Absentee ballot count for U.S. Senate to begin Tuesday

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — There is tension in the campaigns of both Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller as both wait for the absentee ballot vote count to begin Tuesday.

As it readies to count around 30,000 absentee ballot, the Division of Elections is confident the process is working exactly as it should.

“The absentee and questioned ballots from the 2010 general election are following the statutory provisions that are followed in every election,” said Gail Fenumiai, Division of Elections.

But Joe Miller's campaign is still concerned it's not getting a fair shake and has concerns about the absentee ballot count.

“We just want to make sure that the rule of law is applied. That we make sure people are following the process and we aren't making it up as we go along. We've seen some things that give us concern that things are changed as we progress,” said Miller.

Murkowski's campaign declined an interview ahead of the count, but released this statement, "We look forward to the process that the Division of Elections will undertake and we fully expect every Alaskan vote to be counted."

“This is our job and the people here handle it really well and, like I said, the process has remained the same. No matter how intrigued the public is by races, no matter how heated it gets between different campaigns, our job is our job and we do it the same from election to election,” said Fenumiai.

Counting will take place Tuesday in Juneau, Anchorage, Wasilla and Fairbanks.