Joe Miller's lead over incumbent Spendican Senator Lisa Murkowski narrowed to 1668 votes as the final election day precincts were counted. None of the 9500 absentee ballots so far returned have been counted, and that process won't start till next Tuesday, August 31. There were 16,000 absentee ballots sent out, but no one knows how many were mailed in on time.
If all those absentee ballots were returned, Miller would need 45% of them to hang on. If all the absentee ballots were in, then Miller would only need a hair more than 41% to win. It is not likely for Murkowski to get 55 to 59% of those ballots when she only got 49% of the election day ballots, even though some of those ballots were mailed in earlier than Miller's surge.
The data for my calculations come from this Los Angeles Times story. It also says "Murkowski, meanwhile, sought help from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which dispatched its general counsel to guide the state through the process of counting absentee ballots." If you ever sent money to that rogue organization you should regret it now. You will regret it forever if Murkowski pulls this out.
Remember that the establishment favors Murkowski, and they will count the ballots. There is great danger of fraud.
