Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Patience and Politeness as Minnesota Recounts Senate Ballots

The NYT reports:

No one would mistake Hastings, Minn., in late November 2008 for West Palm Beach, Fla., in late November 2000.

An example of a challenged ballot in the first day of recounting in Hastings, Minn.
Hypervigilance, an abiding regard for the rules, and, yes, some of that good old Minnesota Nice marked the opening Wednesday of the hand recount here and across the state to determine the winner of the United States Senate race in Minnesota.

Of the first eight precincts whose 14,956 ballots were examined and recounted in Hastings, the seat of Dakota County, about 20 miles southeast of St. Paul, only six were challenged. All six challenges came from observers supporting the candidacy of Al Franken, the comedian and Democratic challenger, who ran against the Republican incumbent, Norm Coleman, a former mayor of St. Paul who is seeking a second term in Washington.

As election officials throughout Minnesota began sifting through the more than 2.9 million ballots cast, a process expected to take several weeks, it quickly became apparent that those assigned to the Judicial Center here were in unfamiliar territory.

Officials and observers alike often cited points learned in their recent training sessions; Joel Beckman, the deputy recount official in charge of the county tally, made decisions on the fly.

When a Coleman observer, Tom Marver, a retired political consultant, asked to examine the back of each ballot for identifying marks — “That’s what we were told at training,” Mr. Marver said — Mr. Beckman responded, “If you guys are prepared to last till Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’ll do that.” (Dakota County’s recount, all of it being done at the Judicial Center, is expected to last four days, officials said.)

Mr. Beckman mulled the request for a few more moments. “I believe it’s a frivolous challenge,” he said. “I’d also classify it as an automatic challenge, which is not allowed.”

Mr. Marver was satisfied.

He and the other observers and lawyers just kept watching as the three county officials at each of the eight recount tables, cordoned off by yellow crime-scene tape, patiently went through stacks of ballots.

By midday, Mr. Marver and his counterpart for the Franken campaign had each challenged one ballot out of the 1,667 they had examined together. “I wanted to make sure we had the same strike zone,” Mr. Marver said. The Franken observer said campaign officials had ordered him not to speak to reporters, not even to give his name.

While there was none of the shoving or name-calling reminiscent of the 2000 Bush-Gore recount in Florida, representatives of both sides were constantly on guard, striving to cloak their strategies, such as they were, in secrecy. They prowled the room vigilantly — hovering together, leaning toward the recount tables and whispering in small circles.

Franken campaign observers were equipped with a clipboard and a sheet of paper they showed to no one save other campaign officials. Coleman observers scribbled down the number of ballots and challenges. Exchanges dripped with civility.

“Norm Coleman,” an election judge said as she placed a ballot into a pile. “I’ll just say Coleman. Would that be all right?”

An observer replied, “That’s perfect.”

Each side was determined not to cede any advantage to the other. When a Franken lawyer, Anita Seeling, told the observer for her side, and for Mr. Coleman’s, to switch chairs, the Coleman observer, Dale Erickson, 57, asked, “Why is that?” Then he agreed when Ms. Seeling said each could more easily challenge ballots cast for the other’s candidate.

Mr. Erickson and the Franken observer each wore bifocals and kept a close watch over the ballots. By the end of their shift, they had watched 1,592 ballots pass before them, challenging none.

“It was very clear-cut,” Mr. Erickson said. “No disputes, no disagreements.”

At the completion of one precinct’s recount, Mr. Marver asked the Franken observer to review the two ballots in question and consider each voter’s intent. The two agreed that one ballot had been cast for Mr. Coleman, the other for Mr. Franken.

It was a pleasant exchange. “I got along better with the Franken observer than the judges,” Mr. Marver said. “They didn’t let you put your elbows on the table.”

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