The top state election official said Friday that absentee ballots received after polls closed on election day cannot be counted.

That state law apparently all but dashes the re-election chances of U.S. Rep. David Davis, R-1st, who had told The Greeneville Sun late Thursday night that he believed there are enough absentee ballots not yet received by local election commissions in the district to reverse his apparent loss in Thursday's Republican Primary.

That's not all. On Friday afternoon, Davis told the Sun in a telephone interview that he is having a constitutional attorney look into whether Democrats voting in the GOP Primary violated an obscure state law.

Rep. Davis, a one-term incumbent congressman from Johnson City, was apparently defeated by Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe in the race for the Republican nomination.

The unofficial district-wide tally reported by the Associated Press, with all precincts counted, showed Roe defeating Davis 25,916 to 25,416, a 500-vote margin. The numbers give Roe approximately 50.5 percent of the vote, Davis approximately 49.5 percent.

Winning the GOP nomination for Congress in the heavily Republican First District is considered practically a guarantee of election. The Republican nominee for U.S. Representative has won every general election since the 1930s.

First District GOP congressional primaries have often been close, especially when there is no incumbent in the race.

In 1996, Bill Jenkins won the primary by 320 votes in an 11-candidate field, and went on to win the General Election easily and serve in the House of Representatives for the next 10 years.

In 2006, when Rep. Jenkins did not run for re-election, Davis captured the Republican nomination by 521 votes district-wide in a 13-candidate field, and cruised to victory in the General Election. Roe came in fourth in the primary that year.

That year, Davis received 22 percent of the total vote, Roe 17 percent.

Interestingly, Davis told the Associated Press in August 2006 that Roe was the first of his 12 primary opponents to call to congratulate him after the narrow victory.

As of Friday afternoon, Davis had not conceded defeat in this year's tight primary.

In a telephone interview, Davis said he has been told that a Tennessee law exists which states that if a person consistently votes in one party's primary elections, and then switches to another party's primary, "that vote can be challenged."

Davis added that he is aware of "anecdotal evidence that Democrats switched over in several counties" in Thursday's election, "primarily in Carter and Sullivan counties."

He added, "Right now, we're just keeping our options open, and trying to decide how to proceed."

The freshman congressman said he was made aware of the law by a friend who is a former legislator. Davis said he had not been aware of the law himself until Friday.

"We just want to make sure we had a fair Republican Primary," Davis told the Sun late Friday afternoon. "Once we find out that we had a fair Republican Primary, I will be willing to concede defeat."

Davis said that he believes the question can be answered "in the next week." He also noted that state law calls for the election to be certified in 10 days, a deadline which would be Aug. 18.

"I want to make sure Republican Primary voters have their will {expressed]," Davis said.

In response to a reporter's questions about what constitutes a "consistent pattern," or who would look for alleged abuses, or what would happen if a voter simply changes his or her mind about party affiliation, Davis said, "That's why we have attorneys and judges. We want to have the experts take a look at it and go from there."

After speaking with Davis, the Sun contacted Brook Thompson, state coordinator of elections, to ask about the law to which Davis referred.

Thompson said he is sure that Davis is referring to a law whereby "somebody can be challenged based on their party affiliation when voting in an election."

But, the state election official stated, "The process is to challenge them at the polls on election day."

An election-day challenge would involve poll-watchers who, based on their own knowledge, could challenge someone who has always voted in one party's primary when that person suddenly seeks to vote in the other party's primary.

"It doesn't happen very often at all," Thompson said. "That's the law I'm sure he's referring to."

The state coordinator said the law allows for challenges on election day, but not afterward, adding, "I don't know of any election that has been challenged after the fact based on that law."

Thompson went on to say that Rep. Davis "obviously is welcome to contest the election with the state Republican Party executive committee. They're the ones that would have to make a decision on that."

In an interview late Thursday night after what was to be a victory party, Davis told The Greeneville Sun that the possibility remained that absentee ballots that had not yet been counted -- and especially votes by military personnel overseas -- could still produce a win for him.

In an effort to learn more about this possibility, the Sun contacted Thompson to ask about that question.

In an earlier, separate telephone interview on Friday, Thompson said that absentee ballots that are received after the polls close on election day cannot be counted, period.

Even ballots cast by military personnel stationed overseas "had to be back by the close of polls" to be counted, Thompson said. That meant by 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday in the 1st District.

Thompson said any absentee ballots received by mail after the polls closed on Thursday are not "pending," but are invalid.

Davis issued a brief statement Friday morning that seemed to confirm his "wait and see" attitude about Thursday's vote.

As reported in Friday's Greeneville Sun, Davis said he wanted "to make sure that every single vote that was cast was counted."

At least one news outlet interpreted this statement as a possible call for a recount.

To ask about the possibility of a recount, Davis' press secretary, Ryan Tronovich, was contacted by the Sun. Tronovich said in a telephone interview Friday morning that no recount request was planned.

Tronovich, who said he was driving back to Washington, said the Davis campaign is "just waiting" until the election results are certified.