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Minnesota Senate Race Debacle Exposes Land of Bad Jokes and Lizard People

Submitted by meg on Fri, 11/21/2008 - 4:41pm.

BE ELECTED
by Meg White

I have to imagine that the worst audience for a comedian would be airport security guards and election judges. The Minnesota recount is putting the sense of humor of one of these staid groups to the test.

As Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reports, there are a couple of chuckle-worthy ballots being examined this week. In the interest of full disclosure, the ballot blooper closest to my Minnesotan heart was the voter who must have accidentally marked incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and then, realizing his/her terrible mistake, wrote "NO" in capital letters beside the senator's name.

The favorite on the blogosphere, on the other hand, is a certain paranoid voter in Beltrami County. S/he used the enticingly empty space reserved for write-in candidates to advocate for the return of the Lizard People.

Some observers drew connections with the 1980s television series "V," Los Angeles and Dr. Who, but I immediately thought of David Icke.

Whatever the voter's intention, s/he marked challenger Al Franken's bubble in addition to the Lizard People, so the ballot got tossed as an "overvote."

So, let me break down the ultimate take-home message from Minnesota election judges to the Lizard People lover:

"This is Beltrami County, not Cook County.  This is not Mare Daley's Windy City: You don't get to vote twice! Also, you are not a member of Chicago's famously funny Second City Comedy Troupe. We find the attempt less than amusing."

Well, at least public radio got the joke, sort of. In this next situation, I think I was the only one laughing. In another case of an overvote in the Senate race, a Ramsey County voter couldn't help but utilize that write-in spot, either.

MPR interpreted the scribble as "Bachmen," which they said referred to crazy ol' Rep. Michele Bachmann. To me, it looked like a reference to the lobbyists Coleman will bring to the Senate seat, if he makes it back to Washington: "Bad men."

BE ELECTED

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THOSE BALLOTS ARE NOT OVERVOTES!

Submitted by palli Davis Holubar on Sat, 11/22/2008 - 8:03pm.
The ballots shown should not be counted as overvotes. Notice the ovoid box to the left of the written words: Lizard People has not been darkened. If the voter's intent is the objective then the first photo above of a ballot should count for Franken. Although the voter made a sloppy attempt at humor (repeatedly) the voter did "vote for one." In the second ballot the vote should go to Coleman for the same reason. However, if the objective is civic "discipline" then the silly voter could be penalized by not having the vote counted (the entire ballot, i.e. every candidate selected) but this seems particularly misdirected action as ballots are anonomous and the penalty is removed from the misdeed. The question of voter intent is much easier than "bi-partisan" politics suggests. Recounts should be non-partisan. Palli
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wrong office

Submitted by bugjackblue on Fri, 11/21/2008 - 11:13pm.
The problem was in the ballot design. Elizabeth R. Peeples was actually running for STATE senate in Minnesota rather than the U.S. senate. This voter was understandably confused and I would expect this error may crop up again as they continue with the recount.
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Have compassion for the voter who wrote in lizard people

Submitted by subhuti on Fri, 11/21/2008 - 5:44pm.
It seems that Be Elected has no sense of humor. With a choice of Al Franken ( a comedian who supports war, which is not funny either) or Norm Coleman, who won his seat when Paul Wellstone's plane crashed in a circumstance most likely an assassination, perhaps the voter is simply stating that the choices are a pathetic joke, and that since the Lizard People seem to be running the country (into the ground, to boot), we might as well state the obvious and vote for them. If humans were actually running things, how could things be so messed up, anyway? If I were permitted to read into the mind of the person who submitted that ballot, that'd be my guess as to his/her intent. As the old joke went, before WWII, the Germans would say, the situation is serious but not hopeless, and the Austrians would say, the situation is hopeless but not serious. Appears Be Elected falls into the Good German camp. (Sorry) A real breath of fresh air would be when people wake up and realize that the pathetic, corrupt process that passes for Democracy in America is a joke, though maybe not so funny either. Then change we can beleive in might happen, but til then, don't hold your breath expecting change for the better. I just read that Citicorp, despite all the backroom deals in its favor is about to go belly up, which will cause a further stock market/economic meltdown, and who does Obama pick as Treasury Secretary, but the Head of the New York Federal Reserve bank, the ultimate takeover of the US government by a privately owned corporation (the Fed is not a US agency but a private corporation).
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