As Alaska officials continue to count ballots in the still-unresolved Senate race, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich’s (D) lead over Sen. Ted Stevens (R) increased to 2,374 votes, according to the Alaska Division of Elections.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that 16,000 absentee and disputed ballots were counted today, and that another 8,000 could be tallied by day’s end. At that point, the newspaper reported, only a handful of overseas ballots are expected to roll in — and an automatic recount is possible.