NASHVILLE (AP) - Voters who cast provisional ballots in the election involving scandal-plagued U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais have until the close of business today to present proper identification so their votes count. But election officials say it could still be days before all the provisional ballots are counted.
Unofficial vote tallies show that DesJarlais has a 35-vote lead over opponent Jim Tracy in the Republican primary. But those figures do not include the provisional ballots.
Both DesJarlais and Tracy have declared themselves the winner of the primary, and both have hired attorneys.
DesJarlais, a Jasper physician who was first elected to office in 2010 on an anti-abortion platform, admitted in divorce proceedings that he'd had multiple affairs and encouraged a mistress to have an abortion.