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Nov 24, 2008 11:55 am US/Central
Woman Both Election Judge And Franken Worker
BRECKENRIDGE, Minn. (AP) ―
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Maggie Vertin spent two days last week in Fergus Falls for Otter Tail County's recount as an observer for Al Franken. (File)
CBS
A local woman who volunteered to help count ballots in the U.S. Senate recount in Wilkin County probably would not have been allowed to do so if the county auditor had known that she had also worked for a Senate candidate in Otter Tail County.
"Had I known that, she probably wouldn't have been part of the team," Wilkin County Auditor Wayne Bezenek, told The Forum of Fargo, N.D. "That would have been the right thing to do."
Maggie Vertin spent two days last week in Fergus Falls for Otter Tail County's recount as an observer for Democrat Al Franken. She was also one of eight volunteers who assisted with the Wilkin County effort in Breckenridge on Saturday.
Vertin said she was able to set her politics aside to help with the Wilkin County recount. "I feel I can be completely unbiased," Vertin said. "Everyone in this room is partisan to some degree."
Vertin, who lives in Breckenridge and has a cabin in Otter Tail County, said she worked for a party during the recount in Otter Tail County, but would not say which one.
Likewise, she said she worked for one of the campaigns prior to Election Day, but would not identify it.
However, Otter Tail County Auditor Wayne Stein confirmed on Saturday that Vertin worked for Franken during the recount on Wednesday and Thursday. He said that for one day she was a table representative and had the ability to challenge ballots.
Bob Westfall, who was in Breckenridge on Saturday as an observer for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, said he had concerns when members of his team learned a ballot counter had worked for Franken.
"I don't understand how you can switch from being partisan one day to being neutral today," Westfall said Saturday.
Nonetheless, Bezenek said he wasn't concerned about the integrity of the recount results, noting that he closely watched Vertin's table on Saturday because it had many of the precincts with the most voters.
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said Saturday he was not familiar with what happened in Wilkin County, but he has confidence in the county election officials. "It's not my job to second-guess county election officials," he said.
By the end of the recount in Wilkin county, there were 18 challenged ballots, 11 by Coleman and seven by Franken.
Otherwise, the results did not change from Nov. 4, when Coleman won in the county with 1,814 votes to Franken's 1,074.
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Norm Coleman was born in New York City in 1949. Al Franken was born in New York City in 1951.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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