This aint close to over folks. Kissell now needs less than 2 votes per precinct to win.
The state party says...
Kissell Picks up 44 votes in Cumberland and Scotland
3 Votes Per Precinct = Kissell Victory
2 Votes Per Precinct = Kissell Victory
300 New Votes Frustrate Hayes' Campaign to Deny Voters
Raleigh--The Fayetteville Observer reports today that 300 more valid provisional ballots were counted last night in Cumberland and Scotland Counties.
Hayes' attempts to have some or all of these ballots suppressed was denied closing the gap for Larry Kissell by 44 new votes.
"A desperate Robin Hayes is trying to disqualify valid voters who have the right to have their vote counted," said North Carolina Democratic Chair Jerry Meek. "Last night, Hayes failed in that effort and we pledge to make sure it stays that way."
Kissell has steadily gathered momentum since Election Night as the provisional ballots have been reviewed and counted. The result has moved Kissell 2 votes per precinct away from victory. The difference was 3 votes per precinct last week.
In Scotland County, Kissell picked up 69 votes while Hayes received 41. Some of those are votes he argued to reject. In the home of Fort Bragg, Cumberland county officials counted 103 additional votes for Kissell while Hayes only received 87 of those votes.
"I'm completely frustrated," Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C., told the Associated Press this week from Washington. Hayes was ostensibly referring to erosion of support the Hayes/Bush Iraq policy, but he might as well have been referring to his tenuous role in Washington, now under the control of Democrats. [AP, 11/17/2006]
"Robin Hayes doesn't know frustration. Losing a job, not having healthcare and struggling to make ends meet while your Congressman works overtime to deny your vote is cause for frustration," Meek said.
Kissell now trails Hayes by a scant 418 votes as the official ballot canvass begins this morning in all 10 counties in the 8th congressional district. Approximately 1,500 provisional ballots are expected to be reviewed. Hayes is expected to challenge them all.