[also published on Poll Dancing]
From Fox News:
With 180 of 184 of precincts reporting, Clinton held the narrowest of leads — 65,845 votes, or 43 percent, to Obama’s 65,728 votes, or 42.9 percent, according to preliminary returns provided by Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colon.
Colon said results from four precincts were being delayed — three in remote Rio Arriba County and one in Sandoval County — because the county chairpeople could not be reached. More than 16,000 provisional ballots also remained to be tallied.
County chairpeople can’t be reached, eh? That doesn’t sound good.
The advantage in these precincts belongs to Clinton because Rio Arriba County, which abuts the Colorado border, is 72.89% Hispanic. The county seat, Tierra Amarilla, was the scene of a famous courthouse takeover by Hispanic activists in 1967. After their leader was arrested, twenty armed men stormed the courthouse. The incident inspired the John Nichols novel, The Milagro Beanfield War, which became a 1988 Robert Redford film. On a more benign note, this is Georgia O’Keefe country. She had a home near Abiquiu.
Sandoval County is a fast-growing suburban area that abuts Albuquerque on the north and northwest. Bernalillo is the county seat. Beyond Bernalillo, on the highway to Farmington, is spectacular desert scenery, the southern Jemez mountains, and Indian reservations.
It is impossible to say who has the advantage in the provisional votes. Only the election officials know where they are.
