Alaska Senate Ballot Count – Live Blog!
[If you were watching the ballot count on TV, you were treated to an endless loop of the soundtrack of Titanic. You can replicate the experience by playing the Youtube video above as you read my account of the visual experience of the day’s events. For those of you who are more concerned with the actual news events of the day, you can check out the ADN politics blog which has been frequently updated by Sean Cockerham. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to my entertainment for the evening…]
Woman in black pullover stares at book and adjusts it.
Man in grey oxford and very short hair holds some kind of pamphlet.
Woman in blue shirt puts stack of ballots in white plastic envelope. Woman with large silver bracelet assists. Repeat.
Screen goes black. Picture is back but frozen. Screen goes black, but audio is on.Visual contact frozen, but no audio.
8 people huddled around table staring at something
Guy with Joe Miller beard stands with hand on hip.
Everything black.
Woman in white jacket delivers something to table and takes white plastic envelope away.
Guy in black with large video camera films something.
Woman in dark sweater moves papers one at a time from her left to her right on the tabletop.
Blonde woman in a huge hurry fast walks across the room!
Guy in beard talks to guy in suit. Guy with glasses looks on.
Woman with long streaky hair stares intently at woman in vest moving papers.
Everything goes black.
Guy with suit and two name tags walks in a circle. Two circles.
Woman in pink shirt raises her hand and plays with her hair simultaneously.She looks around.
Screen goes black. I eat a pear.
Closeup of woman with white hair drinks from a water bottle. Three woman all with hands clasped, watch.
Guy in light blue oxford coughs into his sleeve. (One hygiene point!)
Eight people intently staring at a piece of paper. Discussion amongst themselves. Shuffling of feet. Three people leave.
Guy in green sweater scratches his beard and sits on the edge of the table.
Woman in vest walks past quickly, holding white plastic envelope.
Beard guy is biting his nails. (Aren’t we all?)
Man in black turtle neck stands holding empty clipboard behind his back.
Woman in black handing ballots across the table to other woman in black.
Al Franken look-alike!
Screen goes black. I finish eating pear.
Three women shuffle papers. Two men look on. Woman takes paper and leaves.
Three women stand around talking and laughing.
Woman appears to make a mark on a ballot and put it in a stack.
Man in dark suit walks backwards! He turns around.
Woman in blue coat is limping.
Wide shot of about a dozen tables, most with group of people around them. Two empty.
Guy in white shirt and red tie swings arms and claps hands in front of him as he walks.
Woman in magenta sweater holds the back of a chair and bends over intently examining something on the table. Woman in ugly print shirt looks on.
Orange cones visible in upper quadrant of screen.
Man with beard and glasses appears to be having lower back pain.
Three men in suits all cocking their heads staring at the tabletop.
Woman adjusts stack of papers and puts them in a white plastic envelope.
Man drinks water from bottle.
Man in plaid shirt appears to be sucking his thumb… probably optical illusion. Although, you never know…
Man puts ballot under table and tears it into small pieces. (Just kidding. That was a test to see if you were still paying attention)
Guy with glasses and black turtleneck looks artsy. Raises his hand. Strokes his chin.
Woman in unflattering black and white wrap thing looks through ballots one by one and stacks them. Hands them to woman in pink shirt and grey vest.
Guy in Seahawks jacket compulsively nods and gestures with a black pamphlet which he tosses on the table.
Bald guy stands on cone.
Guy in blue shirt with nice camera stands frozen like a statue.
Picture freezes for a long time. I wonder if I should go grab a nap…
I try to refresh the video. Buffering takes a long time. Screen is black. Nap is looking better all the time. Is it possible that so many people are riveted to the vote count that the server cannot handle the traffic? I think about this for a while, but ultimately doubt that’s the case.
Ah! It’s back.
Strangely, nothing much has changed.
A little banner at the bottom of the screen now has messages that rotate.
92,529 write in votes were cast as of Tuesday November 9, 2010 at 8:13pm
The write in count is expected to last 3-5 days (Oh boy! More live blogging fun!)
Associated Press reported by mid-afternoon 89% of undisputed ballots are for Murkowski.
Looks like it’s quittin’ time. Tables are now virtually paper free, and a clump of people stand in the middle of the room.
They begin to filter out slowly.
Guy in black shirt seems to be making gorilla-like arm motions.
And that’s a wrap…. Stay tuned to see if I can stand any more of the ballow counting fun tomorrow!
Just when you thought Joe Miller couldn’t be more despicable (said with my best Daffy Duck sputter) he’s got help from Floyd Brown.
Who is Floyd Brown, you say.
Well,he has quite the resume: Willie Horton ad, Gennifer Flowers and Bill Clinton edited phone calls, Impeach Obama campaign, Citizen’s United founder (which of coarse resulted in a garden of paradise for those wanting to buy elections)
And now “advisor to Joe Miller”.
Here’s a link to Sean Cockerham’s report from Juneau:
http://community.adn.com/adn/node/154279
oh barf.
this is getting ridiculous.
Awww. So sorry I missed it. Thanks for the recap.
I feel breathless, as must you AKM! This is exactly what I remember and miss most about working for state and municipal government! My life was so lively, so full of people in different clothes, so many papers shuffling, so many retirement plans (and current parking strategies) being made by those around me. Parking in downtown Juneau does require a good part of one’s work day to plan – it can be quite nerve wracking and difficult.
I am so ashamed… couldn’t get through the whole thing. Skipped lines here and there to get to the end. It’s true. I have no self-discipline. (Slinks off unable to look anyone in the eye…)
Loved the commentary! Had me laughing so hard that I damn near…well, let me put it this way: If my pants had been on fire, the flames would’ve been extinguished.
And I must say: That must’ve been soooooooooooome pear! Any pear that can induce from our AKM the line pasted below, has GOT to be a good one. Either that, or it has got to be a bit fermented (or maybe because of some fermentation it was so good?)
Was Mr DeMille there? Wow — ‘ats one mighty talented closeup! beth.
“Closeup of woman with white hair drinks from a water bottle.” – AKM, mid-pear.
Your tax dollars at work. Or sleep.
What was happening during those black out times? I smell a conspiracy!
This would have been the place for a whoopee cushion! 🙂
Pear. Yum. I love a good pear. The Seckels are lovely this year; I’ve bought quarts of them. None in my kitchen right now, but I have a gorgeous organic pomegranate waiting for me. I SO wanted Scott to win this race; it’s devastating that Lease-A or Joe will be voting with Turtlehead. *sigh*
Oh, Lord love a duck!!!
Just when you think the whole wacky scenario can’t get any more bizarre, Mr. Spray-On Beard and his trusty sidekick, Van Flea, have come up with a whole new explanation for misspelled Murkowski votes.
They’re really ‘protest votes’ for Miller. Really! It’s alllll part of the plan!
“In other words, per Van Flien, the correct way of interpreting a misspelled Murkowski vote is that it’s actually a protest vote for Joe Miller. Which is, you know, a pretty long and complicated walk in the park as far as voter intent goes, considering that the best way to cast a protest vote for Joe Miller would be to just vote for Joe Miller.”
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Theatre of the Absurd. Your seat is right this way. Please watch your step as you make your way through the dangling chads, handcuffs, and government checks scattered about the floor.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/10/miller-campaign-argues-th_n_781562.html
Yup – that’s why it is so weird every day to live here. And that is not even the weirdest thing that has ever happened! I think we are having growing pains – we are like the teenagers of the US. I hope we turn out OK in the long run.
AK is the toddler, the lower 48 are the teenagers. Some of us are adults. We are all striving for spiritual and emotional maturity. Hawaii is really Kenya.
I No Rite?
That “misspelling Lisa’s name is a vote for Me Me Me,” really rocked the asylum walls. It just gets better and better.
No wonder Joe MilLiar can’t hold a job.
Soooo…..
How was the pear?
Was it a green pear or a brown pear?
Was it crisp or was it mushy?
Pleeease don’t leave me in suspense, AKM!!!!
Green, dead ripe. Quite a perfect pear. 🙂
I am sitting on the edge of my seat, mesmerized…the suspense is so thick you can cut it with a knife…
Must go get paper towels to clean drink off monitor, as AKM got me again 😉
Heh heh…good one.
“I eat a pear.” ROFL!
woman in sweatpants and wool socks mutes TV, ennui forces wine summit
LOL!!! Although I do love the attire commentary. (woman in ugly print shirt!). Mahalo AKM!!
Woman in blue sweat pants and ragged sweat shirt goes to get another beer. Thinks about what she can find to eat.
LOL
And here we go…the line up. It’s Team Lease-A on the inside, Team MdAdams in the middle, The Count from Sesame Street next to Team Miller hugging the outside and the Alaska Division of Elections is ready and here comes Tea Bagzit!
And they’re off! It’s Team Lease-A holding onto the lead, no gain from Team Miller, the count is steady…steady AND IT’S ONE FOR TEAM LEASE-A. The counters line up….they check the ballot, their heads nod in unison AND IT’S ANOTHER ONE FOR LEASE-A!!! The counters take a pile, hold it up, Team Miller nods and It’s one for Team Miller! What an exciting race to report! The paint peels and it’s another one for Team Lease-A! The ballot counters move toward a pile…they pick a ballot…look at those (expletives) count AND IT’S ONE MORE FOR TEAM LEASE-A!!!! Steady on the outside…steady….and Team Miller makes a move! Team Lease-A hugs the inside and it’s neck and neck with Team Miller! Wait a minute! Wait a minute…it’s Drop Zone. Team Lease-A has been cuffed, ladies and gentlemen! Team Lease-A has been cuffed. The counting continues and IT’S ONE MORE FOR TEAM LEASE-A!!! The Count holds a ballot and it’s one for Tea Bagzit. Yes! Tea Bagzit has one! The move into the home stretch….Team Lease-A steals away from the Drop Zone…Team Lease-A zooms into the lead! It’s Team Lease-A with Team Miller trailing. Tea Bagzit falls behind and Team Lease-A picks up toward the finish line!
AND IT’S TEAM LEASE-A BY A NOSE!!!!! Team Lease-A Has Won the Race and is heading towards the winner’s circle!!! ……..and here comes Tea Bagzit….
The paint is still peeling and Joe Miller is still wandering from table to table waiting to be introduced.
🙂
loved your live blog take on it all!!!
I have laughed myself silly over this post of AKM’s -for a variety of reasons but am, in the end, glad we have had cameras on the process.
I’m thinking it might be better for folks to divvy up sentry chores to an hour apiece so we don’t lose any watchers to slides into hypnotic sleep…
Alaska Pi,..(snore)…. it’s worse than hearing a (nod, nod ) tock clicking or crickets chirping….or McQuittyPants talking. Yuck!
Hey, you saw the guy with the Joe Miller beard too…
oh lord…
maybe water rockets would have been a better diversion…
The civic minded might not care for this comment… But what the heck.
I watched the ballot count all day. Well the TV was on all day. About 2pm I was hoping for someone to make a few paper airplanes and launch them.
🙂
I think paper airplanes would have been a right civil break in the proceedings…
I will add the guy in a blue shirt has a rockin camera!
And the lady with the green coat looks like she is wearing some really uncomfortable shoes.
Also the folks that look to be sportin two name tags… –> weird.
at very least i can go to sleep tonight without nightmares of Joe the Pro(genitor) Miller hanging Walmart curtains up in DC and being sworn in by Samuel (here come da judge) Alito.
Are there no Brooks Brothers rioters to stir things up? I guess it was probably a good idea to have the count in Juneau, or you might have the Fleece Poleece trying to disrupt.
LOL!
Ok AKM, you got me with, “Man puts ballot under table and tears it into small piece”!
We all need a laugh I think.
M. Paul
From an article I just saw at Dailykos:
7638 write ins counted.
6804 unchallenged.
678 were unsuccesfully challenged.
89 were successfully challenged.
7,482 ballots counted for Murkowski
If my math is correct, and these 7,638 votes constitute a representative sample, Murkowski will end up with 82,424. Miller’s current tally is 81,195. So Lisa doesn’t even need any of those challenged ballots at this point. How much you want to bet that the Miller campaign has calculated what fraction of the ballots need to be thrown out for him to win, and they are basing their challenges on that math? That way, when Lisa wins, the Teabaggers will say that the court gave it to her. Keep an eye on the proportion of challenged ballots over the next few days, as that will be very revealing.
Just read in HP, that things are going to be challenged???
OT, but worth it (I think). Someone over at IM asked about something heard on The Ed Show about how Palin protesters were treated. So, I went on Bing and found the following article.
Just about cracked up (it’s been a long day) when I read that the restaurant where Palin was making a brief appearance was called the Cock ‘n Bull. Sorry. Sarah brings out the middle school giggles for me when she doesn’t enrage me.
Loved the comments about Palin’s usual “draconian security measures.” So it doesn’t surprise us any that her little Joey would try to emulate her, right?
Sorry about the long url. I had searched the following query on Bing to find it: protesters against Palin in PA.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer/the_intelligencer_news_details/article/27/2010/november/10/palin-protesters-told-to-move-at-restaurant.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IntelligencerNews+%28Intelligencer+News%29
Do be sure, if you visit the site, to read some of the comments about Palin.
Here’s a snack for those of you patiently watching the recount. It might provide just the little umph to keep going.
“Did anyone ask Palin about the $36,000+ dollars she and McCain owe to Quakertown Borough for the damage they did to a boro baseball field two years ago, at a campaign appearance that was cancelled due to an act of God, terrible weather? C’mon pay up you deadbeat, you know you owe it! We all know how it is with people who owe money, you have to hit these people up when you see them at work sometimes, otherwise you might never get your money. “
Well, okay, skip the comments. I did not do my duty and wade through enough to see that most are very pro-Palin and anti-progressive. Sigh. Sometimes you just want to lighten things up so badly that you grab at anything. My apologies.
I love the, “Jealous ugly liberal, or the Dems are dumb socialist, Marxist and don’t get it.” So funny. Can we agree to disagree? Geesh. Glenn Beck is an entertainer…
I love my Republican friends!!! I don’t think people fit in a box of being a left liberal Dem or Conservative Repub. What a concept people have diverse ideas.
Open Thread is active for 24 hours! 🙂
Riveting, absolutely riveting ….. I so appreciate the narrative, I almost feel as though I am THERE.
🙂
Gosh, dang, when I got to the ballot goes under the table I was expecting some AKM fireworks! Still, it did make me chuckle.
How you do this is beyond me. It sounds so tedious, so utterly and completely tension-at-the-back-of-your-neck producing that I think we all owe you a deep and sincere thank you and a certificate for a nice massage.
As always, Jeanne, we appreciate your dedication.
Only AKM could tell such a boring story while leaving us all busting a gut!
LMAO! So funny! And the Titanic song to boot!!!
At least you don’t have the hanging chad thing going on. I lived in Florida during that fiasco and I remember laughing at everyone staring cross-eyed at the chads. We didn’t get music though. 🙁
That movie makes me cry. After the second time, I can’t watch it today.
Oh, my. Is that paint dry yet?
No, Pat, it’s peeling.
Oh… My… God… Hysterical.
Yup…that’s exactly what I’ve been watching on T.V. off and on since about 9:30 am so I’ve been hearing the soundtrack. **snore**
It’s really funny when there is a section of dramatic, tension-building music while on the screen you see two people nonchalantly talk with a cup of coffee in their hands.
What a riot to read your follow along! Had me laughing out loud!!!!
hehehe…
ROFL