Attention elections officials across the state: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is asking that you all count the votes "promptly, accurately and equally."
We weren't aware that everyone was just lollygagging and kind of just eyeballing the amount of votes for any given candidate, but now that the top Democrat in Congress is involved, we're sure this matter will be resolved immediately.
See also:
-Ken Bennett Says 342,936 Ballots Left
-Spy on the Maricopa County Elections Department if You Have Nothing Better to Do
-Activists Urge Penzone, Carmona, to Retract Concessions
For some reason, Reid released a statement on the uncounted votes in Arizona -- more than 342,000 at last check -- and appears to be joining people who find the uncounted-ballot situation in Maricopa County, and across the state, a bit fishy.
Here's Reid's statement:
"All of the votes in Arizona must be counted promptly, accurately and equally. The uncounted votes in Maricopa County alone represent a major portion of the total votes cast in Arizona on Tuesday.
"In light of the Supreme Court's decision to hear challenges to the Voting Rights Act, we are reminded that the right to vote is the foundation of our democracy. That right is not secure when some votes are counted while others are suppressed or ignored. I expect state and local officials in Arizona to ensure that every vote is counted promptly, accurately and equally."
Reid's reference to the challenges to the Voting Rights Act are related to the Justice Department's needing to approve states' changes to voting procedures.
Just yesterday, Maricopa County elections spokeswoman Yvonne Reed told our colleague Stephen Lemons that the DoJ approved the moves that appear to have caused the messy situation.
As Lemons noted, redistricting -- causing some people to show up at the wrong polling locations -- and consolidation of the number of polling locations are probably causing the rise in the number of provisional ballots being cast.
The county still has to tabulate about 122,000 provisional ballots.
Although some have cried conspiracy -- that Democrat voters were being put through all the hoops to vote, or their votes weren't being counted immediately for a reason -- the theories haven't really panned out. The ballots counted in recent days haven't really changed the leads in the hotly contested races.