Montgomery, AL – Alabama's chief election official says there were fewer provisional ballots from Tuesday's primary election than the gubernatorial primary four years ago. That could make it harder for Tim James to overcome a 208-vote deficit and get into the Republican runoff for governor.
Secretary of State Beth Chapman says there appears to be 1,790 provisional ballots. It's unknown how many are Democratic and how many are Republican.
There were 2,376 provisional ballots in the 2006 primary, and 829 ballots - or slightly more than one-third - were counted as legitimate ballots.
The counting of provisional ballots next week will determine whether Robert Bentley stays in second place or James moves up. Bradley Byrne finished first Tuesday and is already in the runoff on July 13.
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