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I love me some recounts!

Think that election law can't be hilarious? Think again. From today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune (which has done a fantastic job covering the Coleman/Franken recount):br /blockquoteThe board clipped along at a rapid pace in its review of challenged ballots, aided by the withdrawal of challenges, but more time was needed for the study a handful of quizzical ballots, leading to some lighter moments.br /br /One Bemidji voter blackened the oval for Franken, but also put an X through the oval and scribbled "Lizard People" on the write-in line.br /br /" 'Lizard People' is not a genuine write-in" because there's no such person, Elias said.br /br /"You don't know that there's not someone named 'Lizard People.' You don't," Magnuson said.br /br /"You're right, you don't know," Trimble chimed in.br /br /"Isn't 'People' plural? How can you have an individual named 'People?' " asked Ramsey County District Judge Edward Cleary, a board member.br /br /After more back and forth, the board finally sided with Trimble and ruled it an overvote, not a vote for Franken.br /br /Franken did better on a Sauk Rapids ballot that was marked for him but had "Flying Spaghetti Monster" and "FSM" written in other places. He also won a challenge on a Mankato ballot on which the voter had blackened his oval but extended his name to read "Al Frankenstin."br /br /Trimble argued that the voter hadn't cast his vote for Franken, but for someone named Frankenstin. "The candidate is still identified as the candidate of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party," Elias countered. The board voted 3-2 to award the vote to Franken./blockquoteimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/noUV/~4/489987604" height="1" width="1"/

Full post as published by Supreme Dicta on December 19, 2008 (boomark / email).