A month after we voted, the results are now official. The winners still won…and the losers still lost. But it might be late this month before the results are REALLLY final. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan says Barack Obama, for one, could ask for a recount because John McCain’s victory margin was 3,903 votes out of almost three million votes cast.
Four other races are within one percent, entitling the apparent losers to state paid recounts. Jim Lembke defeated Joan Barry in a St. Louis state senate race by 76 votes out of more than 8,800 cast–a margin of .09%; Kenny Bierman defeated Vicki Schneider in a House of Representatives race by 64 votes out of more than 21, 700 cast, a margin of ..34%; Denny Hoskins beat Jim Jackson by 129 votes in a total of almost 14,000 votes for a House seat–.93%; and Mike Wagner won his race for circuit judge against Lynn Stoppy by 583 votes in a race in which more than 68,400 ballots were cast, a .85% difference. The apparent losers have one week to ask the the recount which must be done by county officials within 20 days.
Carnahan says there were no reports of voter fraud at polling places, although some people did try to pull some funny stuff with registrations and somebody tried to keep some democrats from voting by telling them they could vote the next day if the lines were too long at the polling places. She says that information has been given to federal prosecutors.
To view the entire election numbers as certified by the Secretary of State, go to:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/allresults.asp?eid=256