Patience and Politeness as Minnesota Recounts Senate Ballots

By CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
NYT

HASTINGS, Minn. — No one would mistake Hastings, Minn., in late November 2008 for West Palm Beach, Fla., in late November 2000.

Hypervigilance, an abiding regard for the rules, and, yes, some of that good old Minnesota Nice marked the opening Wednesday of the hand recount here and across the state to determine the winner of the United States Senate race in Minnesota.

Of the first eight precincts whose 14,956 ballots were examined and recounted in Hastings, the seat of Dakota County, about 20 miles southeast of St. Paul, only six were challenged. All six challenges came from observers supporting the candidacy of Al Franken, the comedian and Democratic challenger, who ran against the Republican incumbent, Norm Coleman, a former mayor of St. Paul who is seeking a second term in Washington.

As election officials throughout Minnesota began sifting through the more than 2.9 million ballots cast, a process expected to take several weeks, it quickly became apparent that those assigned to the Judicial Center here were in unfamiliar territory.

Officials and observers alike often cited points learned in their recent training sessions; Joel Beckman, the deputy recount official in charge of the county tally, made decisions on the fly.

(More here.)