NCGOP Convention: Voting has ended, Roll Call #1 Underway (photos updated 7-14-09)

The speeches, cheering, and posturing are over.  The ballots have been cast for State Chairman.  We are currently undergoing a roll call vote.  Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes is tallying the votes for your blogger.   The actual "hard" vote count means little.  They must be translated into a "weighted" vote so that the smaller counties like Transylvania (seated right in from of the media table) will have as much say in the election as the largest delegation, host delegation, Wake.

Watch the voting live on Katy's Conservative Corner.

UPDATE: 5:27 p.m. Gee, this afternoon is flying by. Your blogger is exhausted and the roll call continues.  Your blogger has taken many photos these last 2 days and is taking this time to post some of them.  Please keep checking back.  We will be here for at least 2 hours more, as there is a contentious race for Vice Chairman coming up and we expect another rousing speech from Dr. Ada Fisher, NC's National Committeewoman.

UPDATE 5:35 p.m: At least one delegate has made an emergency trip to the hospital.  Conservative firebrand, and Buncombe County delegate, Zora Hays, was taken to Wake Medical Center this morning after becoming ill with some sort of allergy.  A fellow delegate has stayed behind with her, so both are missing the vote.  They were committed delegates to Tom Fetzer and David Sawyer, so those people have two fewer votes to count on.

Meanwhile, a huge number of unexpected people showed up to register as delegates this morning, causing headaches for the staff and volunteers, but making for an even more exciting convention.

UPDATE  5: 41: This vote is so tight that counties are making sure that all of their votes were properly counted.  Moore County was the last to verify.  Prior to that, Cumberland County Chairman, Suzanne Rucker stated that she needed a "math class" and re-reported her county totals.  We'll have them all for you, eventually.

Currently, the popular vote, looks like it goes to Adams, but that is most certainly UNOFFICIAL.  The votes are not official and much work still has to be done.

UPDATE 5:50: A new delegate has just asked the Chair to explain the weighted voting system.  Chairman Billy Miller  called it 

"an incredibly complicated and Byzantine formula that's in the state plan and you are welcome to read it and it's on the state GOP website" to much laughter.  There's much magic, voodoo computer way of doing the math, the chairman finished.

A delegate explained that the weighted system is to reward counties that perform well in elections, and those counties tend to be allotted more delegates.  Those delegates are then "weighted out" to determine the winner.

The convention is briefly in recess until the vote is worked out, the weighting is finalized, and a winner is either determined, or another ballot is taken.  Tom Fetzer has won the popular vote by a hair on the first ballot.   Not enough to win it outright.

UPDATE 5:55: ANOTHER VOTE MOST LIKELY NEEDED.  STAY TUNED FOLKS.  IT ISN'T OVER YET!

 

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UPDATE 6:00 p.m.: It will take 4,091 weighted votes to elect a new state chairman outright.  Chairman Billy Miller stated he was "willing to entertain a motion to elect a Vice Chairman via rock, paper, scissors."  He's now bringing his eight children on stage.  Obviously he's killing some time while the staff and number crunchers try to figure things out.  God bless Chairman Miller.  He's a real hoot.  

UPDATE 6: 02 p.m.: SECOND BALLOT NEEDED!!!!

Marcus Kindley came in 4th, and therefore is no longer on the ballot.  Fetzer won the vote on first ballot.

BILL RANDALL has also withdrawn.  It's down to two.