Recount Roundup: Tidbits on tedium

Got Recount Fatigue yet? Indecision 2008 seems to:

This is like watching a Guillermo del Toro movie: You think it’s gonna be exciting, and then nothing happens; you have a lot of people thinking too hard and other people yelling nonsensical things, all of a sudden there’s some lizard people for no reason; and, in the end, you’re more confused than when you started off.

If not, some minutiae for you on Minnesota’s statewide recount:

The Math: According to Al Franken’s senate campaign, he trails Sen. Norm Coleman by 84 votes; the Star Tribune’s independent count puts the gap at 210. Why the difference? As TPM reports, “All challenged ballots, regardless of the merits of the challenges, are taken out of the count for now until the state canvassing board can make a final ruling.” And the Franken camp says they assume rulings by local election judges will stand, an assumption that’s reflected in their total.

Last precinct standing: One of the last counties to recount ballots cast on Nov. 4 is Wright County, which begins on Dec. 3, giving officials there little time to count 65,000 ballots before the Dec. 5 deadline. One complicating factor might be national media on hand to film the final recounts; Wright County auditor-treasurer Bob Hiivala says a Pioneer Press reporter told him CNN might be in the courthouse as ballots are inspected.

Good thing gas prices are low: The Princeton Union Eagle reports that Mille Lacs County’s recount saw Coleman lose 22 and Franken lose six votes, leaving Coleman with a sizable lead. But the surprise — to me, at least — is the mileage put on by campaign-affiliated challengers. While many of the observers came from Princeton, Anoka County and the Twin Cities, two Coleman challengers came from California, one from Sacramento and the other from San Francisco.

Two-for-ones: Maggie Vertin of Breckenridge wore two hats this election season, to the dismay of Norm Coleman’s advocates: she observed the recount on behalf of Al Franken’s campaign in Otter Tail County last week, and on Saturday she worked as an election judge in Wilkin County, a job that’s supposed to be nonpartisan. Meanwhile, the Pioneer Press tells a confusing tale of a 100-year-old St. Paul voter whose vote seemed to be rejected. In fact, Lou Barwise accidentally voted twice, although only one was accepted — for Dean Barkley.