Dualla and two crewmen meet some guys carrying a ballot box down the corridor, and ascertain that they're the votes from the Zephyr. (Don't the Quorum hang out on that ship?) Dualla tries to take them, and a hot lisping crewman balks. She tells him firmly, "Counting has already begun; we'll take it from here," and signs off on the Chain of Custody very officially; she then nods to the Marines. She opens the hatch for them, closes the door, and looks steely and sneaky. Back in the counting room, Tigh watches the door, Gaeta watches everything, as the Marines enter by a different door, the box clearly still sealed. Gaeta slices it open, and Dee stands by, Tigh watching from across the room. Gaeta opens it, using his key, as Dualla swallows. "Last one," he smiles goofily, and she nods. They dump out the ballots. It's done.

Zarek and Gaius listen to Jim down in the morgue: "We have some more results [that] have come in here now. It's all been taken care of." On Colonial One, Tory again whispers to Laura. Jim: "Wow. Okay. 8,593 for Roslin, which puts her over the top." Everybody on Colonial One cheers, claps, embraces. Laura shakes their hands without standing, claps half-heartedly, looks sick. "That's 24,265 for Laura Roslin. Is that correct? And 22,366 for Gaius Baltar. We're going to check these again because that has put her over the top. She...has done it! She has retained the Presidency, in an improbable comeback in the final hours of the campaign!...It appears that Laura Roslin has retained the Presidency in defiance of the polls, the pundits, and the surveyors of gloom and doom. I've never seen a political race end like this, but it has just happened!" Zarek shuts Jim right off: "I've seen a lot of elections, Gaius. Most honest, a few fixed. And you can always tell the fixed ones, because they don't make sense. And this doesn't make sense." (As Joe R. said immediately after the episode: "See what happens when you don't fix elections?") After a second, Gaius leans forward, speaking quietly: "Laura Roslin is many things. But she's not corrupt. And she's not dishonest." There's a beat, as we mourn for what small things Gaius Baltar still believes in, and how shallow even those are. Poor guy. "It's over." Zarek stares at him, looks down. How far down will she go? This far. This is as far down as you can go without being evil. If you're in politics at all, it's because you know that law is a form of worship. This is as far as Laura can go.