Nov 10, 2008 5:54 pm US/Central
Ritchie Hopes Recount Will Only Take A Month
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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The one-hundredth of 1 percent difference between the two top candidates triggers an automatic recount. (File)
CBS
The battle continued Monday for Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger Al Franken, in a Senate race that is heading towards a recount.
Late Monday afternoon, Senator Coleman was holding onto a 206-vote lead, with all counties required to report their final calculations to the Secretary of State's office by midnight.
The election will be certified on Nov. 18 and then the recount will begin. The one-hundredth of 1 percent difference between the two top candidates triggers an automatic recount.
Ever since election night, we've know it would be close, but few expected this close. With numbers that seem to change by the minute, the Secretary of State's website has become very popular.
"People were into kind of clicking on whichever was their favorite vote tracker, and they're having trouble letting go of that addiction," said Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. "So this is a substitute."
Still, increased interest means increased scrutiny, and with Coleman's apparent margin of victory steadily closing, many have questions.
"You go out there and you vote, and then stuff like this happens, and it really makes you question the system," said Josh Ryan of Shakopee, Minn. "It makes you feel kind of powerless as a voter in the end."
That may be the perception, but is it the reality? Mark Halvorson audits elections as director of Citizens for Election Integrity, which found very few errors in the last senate race. Halvorson said he expects to find similarly few errors this time around.
"I am confident that the recount process -- where they will be counted by hand and there will be sufficient observers -- that will catch any errors and glitches," Halvorson said.
For now, ballots are under lock and key across the state. The recount will start on Nov. 19 and Ritchie hopes the state won't have to wait until next year to know who actually won.
"I'm hopeful that December 19th is the day that we know the will of the voters of Minnesota," said Ritchie. "If it takes longer, our goal is accuracy and transparency. So time is important, but it's not our most important thing."
Although Hennepin County represents 10 percent of the voters in the state, we don't expect too many late adjustments, because the county has been reporting discrepancies as they find them, rather than waiting until the final canvassing.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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