Fate of Md. 1st District Congressional Race Hinges on Absentee Ballots (WBOC)

11/05/2008 11:06 AM ET

UNDATED- Maryland's 1st District congressional race is still too close to call with the outcome to be determined by thousands of absentee ballots that have yet to be counted.

The Associated Press' latest count has Democratic candidate Frank Kratovil leading Republican candidate Andy Harris by less than 1,000 votes. With all 277 precincts reporting, Kratovil has received 160,780 votes compared to 159,787 votes for Harris.

More than 32,000 absentee ballots were requested, of these, more than 25,000 ballots are to be counted on Thursday.

Provisional ballots will be counted on Monday while military ballots will not be counted until Friday of next week. All ballots will need to be finalized by Nov. 14.
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more: http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9295212

Although this is dated yesterday, ETA's have not changed, according to the latest news.

you just never know how important your vote will be...and hopefully mine helps.

While I happily voted for my representative Sarbanes, it made me crazy having to sit through all of Harris' nasty, evil ads for months, without being able to vote for Kratovil.

Harris camp cries foul over 'nitpicking' in Harford count
By Matthew Hay Brown and Mary Gail Hare
November 7, 2008

Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. saw his slim lead over Republican Andy Harris more than double yesterday as election judges began to open absentee ballots in the 1st Congressional District.

In totals that now include absentee ballots from Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties - Republican strongholds where Harris had hoped to close the gap with his rival - Kratovil has expanded his lead to more than 1,800 votes.

The 40-year-old prosecutor from the Eastern Shore now appears on the verge of an upset in a district that has been held by the GOP since 1991, a victory that would give Democrats their seventh out of Maryland's eight House seats and further increase the party's congressional majority.

"We're still in a holding pattern right now, but we're glad to be the ones in the lead," Kratovil spokesman Chris Lawlor said.
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Absentee ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted. The process will be kept open through Nov. 14 to allow time for ballots to arrive at the county boards of elections. An unknown number of provisional ballots are to be considered beginning Monday.
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more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-md.first07nov07,0,5870954.story

Emphasis added. We've probably got a week to wait. And kudos to the DCCC for their very effective ads countering Harris' lies!

and I agree, the DCCC put out great ads.