The dog ate my ballot!
That excuse is about the only one we haven’t heard (yet) for destroyed, lost, misplaced, disappeared, missing, erroneous, unaccounted-for ballots in the now-eternal Senate race in Minnesota between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.
As of this morning, that race was still too close to call.
As you may remember, a long, long time ago, when only about 200 votes separated the two candidates after the regular election, Minnesota law required a manual (that is by hand) recount of every single ballot cast—and not cast.
Since then, and even before then, the media and blogs have reveled in a series of bad calls, premature calls, close calls, miscalls—well, you get the point—on the outcome of the race.
The headlines and the leads pretty much tell the story of this never-ending and oft-misunderstood and mis-reported drama.
The following is a selection of some of these:
Nov 5, 2008: With more than 92 Coleman leads Al Franken in Minn. Senate race
Nov 5, 2008: Coleman finishes ahead of Franken in Minnesota Senate race, but recount triggered
Nov 8, 2008: Minn. Senate Race Far From Over— Incumbent Coleman Is Just 239 Votes Ahead of Al Franken
Nov 9, 2008: Minnesota Senate Race down to a handful of votes…and counting…
Nov 10, 2008: Coin Toss Could decide Franken-Coleman Senate Race
Nov 10, 2008: Franken-Coleman race down to 204 votes
Nov 13, 2008: Al Franken Poised To Steal Minnesota Senate Race From Norm Coleman.
Nov 14, 2008 Pressure mounts in Norm Coleman, Al Franken race recount—Coleman holds a narrow lead, just 206 votes, over Franken
Nov 17, 2008 Coleman declares victory over Franken in Minnesota: Fewer than 800 votes separate the candidates in a tough Senate race, and a recount looms
Nov 19, 2008: Coleman Campaign Questions 32 Ballots in Close Race With Franken
And, leave it to BillO’: Nov 20, 2008: O’Reilly declares Coleman certified winner of MN
Nov 21, 2008: Franken gains on Coleman in US Senate race hand count in MN
Nov 21, 2008: Coleman’s lead keeps shrinking
Nov 25, 2008: Recount grinds on in Minnesota— Seven days into a recount, the Minnesota race between U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken remains too close to call.
Nov 25, 2008: Republican senator Norm Coleman leads challenger Al Franken by 210
Nov 28, 2008: Courts May Decide Franken-Coleman Race
Nov 30, 2008: US Senate may decide Franken-Coleman MN race
From our own Patrick Edaburn’s Dec 2, 2008: Senate Update (Bumped and Updated)—There are a number of challenged ballots outstanding (about 5,000) but most analysts say that it is very unlikely that Franken will be able to overtake Coleman. (One of the few good “calls.”)
Dec 2, 2008: Franken-Coleman race remains in question
Dec 2, 2008: Minnesota’s U.S. Senate recount continues—The recount in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race took a twist Tuesday when 171 ballots were found in a voting machine, narrowing Norm Coleman’s lead over Al Franken.
Then there was the following flurry of updates and breaking news yesterday.
Dec 3, 2008: Minnesota update: Al Franken pulls closer but Coleman still leads
Dec 3, 2008: Mystery in Minnesota: Challenged Votes Keep Everyone Guessing in Senate Race
Dec 3, 2008: Franken’s campaign protests 133 mystery ballots from Minneapolis
Dec 3, 2008: Franken pulls closer but Coleman still leads in Minn.
Dec 3, 2008: Al Franken has slim lead in Minnesota over Norm Coleman, outcome unknown …
Dec 3, 2008: Franken Ahead 22 Votes Now, Campaign Says
Dec 3, 2008: Minnesota discovery costs Franken 46 votes
Dec 3, 2008: Franken says he’ll drop 633 challenges in recount
Dec 3, 2008: Senate recount: Pendulum swings to Franken—The Democrat gained from a cache of found ballots in Ramsey County, along with a decision on rejected absentee votes.
Dec 3, 2008: In Minnesota Recount, Both Sides Claim Lead —Coleman’s campaign issues a release claiming Franken has “invented a story of a lead” in the vote totals after his campaign says they’re up by 22 votes.
Dec 3, 2008: Franken claims he is in the lead—Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken’s campaign said Wednesday that the comedian has taken the lead in his race against Sen. Norm Coleman (R).
Dec 3, 2008: Franken camp claims Coleman lead down to 50
Dec 3, 2008: By Franken’s count, he leads by 22 votes. By another count, Coleman leads by 316.
And, this morning, the drama continues.
In a New York Times article this morning, “Not Every Vote Counts,” Op-Ed Contributor Charles Seife perhaps has the wisest recommendation to resolve the Minnesota Mess:
Luckily, Minnesota’s electoral law has a provision for ties. After all the counting and recounting, if the vote is statistically tied, the state should invoke the section of the law that requires the victor to be chosen by lot. It’s hard to swallow, but the right way to end the senatorial race between Mr. Coleman and Mr. Franken will be to flip a coin.
