Short answer = highly unlikely.
Democrat Conor Lamb declared victory early Wednesday morning in the special election to represent Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, but Republican Rick Saccone hasn't conceded and the race is technically still too close to call.
So can Saccone make up Lamb's current 627-vote advantage?
Here’s the breakdown.
The following vote totals were taken from county election websites representing voters in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington and Greene counties:
So 113,813 versus 113,186 = 627 votes separating Lamb and Saccone.
There are still a few hundred more votes that officials need to count, including some absentee and provisional ballots, as well as those from members of the military or residents overseas.
Those exceptions, explained:
Absentee ballots
The numbers in the chart above reflect regular ballots cast at the polls and absentee ballots from all four counties, but they exclude some absentee ballots that have not yet been counted in Allegheny County because they were folded or stuck to another ballot.
Allegheny County officials said Wednesday that 112 absentee ballots were not scanned into the system Tuesday night.
Provisional ballots
Officials say they plan to begin counting provisional ballots by the end of this week. Again, the following numbers come from county elections officials:
**Westmoreland County’s elections director told WESA she didn’t have an exact count but said there wouldn’t be more than 100 provisional ballots.
Military and overseas residents' ballots
Ballots from members of the military or residents overseas must be received by next Tuesday, March 20, to be counted, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
A spokesperson for the department said up to 188 ballots could be coming in this way.
To recap: 112 absentee ballots + 318 provisional ballots + 188 military/overseas ballots = 618 ballots that have yet to be counted.
Lamb is up by 627 votes, and there are up to 618 votes up for grabs, making a Saccone victory almost impossible to achieve.
Note: Republicans could still seek a recount or recanvass, though Allegheny County officials say they have not received notice of any legal action being taken by any party or campaign at this time.
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