Recount's lessons disputed

By Mark Fischenich
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO June 30, 2009 11:39 pm

— Following a recount process that went on for nearly seven months, there were plenty of jokes and put-downs nationally about Minnesota’s election system.
Then there’s the reality, says Patty O’Connor, elections director for Blue Earth County.
“We’ve proven again and again that we have our stuff together in Minnesota,” O’Connor said Tuesday. “It’s been so transparent, and the recount went so well.”
The length of the process was frustrating for everyone, she said, but the process demonstrated that Minnesota does elections better than virtually any other state. The unanimous state Supreme Court ruling reiterated that once again.
“There is no fraud,” O’Connor said. “They were very clear on how clean it is here.”
Joe Kunkel, professor of political science at Minnesota State University, said it’s unavoidable that an extremely tight contest is going to show imperfections in any voting system. And when a recount is challenged, the challenger’s attorneys have no choice but to suggest that the shortcomings are extremely serious.
“It’s a lot of show, but when it’s over it damaged a lot of people’s belief in the system,” Kunkel said of the court arguments made by Republican Norm Coleman’s legal team.
The Supreme Court decision, issued by a panel appointed primarily by Republican governors, unanimously ruled that Coleman’s objections were unfounded and that Democrat Al Franken had won.
“This Supreme Court decision comes down with a lot of force and a lot of credibility,” Kunkel said.
That doesn’t mean that skeptics will be persuaded.
“We always brag about our election system, but there are a lot of flaws in it,” said Rep. Tony Cornish.
A Good Thunder Republican, Cornish said his daughter was one of the voters whose absentee ballot was wrongly rejected and was asked to testify in Coleman’s challenge of the results. There’s a basic unfairness when one county uses stricter standards than another in judging whether an absentee ballot should be opened and counted, Cornish said.
Blue Earth County Republican Party Chairman Jerry Groebner said many Republicans have new doubts about the state’s voting system, particularly the method for handling absentee ballots.
While O’Connor agreed that absentee balloting can be improved and supports legislation to do that, she said Minnesotans who look closely at the recount rulings will find their faith in the integrity of the state’s voting system enhanced.
And Groebner does see one positive outcome for democracy in the historic 2008 senate race: it will be easier to persuade potential non-voters that they can make a difference by showing up on Election Day. A 312-vote margin in a crucial U.S. Senate race might make it easier to persuade campaign volunteers to put in some extra time, as well, in future campaigns.
The big political story of the day could be Norm Coleman’s election to a second term if a handful of additional Mankato-area residents had joined the local effort to drum up support for the incumbent, Groebner said.
“If we had just a couple more, it could have made the difference,” he said.