The long and short of it. The numbers in the outstanding precincts conclusively prove that Webb wins the unofficial count. Stick a fork in it.
These are the results as of 1:21AM from the official Virginia State Board of Elections website:
J H Webb Jr Democratic 1,152,600 49.43%
G F Allen Republican 1,151,076 49.36%
These are the unofficial results. The official results are from the canvases starting tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. As we saw with the Deeds-McDonnell Attorney-General race last year in Virginia, the results change (it went from about 2,000 to 323 overnight). Why? Mostly due to human error. Results of election night are phoned in to the Virginia State Boards of Elections on election night. As a result, people transpose numbers, etc. Moreover, provisional ballots are not counted until the day after.
During the official canvas, the "master" machine in each precinct (the machine that holds the results from all of the "slave" machines) is brought to the county seat, where the vote from each machine is specifically tallied under the watchful eye of pretty much everyone in a case like this. These are the official results that are used for any court challenges, etc. This can take days because of places like Fairfax. Can you imagine tallying the votes from each of the bazillion precincts (okay, 229) in Fairfax one at a time? Exactly.
Only with the official results from the canvas can any recount be done. Get it?
So, get ready for a doozy of couple days folks. And don't worry. The Democratic Party has a great legal team on the ground.
As for the election, here are the precincts that have not reported yet:
Arlington County Central Absentee Precinct ( C008) - 3,228 votes cast in 2005 with 45.6% advantage for Kaine
This precinct is going to be ridiculously Democratic.
Fairfax County Central Absentee Precinct ( C011) - 7,520 votes cast in 2005 with 35.1% advantage for Kaine
Also ridiculously Democratic.
Halifax County Central Absentee Precinct ( C005) - 239 votes cast in 2005 with 64.0% for Kilgore
Advantage Allen, but tiny number of votes.
Isle of Wight County Raynor (0505) - 177 votes cast in 2005 with 28.9% advantage for Kilgore
Negligible advantage for Allen.
James City County Central Absentee Precinct ( C001) - 1,107 votes cast in 2005 with 3.5% advantage to Kilgore
James City County Central Absentee Precinct ( C003) - O votes cast in 2005
I find that second one hard to believe, but whatever. Again, miniscule Allen advantage.
Loudon County Central Absentee Precinct ( C010) - 2,675 cast in 2005 with 6.8% advantage for Kaine.
Nothing really to glean here. Allen did better than Kilgore, so probably a wash.
Fairfax City Central Absentee Precinct ( C011) - 377 votes cast in 2005 with 19.6% advantage to Kaine
Some Webb. Not much. Still no big offsets for Allen.
Richmond City Central Absentee Precinct ( C003) - 998 votes cast in 2005 with 56.3% advantage to Kaine
Richmond City Central Absentee Precinct ( C007) - 630 votes cast in 2005 with 17.9% advantage to Kaine
Richmond City Two Hundred Twelve (0212) - 138 votes cast in 2005 with 92% advantage to Kaine
Richmond City Four Hundred Thirteen (0413) - 1,781 votes cast in 2005 with 16.1% advantage to Kaine
Webb is not as popular in Richmond as compared to Kaine, but Allen can't make up that much ground.
Virginia Beach City Central Absentee Precinct ( C002) - 2,881 votes cast in 2005 with 0.3% advantage to Kilgore
Webb didn't do as well here, but still, no margins big enough to upset the huge margins in Arlington or Fairfax.
Stick a fork in it. Webb has won! At least until the canvas.