fairfax County Electoral Board on Nov. 12, 2013

Nov. 12, 2013

Statement From The Fairfax County Electoral Board

“After a lengthy process that began on Friday, Nov. 8, we announced this evening that 271 of the provisional ballots from the Nov. 5 general election were approved. However, two of the approved ballot envelopes were empty.

The ballots were voted on optical scan machines by the three Congressional Districts in Fairfax County – the 8th, 10th and 11th.

The result of the voting of approved provisional ballots for attorney general was 160 votes for Mark Herring and 103 votes for Mark Obenshain. In the 86th House of Delegates race, the voting of approved provisional ballots for Tom Rust was 3 votes and Jennifer Boysko was 6 votes.

Throughout the provisional ballot review, the Electoral Board has followed the letter of the law as we understand it, even when we disagreed with the guidance we were given. We gave all voters the benefit of any reasonable doubt and we are confident that the voters of Fairfax County, thanks to our transparency and willingness to give them every opportunity to be heard, felt that their vote really counted. There were 159 voters who came to the Government Center to defend or check on the status of their provisional ballot. The rejection of ballots was based on weighing our internal staff research, outside evidence, information provided by the voters and the credibility of the information presented to us, and in every situation we followed the letter of the law. Every ballot was adjudicated on its own merits, as required by law.

The Electoral Board sincerely thanks the Office of Elections and county staff for their hard work and commitment during this process. We also sincerely thank the citizens of Fairfax County and the commonwealth, both political parties, as well as the candidates for their patience as we worked to get it right.

We are now working to certify the results by tonight’s deadline."

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/2013/electoral-board-statement-election-nov-12-2013.htm

[Tx4obama]

42. IF Obenshain requests a recount it will be refereed by Cuccinelli :(

[NBachers]

47. What great news! Every. Single. Vote. Counts!

Non-voters ruin democracy.

[IronLionZion]

49. This is why Dems need to GOTV! nt

[myrna minx]

51. Fantastic! K&R

[beachbum bob]

52. dont count this over until recount is done

got a long ways to go yet.......still great news

[Coyotl]

53. K&R. #FairfaxFinale out of reach of a recount is good news for #VaAG nail biter.

Given the close scrutiny of the canvass plus the number of counties with touch-screen voting, a recount with this margin is a waste of public money and an exercise in futility and desperation.

[Myrina]

55. LOL which is exactly why the GOP would do it.

n/t

[spanone]

56. and the media ignores it. completely.

[underpants]

57. He got to votes from my house

[Coyotl]

58. Bloomberg: Tweets Alert Virginia Vote-Counters to Mistakes in Race

Tweets Alert Virginia Vote-Counters to Mistakes in Race
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis - http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-13/tweets-alert-virginia-vote-counters-to-mistakes-in-race.html
November 13, 2013 12:00 AM EST

A day after he took to Twitter last week to question the vote-count in the Virginia attorney general race, an e-mail from a top state official popped into David Wasserman’s inbox.

Wasserman, a political analyst with encyclopedic knowledge of Virginia’s voting patterns, figured he was in for a tirade. In the aftermath of the Nov. 5 election, he had been combing through the state’s ballot count and posting Twitter messages about problems and discrepancies.

“I was expecting them to say, ‘Stop denigrating our electoral process.’ Instead they said, ‘I want to thank you for the public service you’re doing’,” Wasserman, the House Editor at the Washington-based nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said in an interview.

Virginia’s cliffhanger of an attorney general’s race is the first in which Twitter (TWTR), the micro-blogging social media platform, has played a prominent part in the vote certification, and it may offer a model for how close elections play out in the age of social networking. .............

[Tx4obama]

74. Great article. Makes me happy to see that someone wrote about how Twitter helped :)

Thanks for posting

[Gothmog]

61. This is great news

This is a very important win for a number of reasons including keeping the AG office from trying to screw up the 2014 and 2016 elections

[Madmiddle]

64. Rethugs changing rules.

These assholes that change the rules are committing treason. They need to be voted out and or fired for this shit.

[pinboy3niner]

68. The State Board of Elections site has been updated to show Herring wins by 164 votes

(These numbers are considered "unofficial" until the board certifies the results at its meeting Nov. 25.)



http://electionresults.virginia.gov/resultsSW.aspx?type=SWR&map=CTY

[Coyotl]

72. Finishing with three sevens: 1,103,777 votes Herring vs. 1,103,613. No recount needed.

This is clearly outside the range of any probably recount altering the outcome.

[spooky3]

77. What? "clearly outside..."? State law says .5% difference -> state financed recount

if either candidate requests it. I agree that the recount probably won't turn up a lot of votes for the Republicans (from what I have read) but it's too narrow of a margin (<0.02%) to dismiss the possibility.

[Coyotl]

78. Most of VA is touch-screen so recounts count the same as before. Margin shift over 30 unlikely.

[spooky3]

79. I hope you are right.

[pinboy3niner]

80. The potential universe of remaining undetected errors also is reduced now

So much effort has already been devoted to examining precinct records, identifyiing discrepancies and pointing them out to election officials, that errors that otherwise likely would have been detected only by a recount have already been found and corrected.

I know you were joking about the sevens, but maybe you're right. We do seem to be dealing with a lucky number.

[Jack Rabbit]

69. Not exactly a clear mandate, but we'll take it

[Scurrilous]

70. K & R

[sulphurdunn]

75. Now, if Virginia democrats

can finally apply the lesson Truman tried to teach them, they'll take back the legislature and make the state blue for the next generation or two.

"Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for a real Republican every time." Harry Truman.

[spooky3]

76. Next step: Change the state legislature, tackle gerrymandering

We are one of those states where Dems got many more votes than Reps did in recent elections, but the majority of Congresspeople from VA are Republicans, because of gerrymandering.

We need the Howard Dean approach again.