Election Results

It was a good day for Democrats here in Virginia. Barack Obama has won the presidency, of course, with spontaneous celebrations breaking out in the streets of cities across the nation and the world, but he also won the state of Virginia, with about 51% of the vote with 95% of precincts reporting right now. Mark Warner won John Warner’s Senate seat handily, defeating Jim Gilmore. Both candidates easily won Charlottesville and Albemarle.

Less clear is the outcome of the race between Rep. Virgil Goode and and Democratic challenger Tom Perriello. Though Perriello is ahead, there are two outstanding precincts that historically have gone heavily Republican, so Goode is likely to emerge about two hundred votes ahead, by my math. But that’s before the provisional ballots are counted, and that’s before the inevitable recount. Expect this one to stretch out for a while.

37 Responses to “Election Results”


  • UVA08 says:

    Waldo,

    I think we have won Va-05. Assuming that the numbers the SBE is reporting are correct, then Perriello is up by over 2,000 votes. Even if you assume that Goode is able to carry the two precincts remaining two precincts (Campbell- Absentee & Lunenburg-Plymouth)give Virgil the same margin (numerically) as ’04, then I think he still would fall about 1200 short.

  • UVA08 says:

    Retped:

    I think we have won Va-05. Assuming that the numbers the SBE is reporting are correct, Perriello is up by over 2,000 votes. Even if you assume that Goode is able to carry the two precincts remaining two precincts (Campbell- Absentee & Lunenburg-Plymouth)by the same margin (numerically) as ‘04, then I think he still would fall about 1200 short.

  • perlogik says:

    At 8:19 this AM, Virgil Goode took a 300 vote lead according to the VA website. Can you say recount?

  • Jeannine says:

    On the State Board of Elections website, you can see the one precinct in Lunenburg that hasn’t reporter (“101 Plymouth”). How does this happen? I’ve done poll watching before and at the end of the night, there’s such a specific procedure…how does a precinct not report?

  • Lonnie says:

    We were watching the Perriello race last night long after the Presidential race. I’m really disappointed that today he’s down again after such an incredible comeback last night.

    Whatever happens, I hope the message sent to Goode came across loud and clear. It’s hard to unseat someone like Goode who has been there pretty much forever, but Perriello really gave him a tough race.

    I still hope there’s a small chance he can squeek by, or that a recount would send him over the edge. If not, then there’s always next time…

  • Chad Day says:

    CNN and the VA site both have oddly different results:

    VA site:
    Goode – 157,070
    Perriello – 156,768

    CNN:
    Perriello – 157,851
    Goode – 156,694

    wondering how this is possible.. CNN has counted 707 more votes, but the numbers are off.. it’s not like 1 candidate is missing 707 of those on the VA site, they’d have to be attributed to the wrong candidate or one of these has bad data.

  • Chad Day says:

    Also, CNN says 100% reporting, VA says 99.67%.

    Digging deeper now.. curious.

  • Chad Day says:

    VA doesn’t have Lunenberg fully in.

    VA Lunenberg:
    Goode – 2,437
    Perriello – 2,229

    CNN Lunenberg:
    Goode – 2,788
    Perriello – 2,336

    weird. none of these are matching up. another example:

    VA Albemarle:
    Perriello – 31,701
    Goode – 18,388

    CNN Albemarle:
    Perriello – 33,073
    Goode – 18,777

    which is a crucial ~1100 vote difference in a race this tight.

  • Bryan Pfaffenberger says:

    Take a look at this! Changes to 5th Congressional District at VBE Web site:

    https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2008/07261AFC-9ED3-410F-B07D-84D014AB2C6B/Unofficial/8A294C8B-A992-49E3-A08D-BC94549DB0E5_cr_all_dt.shtml

    “VERIS went down at midnight and changed totals…”

    What a mess! And what’s VERIS?

  • Lonnie says:

    I was looking at the Virginia data about vote changes and they had a note that said “VERIS went down at midnight and changed totals.”

    Technical glitch? (Hope they keep a paper backup)

  • BodhiMurse says:

    So so sick of Goode.

  • perlogik says:

    Reporting:307 of 307 (100%)@9:58am

    Virgil H. Goode, Jr. 157,421 50.04%

    Tom S. P. Perriello 156,975 49.90%

  • Chad Day says:

    CNN has updated again too. 100%

    Perriello – 158,346
    Goode – 157,785

    ???

  • Bryan Pfaffenberger says:

    VERIS is the new (and controversial) state voter registration database system.

    I just did an analysis of the changes due to the VERIS malfunction (?). In Danville, Tom Perriello’s vote totals (“original value”) were REDUCED by 308, while Virgil Goode’s vote totals were INCREASED by 1819.

    I do not understand why vote totals would have been affected by VERIS “going down after midnight,” as the VBE update page states. It seems the system is used to report vote totals. So precincts were able to report vote totals before midnight (presumably, these are the “original values”), but were prevented from finishing until this morning, when (it seems) the system was rebooted. Why, then, would vote totals have been decreased as well as increased?

    Also, the data from the missing precinct in Lunenberg were just added (9:58am): 351 Goode, 207 Perriello.

  • Chad Day says:

    also, CNN’s numbers have the “corrected” Danville ones, and still has Perriello ahead by ~550.

  • Bryan Pfaffenberger says:

    VBE is now reporting

    GOODE 157,421
    PERRIELLO 156,975

  • Bryan Pfaffenberger says:

    Note that the changes made due to the VERIS malfunction may have altered the outcome of the election. Here is what the total would be using the “original values”:

    PERRIELLO 157283
    GOODE 155602

  • Chad Day says:

    There’s a 9 minute result differential between the SBE and the CNN site for Albemarle County. So CNN got some data that SBE doesn’t have reflected yet, which is why it has more votes.

    And those votes are enough (~1100) to tip the election to Perriello. If there is indeed a precinct that SBE didn’t get in yet (even though both claim 100% have reported), then that’s the reason for the discrepancy between the 2 sets of numbers.

  • Martin says:

    *When* is this going to be decided? Boy am I ever glad I made sure to vote for Perriello. You’ve got support in Pittsylvania County yet, Tom!

  • Chad Day says:

    Both FOX and MSNBC also have the same #s as CNN, with Perriello ahead.

  • BodhiMurse says:

    Like a horse race I’m waiving my fist. Go Perriello! I appreciate the updates!

  • Meg says:

    The Hook is the first local news source to declare Goode the winner. Seems kind of strange. Do they have insider info the rest of us don’t, or have they just not seen the CNN stats? It’s pretty nervy to suggest the race is over at this point.

  • Chad Day says:

    The difference between the MSM and the VA SBE numbers:

    1372 more for Perriello
    389 more for Goode

    According to the VA SBE website, the only site that seems to have precinct #s:

    203 – Georgetown:

    Perriello: 1,372
    Goode: 391

    Is it possible the MSM counted Georgetown twice? Exact difference for Perriello, only 2 votes off for Goode.

    Either way, it’s going to be recounted.

  • Richard says:

    Updated margin Goode by 146

    RACE CANDIDATE VOTE VOTE% STATISTICS DETAILS
    Member House of Representatives
    (05)

    Last Reported: Nov 5 2008 11:14AM EST
    Reporting:
    307 of 307 (100%)

    Virgil H. Goode, Jr. 157,421 49.99% Precincts

    Tom S. P. Perriello 157,275 49.94%

    Write In 170 0.05%

  • colfer says:

    CNN and news.yahoo.com, both have:
    Perriello: 158,996
    Goode: 158,877
    “updated 26 minutes ago”

    Are CNN’s number coming from AP this time?

    You can drill down to just the county level, but those numbers are from last night.

  • Chad Day says:

    I really wonder who people wrote in. Amazing that the election margin could be less than the total # of write in votes.

  • Chad Day says:

    The Albemarle County numbers on the two sites *still* don’t match.

    Oh well, to lunch. Not like this is going to be decided any time soon.

  • Cynic says:

    Anyone have a sense for when this will be resolved? Are we talking next week?

    Obama received 79% of the vote in C-ville; this appears to be tops for the state, percentage-wise. Does anyone know of a county or city with a higher percentage?

  • Former Teacher says:

    From my understanding, there was a major error in data entry in a locality in southside, and the strong dem precinct was accidentally entered in last night for multiple precincts.

    When the election there was certified this morning, they caught the error, which bumped Goode up by 302.

    I think the most current numbers I saw on the state board of elections has Goode up by 145 (with that final precinct in Lunenburg with its 800-odd voters finally entered in!)

    But, and this is a big one: None of the provisional ballots anywhere in the district have been certified or entered.

    With both sides lawyering up, it will probably be December before we have a congressman.

  • Eric says:

    Some interesting numbers from VA SBE site:
    -McCain won VA-05 district 50.71% to 48.21%, so Perriello actually outperformed Obama (of course, not nearly as much as Warner did…)
    -Also, VA-05 had 324,043 total votes for President, but only 314,867 total votes for Rep. So over 9,000 people voted for President and left Congress blank. Wonder who they would have voted for? Tough to say–the district went to McCain by 2.5% overall, but would folks just voting for President be more likely to be first-time voters and therefore for Obama?

  • colfer says:

    Late military ballots are also at issue, the Republican party filed a lawsuit about that yesterday.

    Top percentages by city/county:

    Obama

    PETERSBURG CITY: 13,671 88.56%
    RICHMOND CITY: 73,180 79.13%
    CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY: 14,862 78.46%
    ARLINGTON COUNTY: 78,953 71.82%
    ALEXANDRIA CITY: 50,415 71.75%
    NORFOLK CITY: 56,191 70.54%
    FALLS CHURCH CITY: 4,695 69.55%
    CHARLES CITY COUNTY: 2,811 68.19%
    PORTSMOUTH CITY: 26,200 66.81%

    ***********

    McCain

    POQUOSON CITY: 5,229 74.02%
    SCOTT CO: 6,922 70.67%
    POWHATTAN CO: 10,084 69.81%
    COLONIAL HEIGHTS CITY: 6,160 69.65%
    AUGUSTA COUNTY: 23,111 69.35%
    BLAND CO: 2,031 68.63%
    BEDFORD CO: 24,402 68.17%
    CAMPBELL CO: 17,353 67.63%
    ROCKINGHAM CO: 22,459 67.23%

    In the anti-gay marriage/union off-year vote recently, it was
    charlottesville 77%
    arlington 74%
    alexandria 70%
    richmond city 70%
    falls church 69%

    and on the other side
    buchanan 90%
    tazewell 86%
    wise 84%
    smyth 82%
    bland 80%

  • Karl Ackerman says:

    Here’s a local puzzle: I was working at Carver precinct for Obama/Warner/Perriello dawn till dusk yesterday. Midmorning we heard that the voter count at Carver had topped 1000; by late afternoon that we’d reached the 1300 mark.

    But today I see that the vote totals at Carver only add up to ~1050.

    I bring this up because 1. what I heard at the precinct and 2. because now I see that 1227 voters voted at Carver in the Goode/Weed contest in 2004. Really hard to imagine that this vote number went DOWN nearly 200 votes given that the voter rolls increased by nearly 10% in Charlottesville this year. (Is sure did seem that 10% of the voters at Carver yesterday were new voters.)

    Also, check this out:

    In 2004 there were 1018 votes for Kerry at Carver (and 246 for Bush);

    In 2008 there were 873 votes for Obama (167 for McCain).

    Obama got 145 fewer votes than Kerry at Carver??

    Contrast this with Tonsler, another precinct in the city that is predominantly African-American:

    2004: 859 votes for Kerry (143 for Bush);

    2008: 1280 votes for Obama (167 for McCain).

    Have we lost some votes? (Paper ballots that weren’t read by the scanner?)

  • Richard says:

    Down to 6!

    Member House of Representatives
    (05)

    Last Reported: Nov 5 2008 2:20PM EST

    Virgil H. Goode, Jr. 157,421 49.97% Precincts

    Tom S. P. Perriello 157,415 49.97%

    Write In 174 0.05%

    Reporting:
    307 of 307 (100%)

    Voter Turnout:
    315,010 of 435,905 active voters (72.26%)
    315,010 of 443,740 total voters (70.98%) Votes

  • colfer says:

    Karl Ackerman, the Absentee votes went from 867 votes in year 2004 to 3515 votes in year 2008. That drains same-day voters from the other precincts.

    About race, Carver is pretty well mixed as I recall it.

    2004 vs. 2008 total votes in House 5 race:

    Central Absentee Precinct 867 – 3,515
    Conditional Votes 11 – 0 (so far)
    ****
    Recreation 1,797 – 2,595
    Clark 1,090 – 1,751
    Carver 947 – 1,048
    Walker 1,192 – 1,881
    Benjamin Tonsler 778 – 1,423
    Jefferson Park 1,649 – 2,095
    Venable 1,379 – 2,904
    Alumni Hall 834 – 1,469

    Does seem odd Carver would have the smallest increase. UVa students probably account for a lot of the increase in Alumni, Venable, Jefferson Park. For race, you can draw some pretty bright lines still, unfortunately. But they are both within and between various districts.

  • Karl Ackerman says:

    I checked your numbers, Colfer. You don’t have totals in 2004, just Al Weed’s totals. (Plus, your 2008 Jefferson Park number was incorrect.)

    http://www2.sbe.virginia.gov/web_docs/Election/Results/2004/Nov2004/detail540.htm#06005

    Here are the actual numbers:

    2004 vs. 2008 total votes in House 5 race:

    Central Absentee Precinct 1,219 – 3,515
    Conditional Votes 13 – 0 (so far)
    ****
    Recreation 2,597 – 2,595
    Clark 1,514 – 1,751
    Carver 1,227 – 1,048
    Walker 1,942 – 1,881
    Benjamin Tonsler 955 – 1,423
    Jefferson Park 2,394 – 2,185
    Venable 1,962 – 2,904
    Alumni Hall 1,097 – 1,469

    Totals: 14,920 – 18,771

    Yes, there were 2,300 more absentee votes. And ~3900 more votes period. The drop at Carver still looks odd when considered in light of how many folks we heard had voted.

  • colfer says:

    Oops, sorry. Looks like you mighta been on track…

    SBE added a bunch of Cville votes today, net 542 for Perriello! But the precinct breakdowns have not been updated.
    http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/local_govtpolitics/article/perriellos_lead_grows_by_slight_margin/30868/
    Says the Cville registrar reported it on his blog as well.

  • colfer says:

    Here’s a breakdown of new votes found in Cville.
    http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2008/11/06/goode-defeats-perriello-by-446-votes/

    “Unreported in the initial count were 2,053 Perriello votes from Jefferson Park, 1,272 Perriello votes from Tonsler Park, and 1,142 Perriello votes from the Carver Community Center. An additional 3,112 Perriello votes from absentee ballots are now part of the new total as well”

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