Stevens Leads, but Vote Count Is Still Young

Alaskan election workers will start tallying uncounted ballots tomorrow in the race for the Senate seat of Ted Stevens, expecting to get through half of them by the end of the day. The convicted but unrepentant Stevens still leads Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,257 votes, 106,594 to 103,337, the LA Times reports. But some 90,000 ballots, in this case representing almost 29% of votes cast, haven’t been counted.

That includes 61,000 absentee ballots, 9,500 early votes, and more than 20,000 questioned ballots, which election workers began poring over yesterday. But more absentee and questioned ballots are arriving every day, and a recount can be requested by either candidate if they finish within 20 votes or half a percentage point. Both candidates are raising money to monitor the count. (More Ted Stevens stories.)