This is a cut-and-paste from an email just in from our county Republican Party chair:

1. No winner has been declared in the 11th Congressional District Election, which remains one of the closest elections in the country.  Three days after the closing of the polls, the difference in votes for Keith Fimian and Gerald Connolly is less than 1,000 votes out of over 220,000 cast in the election-well within the margin for a recount in Virginia.

2. Right now, each locality in the 11th Congressional District is winding up a post-election canvass, including counting provisional ballots.  The canvass is a legal process in which local officials literally reconstruct the results of the election one voting machine and one precinct at a time, to ensure that all votes validly cast in the election are counted fairly and accurately.  Once the local canvass is finished, including provisional ballots, the local officials will send the election returns to Richmond for further review by state election officials, who will certify the official results of the election later this month.

3. The canvass is a public process, and our observers have been monitoring it since the minute it began. 
 
4. There are several developments in the Fimian – Connolly race that may call into question the accuracy of the current vote totals.
 
Here are the issues that are being looked at:

 In Fairfax County, the voting machines failed to register votes from over 800 ballots, including 106 in the Sideburn precinct alone.  (Keith Fimian won that precinct 58% – 40%.)  In Prince William County, the machines failed to register votes on more than 200 additional ballots.

 In several precincts, there were actually more votes than voters.  That is, voting machines reported a higher number of votes than the number of voters marked on the pollbooks as having voted in the election.

 As of Election Day, there were over 1,150 absentee ballots that had been mailed out to military and other overseas voters but had yet to be received back in the 11th Congressional District. 

 We also understand that officials in Prince William County rejected over 280 absentee ballots, with another 200-300 absentee ballots being rejected in Fairfax County.

So the process is unfolding as set forth in the law and these are some of the questions that are being considered at this time.

The brevity of this diary may result in a rebuke from the mods, however, I have a good excuse.  I have been dispatched to join the oversight committee for the recount just getting underway in Virginia’s 11th District and have to get going.

VA-11 is the wealthiest voting district in the United States and one would presume that we could afford to employ electronic voting machines that actually function.  One would be naive to make such a presumption.  Reports of malfunctions have been rolling in steadily over the past 24 hours.  Naturally, the malfunctions have favored Gerry Connolly.  Shocker, I know.

The machines have been impounded in the government center and are being broken open as I write this, under the watchful eye of as many Fimian supporters as can get over there asap.

Keith Fimian is down by little more than 400 votes.  My understanding is that absentee ballots are not included in that tally and there has been no announcement as to the number of absentee ballots in hand.  If you are the praying kind, please speak a few words to the heavens on our behalf.  We won VA-5, VA-2,and VA-9.  The useful idiots of VA-8 are beyond help.  But this race can be won.  Let’s see some more red here in the green rolling hills of Virginia.

At least 2,200 Marines from the II MEF (2nd Marine Expeditionary Force) stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC are preparing to depart for Haiti to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts following Tuesday’s earthquake.  We are awaiting word from CLJ as to which units are going.   Knowing the guys in our son’s Battalion, they will clamour for the chance to go, despite preparing for an imminent deployment (again) to the war zone.

It’s moments like these that we wish we could see the looks on the faces of the Code Pink/Berkeley crowd.  They are likely watching the tragedy unfold on television in stunned silence.  Those who denigrate our military and those who oppose allowing recruiters into high schools should hang their heads in shame at moments like these.  (If it were up to us, the red carpet would be rolled out to military recruiters in every high school in America and students would be given a pass from Algebra class to meet with them.)  Rather than chaining themselves to recruiting station doors like our liberal friends, the Few and the Proud are good to go.

What a gift it is to be in a position to help the people of Haiti.  We could not be prouder of our country and of our Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and guardsmen. 

Semper fi.

Reuters is reporting today that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has reassured worried Russians that, nyet, he won’t be retiring to his dacha in the Urals anytime soon.  “Don’t hold your breath,” waiting for him to quit, the smiling former KGB operative said with his usual warmth and humor.   This was his response to a caller on an annual Q & A session, a sort of Town Hall-in-grad, if you will.  You know, like the ones we capitalists hold here, except that in Russia, participation is restricted to those who A)agree not to dishonor the memory of Joseph Stalin; B) are not calling from jail; and C) actually have a telephone.  This could actually be seen as an improvement over the American system in that the Leader of the Nation actually shows up and takes the calls.  (When was the last time Barack Obama held an actual pres conference and answered actual questions?  Actually, never.)

One caller wanted a factory owner jailed for layoffs of unproductive workers.  Putin cheerfully explained, “If we put everyone in jail, who would work?”  Excellent point!  Tying up the wealth-producers might reduce tax revenues. . . someone call Congress!

Another caller complained about the “problem” of the nouveau riche getting too flashy with their expensive Euro shportcars and not showing proper deference to rusty Volga drivers as they cut them off in traffic.  “In Soviet times,” Putin waxed nostalgically, “some of our rich showed off their wealth by having gold teeth put in, preferably at the front.  The Lamborghinis and other pricey knickknacks–they are simply today’s gold teeth which are shown off to everybody.”

Ahh, such happy memories of Babushka, her fine gold teeth glinting in the Siberian sun as she would pluck potatoes from the rich, black, irradiated garden soil with a stick.  Those were the days, my friend.

“Dear Santa, this Christmas I am not going to ask you for a Lamborghini again.  All I really, really want is two gold teeth.  In the front, please.  I want all the neighbors to be pea-green with envy. Spasiba!”