The state of Alaska's election results so far today.

A week after Election Day, about 30 percent of the votes that will decide the fate of embattled U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens still haven't been counted.

The Alaska Division of Elections expects to count most of the roughly 90,000 early, absentee ballots or questioned ballots remaining today.

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history, leads Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, by 3,257 votes.

Why are there so many votes left uncounted so long after the election?

Elections director Gail Fenumiai says there's always a lag in counting absentee votes in Alaska, where far-flung communities and sometimes erratic mail delivery mean ballots can trickle in for days.

"It's not really taking any longer," Fenumiai said.

The most remote areas do not have daily mail service, which slows the process, Fenumiai said.

I heard Ms. Fenuman make this same point on a local radio talk show this morning. And I think that most progressives are very aware of that. Our problem is the question of why there are so many early votes that are not yet counted, because the reason that has been given is that ALL early votes cast after October 30 were saved, and would not to be counted until after November 4th. Which just seems odd.

As is the question of WHERE all of these absentee ballots are coming from. They now number 61,000, which represents a rather large number of registered voters.

And since Alaska has a history of election hanky panky it is in the interest of everybody to keep a close eye on this. Oh well I will try to be patient and wait and see what the day brings.

BREAKING NEWS!!! I just got off of the phone with Celtic Diva who is watching the absentee and early ballot counting and she informs me that Mark Begich is only 700 votes behind convicted felon Ted Stevens. Now that is very good news!

And in the close race for House District 19 Republican Bob Roses has clearly been defeated by Democrat Pete Peterson, which gives us at least one more progressive seat in the House.

Update: Begich is now ahead of Stevens by 3 votes!!! I don't think my heart can take this.