Heath Shuler- United States Representative

Their not all computerized, plus there are the absentee and provisional ballots to count.

The last time we did this (last cycle,) it lasted till December and nothing major changed. So this will probably take a while and wont change the outcome.

All precincts in Virginia are Help America Vote Act compliant as of May 06, which means computers or optical scans instead of paper ballots or punch cards.

The absentees are also generally optimal scan cards -- so they get recounted by being fed back into the scanner.

The provisionals only count if the voter is actually registered in the precinct they were cast in -- but if the voter were registered in that precinct, he'd be in the precinct log book, so the provisionals almost never count unless the volunteer and voter just messed up and couldn't find the voter in the log book. In Virginia, if you move within the same county and you vote in a different precinct than the one you're registered in by using a provisional ballot, by law your vote cannot count.

You're right that it won't change anything. There are no punch cards or paper ballots with marks in Virginia.