By Shane D'Aprile - 11/04/10 01:34 PM ET
Don't expect a quick verdict in Washington state's Senate contest between incumbent Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Republican Dino Rossi.
Murray has padded her vote lead over Rossi — she now leads by some 27,000 votes, according to unofficial numbers from the state board of elections. So far, more than 1.6 million ballots have been counted.
Democrats see positive signs in the numbers for Murray, pointing to her commanding margin over Rossi in King County. Some 171,000 ballots are still uncounted in that Democrat-heavy county.
Still, close to 600,000 ballots have yet to be counted statewide with elections officials continuing the count throughout the day Thursday.
It's a typically slow process in Washington given the state's system of mail in balloting. The vast majority of voters cast their ballots via mail and as long as the ballot is postmarked by midnight on Election Day, it counts. In addition, some counties in the state are without ballot sorting machines, forcing a manual count of votes.
On top of the nearly 600,000 ballots still uncounted, thousands more are likely on their way, according to the state board of elections. There's also a total of 55,000 overseas and military ballots that have until November 22 to reach elections officials.
Given the current count University of Washington Political Science Professor Matt Barreto is forecasting a sizable win for Murray when all is said and done. Based on the counties where ballots are still outstanding, he predicts the incumbent will only continue to increase her lead as the votes are counted, making a Rossi comeback unlikely.
For an automatic recount, Rossi would have to whittle Murray's margin down to less than 2,000 votes.
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