Democrat Chris Biggs jumped ahead Friday to a 4,660-vote lead in the super-tight attorney generalâÂÂs race.

Whether it lasts remains to be seen.

His opponent, Republican Phill Kline, says it wonâÂÂt.

âÂÂWeâÂÂre ahead,â Kline maintained. âÂÂOur numbers are more up to date than what are on the secretary of stateâÂÂs Web site. And our numbers put us up by 3,786 votes with 5,599 yet to be counted.âÂÂ

Kline led Biggs by 3,032 votes Friday morning. But as election officials in each of the stateâÂÂs 105 counties sorted through provisional ballots, the lead switch to Biggs.

Provisional ballots are those cast by voters who may not be eligible to vote. They are set aside for review by county election officials and, if approved, are added to the final tally.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, election officials in 76 of the stateâÂÂs 105 counties had forwarded their provisional-ballot totals to the Kansas Secretary of StateâÂÂs Office.

Not yet in are the numbers from Shawnee, Sedgwick and Johnson counties. The three counties began counting provisional ballots but have not yet finished. TheyâÂÂre due Monday.

Because the Secretary of StateâÂÂs Office will be closed Monday for Veterans Day, the official totals likely wonâÂÂt be announced until Tuesday.

In the general election Tuesday, Biggs won Sedgwick and Shawnee counties but lost Johnson County.

âÂÂOut of the 5,599 provisional votes that are still out there, 2,884 are in Johnson County,â Kline said. âÂÂAnd for Biggs to catch me, heâÂÂll have to get 83.82 percent of them. He wonâÂÂt; I won Johnson County by 19,000 votes.âÂÂ

Both Biggsâ and KlineâÂÂs campaigns had observers in most county courthouses Friday, recording their final tallies.

Biggsâ camp claimed neither victory nor defeat.

âÂÂThis wonâÂÂt be over until Tuesday, and thereâÂÂll probably be a recount after that,â said Biggs spokeswoman Cindy Luxem. âÂÂWeâÂÂre not throwing in the towel.âÂÂ

Douglas CountyâÂÂs provisional ballots were counted Friday, raising the countyâÂÂs final count to Biggs with 18,937 votes and Kline, 11,664.

âÂÂKline picked up 248 provisional ballots, Biggs picked up 469,â said Douglas County Commissioner Charles Jones, a member of the countyâÂÂs board of canvassers.

âÂÂThatâÂÂs almost identical to the percentages of everybody else who voted,â said Douglas County Clerk Patty Jaimes.

Of the 1,078 provisional ballots set aside in Douglas County, 696 were added to the final count, 382 were not.

âÂÂMost of the ones that werenâÂÂt counted were first-time registrants âÂÂ:quot; that is, people who moved in but hadnâÂÂt registered to vote,â Jaimes said. âÂÂBut we also had 86 advance ballots that werenâÂÂt counted because they came back without a signature.âÂÂ

Besides the provisional ballots, the final tally included 21 ballots that could not be counted by machine.

Jaimes explained that to prevent running out of ballots, one of the precincts used photocopies of a blank ballot.

These photocopied ballots were valid but had to be counted by hand.