In December the Minnesota State Canvassing Board will review hundreds of challenged ballots to see whether voter intent can be discerned. Their rulings could determine the outcome of the Minnesota Senate race, where fewer than 200 votes separate Al Franken and Norm Coleman. Many votes remain to be recounted before the canvassing board meets.
Minnesota Public Radio has posted photos of 11 ballots that have been challenged for different reasons. Click the link to view these ballots and vote on whether they should be accepted or rejected, and if accepted, for whom the vote should count.
Of the 11 ballots, I would only put one in the reject pile. Another was questionable, in my opinion. The other nine clearly showed a voter preference for Coleman, Franken or independent candidate Dean Barkley.
2 Comments
I would have only rejected two
but then I took a closer look at the statute. I think the following would imply that any vote with a write-in would be counted for the write-in rather than the candidate with the bubble filled in next to his name:
Subd. 4.Name written in proper place.
If a voter has written the name of an individual in the proper place on a general or special election ballot a vote shall be counted for that individual whether or not the voter makes a mark (X) in the square opposite the blank.
Given that information I would think it reasonable to reject the “bad men” (I don’t think it says Bach men personally…) and “lizard people” ballots.
Also, the argument that the thumbprint is an identifying mark is an interesting one. Personally I would have counted it. In their day 2 ballots, “the autograph” probably would be rejected as an identifying mark as well.
rgiertz Fri 21 Nov 11:18 AM
thumbprint
I would allow the thumbprint. I have had jobs where your hands get dirty. And any grease or dirt will smudge a white piece of paper. That thumbprint is a smudge.
keith-nichols Sat 22 Nov 11:14 PM