Indecision, Thumb Prints and Lizard People in the Minnesota Recount

Brad Haynes reports on Senate races. If someone has filled in the bubble next to Al Franken ’s name for U.S. Senator, can we be sure that the voter intended to vote for Franken? What if that voter has also supplied a name in the space provided for a write-in candidate? What if that name is “Lizard People”? These are the tough questions confronting elections officials in Minnesota as they hunker down for a manual recount of the 2.9 million ballots cast in the Senate race. After one day of recounting, covering 18% of ballots cast, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman ’s lead has shrunk from 215 votes to 174. The Franken campaign also won a key legal challenge, forcing counties to turn over the names of absentee voters whose ballots were rejected. That may open up many more ballots to dispute, as the campaigns can now identify and argue for the inclusion of ballots that were unlawfully rejected. Meanwhile, thousands of volunteers and hundreds of lawyers are challenging official decisions, ballot ... (link)