Election results certified, winners unchanged

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Although the vote totals are different from those reported on Election Night, none of the outcomes in the various races Missourians decided on Nov. 2 changed as the official results were certified on Wednesday.

"I'm still the next governor," Secretary of State Matt Blunt said. "I checked that one myself."

The official tally in the gubernatorial race, however, shaved two-tenths of a percentage point off of Blunt's margin of victory over State Auditor Claire McCaskill. Blunt, a Republican, ultimately finished with 50.8 percent support compared to 47.9 percent for McCaskill, a Democrat.

Of the seven offices on the statewide ballot, the winners ended prevailing by fewer votes than originally reported in six. The exception was the attorney general's race in which incumbent Democrat Jay Nixon ended up with a wider lead over Republican Chris Byrd. With extra votes counted, Nixon finished with 60 percent support to become the only candidate on the statewide ballot to hit that mark this year.

In the contest for lieutenant governor, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, a Republican, finished a mere 13,814 votes ahead of Democrat and fellow Cape Girardeau resident Bekki Cook out of roughly 2.65 million ballots cast. The revised figure cut 2,441 votes from Kinder's original win margin.

Kinder ended up with 48.9 percent of the statewide vote compared to 48.4 percent for Cook.

The election results were certified by the State Board of Canvassers. The panel consists of Blunt, who is Missouri's top elections official, and Cole County Circuit Court Judges Thomas Brown III and Thomas Sodergren.

Blunt said the differences between the initial and final results came from the addition of provisional ballots and corrections to vote totals reported by local election authorities.

Of the 8,183 provisional ballots cast, Blunt said 3,292 were counted. Provisional balloting allows a voter whose eligibility is questioned to tentatively cast a ballot, which is set aside pending verification of the voter's registration.

Blunt put overall voter turnout for the general election at 65 percent.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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