Meekins predicted the absentee ballots would favor Harris. The GOP traditionally has pushed absentee voting; Meekins pointed to several apparent Democratic victories in the state legislative races two years ago that were pulled out by Republicans after absentee voters were included.
Absentee ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be counted. The process will be kept open through next week to allow time for ballots to arrive at the county boards.
Elections manager Donna Duncan said the state board would post a running tally of the district vote on its Web site.
That the race would be so close seemed unlikely nine months ago, when Harris stormed into the general election with an 11-percentage point primary win over Gilchrest. Republicans circulated an internal poll showing Harris with a 15-point lead over Kratovil.
But an open seat, a toxic political environment for the GOP and lots of outside money gave Kratovil an opening. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the 40-year-old prosecutor to its Red to Blue program, which looks to make inroads in traditional Republican strongholds, and poured $1.3 million into the district.
The anti-tax Club for Growth spent $1.8 million backing Harris. The 51-year-old anesthesiologist also enjoyed the endorsement of Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, who said the district deserved a representative who reflected its conservatism.
Gilchrest crossed party lines to endorse Kratovil.
As the race tightened - public and private polls in the weeks before the election showed a statistical dead heat - the advertising grew nastier. Amid the charges and counter-charges, a Harris television advertisement called Kratovil "clueless, liberal and very wrong;" a Kratovil spot declared: "Andy Harris. His ideas are just way out there."
At the polls Tuesday, voters expressed disappointment in the sniping.
In separate statements yesterday, the candidates struck a more neutral tone. Kratovil said the backing of Republicans, Democrats and independents had been "heartwarming."
"That support carried me to a clear lead in this election at the polling places even as John McCain carried our district by a significant margin," he said. "The most important thing right now is to make sure all remaining votes are counted."
Harris expressed "complete confidence in our election system."
"My parents immigrated to the United States to flee communism with the hope of a better life for themselves and their children," he said. "Their experience taught me early on to believe in and trust the democratic process in America, where we have a fair and just system of laws in place to make sure every vote cast is counted fairly."
