Stevens falls further back in Alaska Senate count (uncounted votes come from Begich strongholds)

[usregimechange]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, a stalwart of Alaska politics who was convicted of felony charges last month, fell further behind his Democratic rival Friday, and most remaining ballots come from parts of the state that have favored the challenger.

Mark Begich, the two-term mayor of Anchorage, increased his lead from 814 votes to 1,022 as state election workers counted 17,100 ballots. Begich had 47.4 percent of the vote to Stevens' 47.0 percent.

"With the gap widening slightly in our favor today, I feel even more optimistic that when all the ballots are counted next week, we'll see Alaskans came out to vote for new leadership in Washington, D.C.," Begich said in a statement.

The 25,000 remaining votes will be counted Tuesday. They come mostly from Anchorage and the surrounding area, where Begich is leading, and from the state's southeastern panhandle, where he was doing even better.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081115/ap_on_el_se/alaska_senate_3

:bounce:

[FVZA_Colonel]

1. I'm not that familiar with Alaska election law, and given that the article didn't address the issue,

is there a mandatory recount in Alaska for vote rations under something like, say, .5 percent like in some other states?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Yes. .5%....or about 1500-1700 votes. nt

[FVZA_Colonel]

7. Well, we're about .15% away from that.

With the number of votes to come in from Anchorage, I'm certain Begich will win.

[nomaco-10]

2. This is FABULOUS news. n/t

[Hokie]

3. Begich will make 58, Franken 59 we hope

If Begich wins by over 1500 votes then Stevens will have to pay for a recount. It now looks like Begich is headed for a victory by over 2000 votes. So much for Palin's plans to "appoint" herself. (She was wrong in thinking that she could.) She could run in 2010 for the other seat now held by Murkowski, however.

[FLAprogressive]

5. And Jim Martin 60....we can only hope

[cliffordu]

4. If Begich wins, Mooselini loses her EZ entrance into the senate.

:bounce:

[AtomicKitten]

8. Hey Mooseburger: No Senate seat for you!