<p>RICHMOND, Va. &mdash; Counting commenced Sunday afternoon at a hotel in Richmond to tabulate the votes cast by tens of thousands of Virginia Republicans <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-wire-virginia-biden-cabinet-election-2020-health-013c6d1add0d98e763e938b247be8ea6">a day earlier</a> in the party’s nominating contest for governor and other statewide offices. </p>
<p>The several dozen people managing the hand-counting effort began their work with the attorney general contest, John March, a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia said. </p>
<p>March said it’s a possibility that at least the attorney general nominee could be declared Sunday. He said the governor’s race would be counted second, followed by the lieutenant governor’s race.</p>
<p>Officials have warned it may take multiple days to finish the counting, which was complicated by the ranked-choice voting method used, as well as a proportional representation system awarded each city and county.</p>
<p>The GOP opted, after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-biden-cabinet-primary-elections-virginia-elections-6b513b58fcfe3afae3b2d504014822f6">a bitter, drawn-out fight</a>, to hold what it called <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dc-wire-virginia-biden-cabinet-election-2020-health-013c6d1add0d98e763e938b247be8ea6">an unassembled convention</a> on Saturday. Because pandemic restrictions ban mass gatherings, delegates cast ballots Saturday at nearly 40 polling sites statewide.</p>
<p>The Republican candidates for attorney general are: Leslie Haley, a law firm partner and elected official in Chesterfield County; state Del. Jason Miyares; Chuck Smith, a former U.S. Navy JAG commander; and Jack White, a minister, Army veteran and former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. </p>
<p>Democrats will choose their nominees for statewide offices in a primary June 8. In that party’s nominating contest for attorney general, state Del. Jay Jones is challenging incumbent Mark Herring. </p>
<p>The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-republican-convention-remote-vote/2021/05/09/5becf312-ad12-11eb-acd3-24b44a57093a_story.html">reported </a> that the start of Sunday’s vote-counting was briefly delayed after a housekeeper entered the ballroom where the ballots were stored and snapped tamper-proof tape that had been used to seal the room. That set off a frenzy to investigate and review video to make sure nothing was amiss, according to the newspaper. </p>