Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens declared victory over Republican challenger Phillip D. Bissett last night after an all-day count of about 6,000 absentee ballots by election officials.

"I am thrilled that the campaign is over, and that the voters of this county have reaffirmed my leadership for four more years," Owens said. She added that she would continue to focus on education, land preservation, public safety and economic development.

According to an unofficial count released about 9:30 last night by the county Board of Elections, Owens received 89,290 votes to Bissett's 83,115 - about 52 percent to 48 percent.

Before the absentee ballot count - which took place in a warehouse in Glen Burnie - Bissett was behind by about 6,600 votes.

Bissett refused to concede last night, although he trailed by 6,175 votes.

"I need time to review these numbers," he said, adding that he would likely make a statement today regarding his plans.

Bissett said he would hold out until all remaining ballots from county residents stationed at military bases abroad are counted. He said he has not ruled out a recount.

"No, I will not concede," he said. "The last two days, my phone has been ringing off the hook from county employees calling to ask me to pursue ... a recount."

Privately, officials in the Owens camp said Bissett was acting like "sour-grapes Sauerbrey," a reference to two-time losing GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey. In 1994, Sauerbrey lost to Gov. Parris N. Glendening by fewer than 6,000 votes. She was certain the election had been stolen. She sued and lost.

Bissett wasn't the only Anne Arundel candidate with a stake in the absentee ballots.

Del. C. Richard D'Amato, a Democrat from Annapolis, and the GOP challenger who appears to have unseated him, Herbert H. McMillan, also were present for the count - a process that involves machines that electronically process ballots and record results on "memory packs" that resemble videocassette recording tapes.

After the absentees were tallied, McMillan was still ahead - 20,937 votes to 20,514.

D'Amato had been nearly 300 votes behind McMillan in the tabulation of returns from district polling places, and early yesterday held out hope that he could close the gap with the absentee county. Instead, he lost ground and last night was trailing by 423.

In 1998, D'Amato unseated Bissett, who had served eight years in the House of Delegates. D'Amato said early yesterday that he had written personal notes to several thousand voters who had requested absentee ballots.

McMillan, a former Annapolis alderman and mayoral candidate, declared victory over one-term incumbent D'Amato on Tuesday night.

An official election count will not be certified until Nov. 15 at the earliest, so the results in all races remain unofficial. Requests for recounts must be filed by Nov. 18.

In the county executive race, Bissett said that he could request a recount - a potentially costly exercise - should he and his campaign advisers deem it necessary.

He said yesterday that he has heard there were mistakes made at some polling places and that some voters were paid to vote for his opponent.

He also said he has noticed some inconsistencies in polling results that have caused him to wonder whether they were miscounted, but he declined to elaborate.

Bissett has not filed a formal complaint with the Board of Elections.

The board's director, Barbara L. Fisher, who calmly presided over the absentee count, said she has not heard of any Election Day errors.

As workers opened envelopes and removed ballots for feeding into vote-counting machines, Fisher said Election 2002 had gone smoothly thanks in large part to her staff.

"I have a very tired staff," she said, adding that employees worked nearly 20 hours Tuesday and 12 hours Wednesday. "I just don't know how far we can push the staff."

By about noon, workers had processed about one-fourth of the ballots, some of which were pulled for review by three members of the Board of Elections. Only a few of those ballots were rejected.

Overseeing the entire process were advisers and former officials, including McMillan legal adviser and former County Councilman William C. Mulford. Key Owens adviser Michael F. Gilligan; Gilligan's Glen Burnie law associate, Lloyd E. Clinton Jr.; and Owens' campaign spokesman Bob DiPietro also helped.