City election officials say that earlier problems with slow-moving precinct counts are being resolved. But it still promises to be a long night. Workers started counting the more than 12,000 absentee ballots after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Some of the ballots were read by machine, but workers had to count others by hand.

The absentee ballots are especially crucial in the mayoral race, with districts 3 and 5 coming in tight. They could make the difference between a Mayor Dwight Jones, who just stepped into his party at the Paradise Lounge, or a Mayor Bill Pantele, who addressed his supporters earlier tonight about the close results. — Scott Bass