That would leave a brief lame-duck session after the elections as the only opportunity to head off the cuts before they take effect, and nobody is counting on that happening.
In the meantime Humer is counting on a turnaround in the company's far-flung research labs, orchestrated by research head Jonathan Knowles, hired by Humer from Glaxo Wellcome in 1997.
Commonwealth observer mission head Festus Mogae, the ex-president of Botswana, said he was not surprised that the electronic counting system failed, Associated Press news agency reports.