What's up with Missouri?

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Not much, really. Just counting the ballots...

Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Americans know who their next president will be. But voters in Missouri still aren’t quite sure which candidate their state preferred.

With John McCain leading Barack Obama there by fewer than 5,000 votes with thousands of provisional ballots yet to be counted, election-watchers have been reluctant to toss the battleground into either candidate’s column, and it will still be days before the outcome is finally resolved.
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“It looks like we’re going to have about 6,300 [provisional ballots] that are going to be reviewed statewide,” said Laura Egerdal, a spokeswoman for the Missouri secretary of state, adding that about 2,000 of those ballots will come from heavily Democratic St. Louis County.

But though those ballots provide a glimmer of hope for the Obama campaign, even Democrats concede that it would be an astonishing turn of events for their candidate to overtake McCain.

“It’s possible, but unlikely,” said Jack Cardetti, communications director for the Missouri Democratic Party. “We’re obviously watching to make sure that every eligible voter that wanted to cast a vote was able to.”
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Whatever little doubt remains about the state’s presidential preference will probably be resolved next week, according to Egerdal. The deadline for counties to send their final tallies to state election authorities is fast approaching: local authorities must post their election returns by Tuesday. A few weeks later, on Dec. 9, state officials will certify a final vote count to determine the winner of the state’s electoral votes.
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“With an election this close, it just makes sense to wait until all the votes are tallied, and probably to wait until they are certified,” said CBS News survey director Kathy Frankovic, who helps manage the network’s election decision desk.

The Associated Press, from which many news organizations get their information on election returns, has also deemed Missouri too close to call, and an AP spokesman said Friday that the wire service “continues to follow the Missouri situation closely.”

We really wish they'd hurry up. We need to declare a contest winner.