As politics continues to deteriorate in morality and esteem, Minnesota has not remained immune from the antics, and debauchery that have sickened our country’s governmental affairs. Minnesotans have stood in the political circus arena before, noting particularly the election of former WWF superstar, Jesse Ventura, as governor. Following in the trend of electing celebrity-turned-politician individuals, much of Minnesota recently stood behind former ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit writer, Al Franken. So many in fact, that a recount was lawfully ordered at the end of election 2008 between the incumbent, narrow-leader Norm Coleman and candidate Al Franken.
For those of us in Minnesota, the recount has been painfully long and dizzying, highlighting the debilitating effects of political banter that has become the norm in this country. It has been near impossible to keep track of all the ‘jabs’ and ‘punches’ that continue to be thrown between camps in this recount.
The games began the morning after the election when Norm Coleman called for Al Franken to not waste his time with a recount that had a narrow chance of producing different results than election day. But Minnesota State Law requires a hand recount when the difference in vote is less than 1/2%, as it stood in this race.
And so the recount began, but first precincts needed to complete the tallying for the first time around. A fixed typo in one particular county added 100 votes to candidate Al Franken’s tally. Later in the week, 32 absentee ballots were found in an election official’s car, creating controversy over the security of ballots. And Minnesotans, and the nation, were told to brace themselves for roughly a month as the recount took place.
About a week and half after election day, with Coleman still in the lead, the official recount process got underway. As every day passed, the number of challenged ballots rose, and the vote margin fluctuated. Eventually, there were nearly 5,000 disputed ballots withdrawn, leaving 1,000 left to be ruled on. And these ballots brought a new element to the political recount as judges were forced to rule on stray ink marks and over-votes for characters such as ‘Lizard People.’ To which I found myself asking, do people still take their privilege to vote seriously?
It would take too long to link the number of news stories reporting on accusations, complaints, and statements made by the candidates as the recount moved on. But one can be certain, the bantering of political campaigns has continued. While the candidates are doing their best to get every vote counted, the demeanor of the candidates suggests that it’s not so much as ensure every vote is counted and democracy prevails, but rather it is about winning. And though it is understood that every candidate is in it to win because of their beliefs and desire to foster democracy, it would be nice to hear the candidates, as representatives of the people, addressing their disputes in a manner that highlights the will of the people.
Saturday’s Star Tribune headline read: Franken up 225 with recount complete; focus turns to court. With the recount and disputed ballots finished, and Al Franken now in the lead, lawsuits are being filed to dispute more rejected ballots.
It’s been a long two months here, and the end of this race is seemingly still a ways off. It is unclear who, if anyone, will sit in Congress when it convenes on Tuesday. But it’s fairly certain, given the nature of this recount, that an election challenge lawsuit will be filed by whichever candidate comes out behind.
And so the games of Election 2008 will continue, it looks like, well into 2009. Leaving this voter, and certainly others, exhausted from an unbelievably long election season, but hopeful that every lawfully casted vote will be counted, and democracy will prevail.