Ninja waves to his supporters following a close victory on Tuesday.

THE BLUE HOUSE – After the dust settled following a wild voting crunch on Tuesday, Ninja emerged as The Blue House’s Kitty of the Year by winning The Kitty Konflict poll in a close contest. He defeated his rival Lionelle by 8 percent of the vote, 53 to 47. The poll’s close came as a record 484 votes were cast overall. Ninja captured 258 of those votes to Lionelle’s 226.

Many experts attribute Ninja’s victory to his recent success in the ongoing Konflict between the two cats. After he won the Third Battle of The Porch, sources state that he immediately went on the campaign trail attempting to win over the vote of a nation. Lionelle, however, came on much stronger than experts speculated. This upsurge may be due to the Ninja’s overexposure in the media. Whatever the case and considering the closeness of this vote, it is apparent that the nation remains divided over these two cats.

The controversy, however, has only begun. Team Lionelle already claims that the poll was wrought with fraud and corruption. Team Ninja claims that his victory should have been more of a landslide. Michael Fox and Dhizzy have already sparred with comments on a recent Blue House Lives article. With the intensity of the final tally at noon on Tuesday, experts suggest that many votes may have been discarded in the frenzy. “I believe overall,” said Jeff L. Horner, The Blue House Lives Year End Awards Chairman, “that the vote was fairly accurate. It definitely came down to the wire, but I think Ninja was the official winner.”

Officials close to the election have yet to announce the need for a recount. It will not be until the votes are officially totaled and announced, however, that Ninja becomes the authentic victor. This announcement will be part of the 2009 Blue House Lives Year End Awards later in December. Barring a strange twist of fate, however, it appears Ninja has once against conquered his nemesis, Lionelle.