【英语国际】美国中期选战激烈 重新计票或难避免

The outcome of a handful of close Senate races might not be known on election night -- or even soon after -- which could leave control of the chamber unclear for weeks.

Contests that will help determine whether Democrats maintain their majority -- including those in Colorado, Illinois, Nevada and Washington -- remain tight heading into Election Day. A margin of a few hundred votes in a race raises the likelihood of recounts and ballot challenges that could drag on for weeks.

Lawyers from both parties are gearing up for such fights, and allegations of impropriety flew in the campaign's final hours.

The Democratic National Committee said it expected to deploy nearly 10,000 lawyers and other trained monitors as part of its 'voter protection' effort.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has sent out email fund-raising appeals with the headline: 'Don't Let Them Steal This Election.'

The Justice Department, which investigates election crimes, said its Civil Rights Division plans to deploy more than 400 federal observers and department personnel to 30 jurisdictions in 18 states.

Colorado and Washington have laws providing for automatic recounts, as do 15 other states, according to an analysis carried out by the nonpartisan advocacy group Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota.

In Colorado, an automatic recount begins if the top candidate's margin of victory is 0.5% or less of the total votes that candidate received. It starts no later than 25 days after the election, and must be completed within five days.

In Washington, it won't necessarily be clear Tuesday if a mandatory recount is likely because almost every voter there mails in their ballot. Those postmarked Tuesday will be counted when they are delivered, which might not be until Wednesday or later. Candidates are unlikely to concede in a close race until they know the results of these remaining ballots, or at least how many there are.

'We're very aware of the possibility of a recount in Washington,' said state elections director Nick Handy. After a disputed 2004 governor's race, Washington changed some procedures, and it now inspects each ballot before it is counted, and checks it against a voter registration database. That is designed to minimize the probability of ballot challenges, Mr. Handy said.

Most states allow candidates to request recounts, regardless of the initial results, if they agree to pay for it. The state typically picks up the costs if the outcome is reversed.

Voting disputes have already flared in some states. In Pennsylvania, local party officials have traded allegations of improprieties over the handling of absentee ballots. The Ohio secretary of state's office said Monday it was opening a probe into complaints that a restaurant owner threatened to withhold raises for employees depending on the outcome of three races.

美国此次中期选举中，几个争夺激烈的参议员席位周二晚间可能无法落实归属，甚至选举结束后也无法立即出结果，这或许会使民主党和共和党谁将控制国会参议院的问题几周之内都无法明了。

Getty Images佛罗里达州选票统计部门收到的邮寄选票在选举日逐渐临近的那几天，民主党和共和党在科罗拉多、伊利诺伊、内华达和华盛顿州的参议员席位争夺战仍然难分胜负，这些州参议员席位的归属有可能决定民主党能否继续在国会参议院拥有多数席位。如果竞选双方的最终得票数只相差几百，则有可能导致重新点算选票或失败一方对选举结果提出异议，这种局面或许会导致选举结果在几周之内都无法最终确定。

两党的律师们正摩拳擦掌准备迎接这类战斗，在选战的最后时刻有关选举行为不当的指控不绝于耳。

民主党全国委员会说，作为其“选民保护”努力的一部分，它预计将安排10,000名律师和其他训练有素的监督人员来监看选举进程。

共和党参议院全国委员会(National Republican Senatorial Committee)已经用邮件方式发出了资金募集求助信，信件的标题是“别让他们窃取此次选举”。

负责调查选举犯罪的美国司法部说，其民权司(Civil Rights Division)计划向18个州的30个选区安排400多名联邦观察员和司法部工作人员。

无党派顾问团体明尼苏达公民正直选举机构(Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota)所做的分析显示，科罗拉多、华盛顿和其他15个州都有自动重新点算选票的法律。

在科罗拉多州，如果最高得票者的领先票数在其总得票数的0.5%以下，那么就需要自动对选票进行重新点算。重新计算选票的工作要在选举结束25天内开始，必须在五天之内完成。

在华盛顿州，由于几乎每个选民都是用邮寄方式寄回自己所填选票的，是否需要强制性重新点算选票周二未必能见分晓。那些被打上周二邮戳的选票回执要在寄达后计算，因此它们可能要到周三甚至更晚才能被点算。在竞争激烈的选举中，这些周二以后计算的选票完成统计或至少知道这类选票的数量有多少前，不大可能有候选人承认败选。

华盛顿州选举负责人韩迪(Nick Handy)说，该州很有可能重新点算选票。在2004年的州长选举出现争议后，华盛顿州对选举程序作了一些修改，现在每张选票在点算前会对照一个选民登记数据库接受检查。韩迪说，此举旨在尽可能降低候选人对选票提出争议的可能性。

美国大多数州都规定，无论第一次计票的结果如何，候选人都可以要求重新计算选票，只要他同意支付重新计票的费用。如果重新计票的结果是推翻了原来的选举结果，那么州政府通常会承担重新计票的费用。

一些州已经出现了选举争议。在宾夕法尼亚州，两党在当地的党务人员已在相互指控对方在处理缺席选票方面存在不当行为。俄亥俄州州务卿办公室周一说，正在对一起投诉进行调查，据称一个餐馆老板威胁说，要视三项选举的结果来决定是否给员工加薪。