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Richard Piatt Reporting Here in Utah some races still aren't decided and thousands of ballots still need to be counted. That has some candidates on pins and needles, but it will take a couple weeks before close races are really final.
On Election Night the saying is: It's not over till it's over; but it's not really completely over on election night, in a close race.
Sherrie Swensen, Salt Lake County Clerk: "It's not really over until all the provisional ballots are counted and the results are certified."
This year there are a number of close races, all waiting for the work in one room to wrap up. It's where paper, mail-in and provisional ballots are checked and counted.
In Salt Lake County there are almost 8-thousand of those ballots, and each one of them needs to be hand processed. It's going to take weeks. Mail-in and paper ballots bump the total to about 10-thousand ballots that are still uncounted.
That might make a difference in several Legislative races. In District 22 a republican took the seat by just 25 votes. There was a 32 vote difference in District 45, and Speaker Greg Curtis won by 46 votes. In each case, a recount is also automatic.
That makes Democrat Jay Seegmiller cautiously hopeful.
Jay Seegmiller, (D) Candidate For Utah House: "I have some anticipation. It's hard to say how many votes are still out there."
The uncounted and recount issue is not enough for Republicans to hold off leadership elections Friday, where Curtis is expected to be re-elected as speaker.
Chris Bleak, House Speaker Chief of Staff: "Elections are often close, and rarely does the outcome change, so we're going to move forward and if we need to adjust, we'll adjust accordingly."
It is true that results rarely change, but to candidates who have invested a lot into their campaigns, a close defeat has its own bitter taste in the end.
