With great thanks to georgia10/link and http://www.dailykos.com/... who've been covering this race so well!
And depending on who you talk to, the number of uncounted votes could be as high as 200,000.
UPDATE 6:50
Man, it's flying fast and furious. What really gets to Katherin Harris
Karen Handel, OMG! Per WSB.TV
Georgia's Secretary of State has launched a full investigation and may seek criminal charges against three Georgia men who appear to have early-voted twice.
"This is extraordinarily disturbing," said Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Apparently not disturbing was the discovery this evening of 10,000 ballots that were "lost," then found sometime later. Military ballots are yet to be counted.
Have just received email from Martin campaign:
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 17:25:55 -0500
Subject: We're in a Runoff!
We now know that there will be a runoff on December 2nd between Saxby Chambliss and me. With your continued support, I am confident that we will prevail.
America has elected Barack Obama President, and now is the time for all of us to help him succeed. In the Senate, I'll do what's best for Georgia, what's best for our country, and what's best for the middle class folks who've been ignored the past eight years.
I think that starts with helping Barack Obama succeed, not undercutting him for partisan advantage or to protect special interests. And that's the difference in this runoff election. I will do everything I can to help Barack Obama change Washington and get our economy moving again. Saxby Chambliss will do just the opposite.
This runoff will be over in the blink of an eye. We can return this Senate seat to someone who will follow in the traditions of Russell, Nunn, and Cleland, rather than someone who, for the past six years, has been a rubber stamp for George Bush and Dick Cheney. But we will only be able to do so with the support of friends like you.
Your contribution of $500, $250, $100, $50, or whatever you can give, will make a real difference. Contribute here
Last night, America spoke. And last night, Georgia spoke as well - a majority voted against sending Saxby Chambliss back to Washington. In 27 days, we can make that a reality. Together, we can make a real difference. Yes we can
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Here's from latest AJC website http://www.ajc.com/...
"With 99 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday afternoon, Chambliss had 1,841,449 votes, or 49.9 percent of the total, while Martin had 1,727,625 votes, or 47 percent. Libertarian Allen Buckley had 126,328 votes, or 3 percent.
Secretary of State Karen Handel said the election results will not be officially certified until sometime next week.
"Any run-offs will be announced upon certification," Handel said in a statement released Wednesday.
That didn’t stop the Associated Press from declaring the Chambliss-Martin race a runoff, even though ballots still were being counted.
Chambliss and Martin both said they didn’t know how many votes are outstanding — Martin estimated it could be 200,000, but admitted that was only a guess based on projected turnout.
Fulton County still had about 12,000 early votes to tabulate. Those were votes cast on voting machines during early voting.
In addition, Fulton had up to 40,000 paper ballots to tabulate. The county got requests for about 40,000 paper ballots, said Justine Boyd, chairwoman of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections. She did not know the total number of paper ballots mailed back into the county or how many had yet to be counted.
But Mark Henderson, a spokesman for Fulton’s election office, said absentee ballots were still being counted Wednesday.
"Traditionally, we get more absentee ballots from the north part of the county; that leads me to believe it’s majority Republican," he said.
Fulton County is the only county still counting large numbers of ballots, according to Handel’s office. Other ballots that could come in and influence the race are provisional ballots and those from military and overseas residents, said Matt Carrothers, a spokesman for Handel’s office."
For those wondering about provisional ballots (remember them?), see comment for an excellent essay.