As of election night there were 155,428 provisional
ballots still to be counted in Ohio. The eagerly
awaited Ohio recount cannot possibly begin until after
the votes are counted for the first time.
It is now Friday, November 26, 2004. Twenty-four days
have passed since the presidential election. There
are 88 counties in Ohio. To my knowledge, only 13
have examined their provisional ballots, counted them,
and posted the results on their websites. The 13
counties are: Ashland, Brown, Butler, Clinton, Geauga,
Greene, Hancock, Montgomery, Pickaway, Preble,
Tuscarawas, Union, and Warren.
Altogether, there were 23,873 provisional ballots
issued in these 13 counties, or 15.36% of the
statewide total. At this rate, it would take five
months to count them all. This strikes me as a
deliberate stalling tactic to delay the Ohio recount
until after the electoral college meets in December.
Here are the unofficial results in the 13 counties,
with the sum totals compared with those reported on
election night, so as to compute the net gains:
ELECTION RESULTS AFTER COUNTING PROVISIONAL BALLOTS