Count (Almost) Every Vote

You see people, this is the problem with hand recounts. Subjectivity.

Some hillbilly writes that the hand recount of votes in the Montana state house district 12 (Polson, in Lake County) has resulted in a tie. The Constitutional party candidate, Rick Jore, received 1,559 votes while the Democratic candidate, Jeanne Windham received exactly the same. The Republican candidate finished a distant third. Jore had won the house district initially by just 2 votes, giving the Republicans a 50-49-1 majority in the state house.

What happens next promises to be very strange. In a tie, (if I understand it correctly from unclear news reports) the governor will get to appoint the representative for that house district. But the governor is still Judy Martz, a republican, until 10AM January 3rd, 2005.

The democratic candidate Jeanne Windham has protested 5 ballots counted for Jore, which appear to be double marked, and has insisted that they be thrown out, giving her a 5 vote victory. Windham has filed suit to prevent Secretary of State Bob Brown (R), the losing gubernatorial candidate, from certifying the election until a court can examine the disputed ballots. The recount committee was composed of two republicans and one democrat.

So how does that catchy little slogan go? Count every vote… unless of course you don’t get a win, and then throw enough out until you do.