(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-15 10:45

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton finally won the popular vote in New Mexico's Democratic caucus and picked up one extra delegate Thursday, nine days after Super Tuesday voting ended.

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, February 14, 2008. [Agencies]

State Democratic Chairman Brian Colon made the announcement after a marathon hand count of 17,000 provisional ballots that had to be given to voters on Feb. 5 because of long lines and a shortage of ballots. The final statewide count gave her a 1,709-vote edge over rival Sen. Barack Obama, 73,105 or 48.8 percent of the total vote to 71,396 or 47.6 percent.

The former first lady's victory in the popular vote swung the final unallocated New Mexico delegate into her column, which gave Clinton 14 delegates in the state to 12 for Obama.

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With the addition of New Mexico's delegate, the national delegate count stood at 1,276 for Obama and 1,220 for Clinton on Thursday.

"I am so proud to have earned the support of New Mexicans from across the state," Clinton said in a written statement. "New Mexicans want real solutions to our nation's challenges. As president, I will continue to stand up for New Mexico and will hit the ground running on day one to bring about real change."

The Obama campaign appeared to accept the outcome.

Obama's state director, Carlos Monje Jr., was asked Thursday if he was confident the results were 100 percent accurate and replied, "We have confidence in the process." Asked if Obama might seek a recount, he said Obama has momentum from eight wins since Super Tuesday and "we are going to look forward at the contests we have remaining."

Monje said there were some "troubling aspects" in the conduct of the caucus, including "incredibly long lines that kept people from voting," but he saw their solution in the future. "We're going to continue to work with the New Mexico Democratic state party to make sure the next election goes more smoothly."

Of the 22 states that held Democratic primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, New Mexico was the last to report a winner. The caucus here was run by the state Democratic party rather than by state government.

Colon, who came under fire for his handling of the troubled election, thanked the hundreds of volunteers who counted the ballots. The final figures "have been double and triple checked," he said in a televised announcement.

New Mexico Democrats call their contest a caucus, but it's not like Iowa's caucuses where voters gather in gyms, churches or meeting rooms, divide into groups for each candidate, try to attract more support from other groups, and then count each group. Rather it more closely resembles a "firehall primary" -- a primary with shorter voting hours and fewer voting sites than would be found in traditional state primaries.

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