Ohio Provisional Votes Are Still Being Counted

Adding weight to the suggestion that Kerry may be playing it smart, MSNBC reports that Kerry lawyers are still scrutinizing votes in Ohio. Bear in mind that these are the provisional ballots only, and even if KJerry got 90% of them he would probably still not be declared winner unless other votes were also called into question:

"Officials in Ohio's 88 counties are still checking 155,337 provisional ballots to ensure they are valid, and then counting them in a process that is expected to take another week or more. The hotly contested state's 20 electoral votes gave President Bush the cushion he needed to win re-election.

With Bush leading the Democratic presidential nominee Kerry by more than 136,000 votes in the pivotal state in unofficial returns, it would be practically impossible for provisional ballots to change the outcome.

But Kerry's lawyers say they want to identify any voting problems and put to rest any doubts about the legitimacy of the Ohio vote. To do that they'll ask election officials about the number of absentee and provisional ballots and if there were any reports of equipment malfunctions.

For the first time this year all states were required to use provisional ballots when voters said they were properly registered but their names weren't on the rolls.

Judging from past elections, most provisional ballots will be valid, and the total will more or less reflect the overall vote.

Elections employees are using the names on envelopes containing the provisional ballots to determine whether people meet registration requirements, and whether they voted in the correct precinct.

Valid ballots are eventually added to each county's vote count report, which must be approved by Democrat and Republican board members. Any disputed provisional ballots will be voted on by the members. Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell will break any ties.

"This is a time-consuming process, just making sure that every ballot is accounted for," said Michael Vu, director of the bustling Cuyahoga County elections board in Cleveland.

The state gives boards until Dec. 1 to count and certify every vote. The state has set up a toll-free number for voters to find out if their ballot was counted and if not, why.

Most counties contacted Wednesday by the Associated Press said they were not keeping running totals of how many provisional ballots were valid, but a few that had done partial tallies said most votes appeared to be legitimate.