Friday Afternoon Electoral Parlor Game: You Make the Call!
With Minnesota's U.S. Senate race recount now in its third day, the kind folks at Minnesota Public Radio have put up an interactive guide to challenged ballots that invites you to play election judge with some actual ballot challenge examples. No hanging chads, but lots of stray marks (and at least one lizard).
It's worth noting that Minnesota, unlike Tennessee, has a system of voting that makes it possible for this to be a hand recount of every single ballot cast in the race. It isn't quick and it isn't easy (see MPR's senate recount FAQ for details), but when all is said and done voters can be satisfied that every vote was counted, and that in an agonizingly close race the election was done right. Maybe we should take a stab at that democracy thing here.
