Yes, every vote does count, especially in Virginia

Washingtonpost.com:

But senators were also bracing for a potential power struggle. The chamber has been evenly split since 2012 but under GOP control because the lieutenant governor, who presides over the chamber and decides most tie votes, was a Republican. On Saturday, that tiebreaking authority shifts from Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) to Lt. Gov.-elect Ralph S. Northam (D).

Northam’s new office, however, gives Republicans a chance to take his seat, and with it outright control of the chamber. After a special election Tuesday, Del. Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. (D-Accomack) led Wayne Coleman (R), the owner of a Norfolk shipping company, by the slimmest of margins: 10 votes out of more than 20,000 cast, according to the State Board of Elections.

That narrow margin — 0.04 percent — entitles Coleman to a recount if the numbers hold. Local election boards began canvassing Wednesday to make sure their results were correct, a process that will continue into Thursday. The elections board is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Friday to certify the results, after which the loser could request a recount.

Coleman has not said whether he will ask for a recount, but he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that he was “committed to ensuring that every legitimate vote cast is fairly counted.”

Republicans have a chance to take another Senate seat, this one being vacated by Attorney General-elect Mark R. Herring (D). Herring’s successor will be chosen in a Jan. 21 special election that could not be called until Herring’s own race — tied up for weeks in a statewide recount — was settled.

If the Democrats hold both of those seats, they hope to reorganize the Senate in ways that will make it easier to control what legislation makes it to the floor and what dies in committee. They will be in for a fight from Republicans, who intend to argue that the Senate was organized for a full four-year term back in 2012.

First the attorney general and now the senator from Accomack County, every vote does count.  A ten vote difference determines who controls the Virginia Senate.  Now that is just scary.

The next election day that anyone is tempted to stay home, thinking that their vote doesn’t count any way, needs to think about both of these races.  Every vote really can end up being critical.  At a time when American cynicism is at its high water mark, Americans should look at how close these two races were and what it means to have each party in power.  Ten votes? UFB. So that’s what it all comes down to.