Voting early and often

Absentee ballots and the MN Senate seat up for grabs have a funny history in the past 12 years. In 2002, the hard-fought election was between Norm Coleman and the then-incumbent Sen. Paul Wellstone. Being the good MN citizens that we were, K and I sent in our ballots two weeks before the election. Wellstone was then killed in a plane crash on Oct. 25, 2002 (11 days before the election). MN law required his name to be taken from the ballot, and former VP Walter Mondale's name replaced Wellstone. At the time, the Star Tribune wrote:

The potential for a meltdown in the courts looms because of the decision to throw out absentee ballots containing a vote for Wellstone. Although the Minnesota Supreme Court ordered counties to mail out new absentee ballots to any absentee voter who wanted one, if Coleman's victory margin is smaller than the number of discarded Wellstone votes, a lawsuit appears to be a virtual certainty.

My second absentee ballot arrive about two days before the election. At the time, it felt surreal to be voting twice in the election. I felt I had broken one of the sacred rules of democratic elections; I had voted early and often. Ok, just twice but still more than "one person one vote." I'm still unsure to this day whether my vote for Senate was counted since I have no idea whether the second ballot arrive on Election Day. Ultimately, Coleman won by a margin outside the number of absentee ballots cast which sets the stage for 2008.

The prolonged election cycle between incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken has moved to the courtroom. Today. Star Tribune reports a difference of only + 5 votes (Coleman) with one day left to revew Coleman's challenges. TPM reports that Franken may even pull ahead tomorrow. If so, the question of the missing votes in Minneapolis, the rejected absentee ballots, and additional challenges threatens any semblance of a timely conclusion. The irony is that if the decision should go to the Senate (and cross your fingers that it doesn't), a special election could be called. Guess what that means-- another set of absentee ballots for yours truly. It's ironic that again, the absentee ballots play a fateful role in the election.