Absolutely. But does Minnesota law allow for that?
The 1974 election in New Hampshire was so close (at different point, a ten-vote margin to John Durkin and a two-vote margin to Louis Wyman) that it was voided and another election held in 1975
If it’s been verified that there’s at least one, then the answer is yes.
Wow, after the excitement of Barack Obama winning it all… we get overtime with this race. All the drama of 2000 without the world going kersplat if it falls the wrong way. This is cool!
</civics geek>
That’s an ethical answer, not a statistical one.
Minnesota has a long standing tradition of acceptance of refugees. Hmong, Somalis, others. State documents are printed in about 7 languages. People who pretend to be that nice are up to something, and if I’m here long enough, maybe I’ll figure it out. Not yet.
Never – we don’t have such things in Minnesota.
They are unnecessary here. Most of them are for people where there is a question about whether they were registered in time. Minnesota has same-day registration, so if your name isn’t on the registration rolls, you just have to register again right then, and then you get a regular ballot to vote.
Note that we had the highest voter turnout of any state in the USA for this election (about 78%). And I believe the other states with same-day registration were also near the top.
Current Minnesota law doesn’t allow that.*
But if it did, Franken would win. Many of the 15% who voted for Independence Party candidate Barkley would switch back. And his vote was about 9% DFL votes and 6% Republican votes.
- But the law does allow for Instant Runoff Voting in local elections. Under this, you rank all the candidates from 1st choice to last choice, and those are counted, in order, until one candidate gets over 50%. Effectively a primary, a general, and a runoff election, all in one.
Currently a few local cities use this. The largest city in the state, Minneapolis, is scheduled to start using it next year (but may not be able to do so, due to President Bush messing with the Elections Commission so they can’t approve any machines that are capable of counting this), and the 2nd largest city, St. Paul is considering switching to this.
There are no run offs. If this ends in a tie, state law calls for it to be decided by “lot.” It would probably be a coin toss.
Is the legislature considering it for state, and/or U.S. House and Senate, elections?
Maybe after this they will.
Not as long as Tim Pawlenty is Governor – he would have lost both times if votes were counted this way. And a bunch of other Republican elected officials (like Michelle Bachman & Erik Paulson) win only because 3rd party candidates pull away enough DFL votes.
Any kind of runoff system in Minnesota would result in Republicans losing close races that they win now.
So it will only pass if Democrats win the Governorship, or veto-proof control of both houses (they have one, but are 3 votes short in the other).
!!! Has it ever actually been done that way?
I don’t know of any statewide Minnesota election that has been tied. Closest was in 1962, when it took until March, 1963 to decide the winner by 91 votes.
It’s happened occasionally in local elections, though, both in Minnesota and other states.
That sounds like a very good system.
What are the drawbacks to same day registration? What is required to registered? What happens if it is discovered the registration was a fraud?
We’re talking about an entire population (of registered voters). What do you think significance would even mean in this situation?
There are no drawbacks I know of and I’ve never heard of any serious allegation of voter fraud.
My wife registered to vote when she became a citizen, but on election day her registration had disappeared from the rolls. They let her register on the spot so she got to vote. In many other states that would not have been the case.
In North Dakota, on the other hand, there is no voter registration at all!
My mother in law works with FIFTY Somali women in a SEWING CIRCLE - she volunteers to work with Somali immigrants. This is in a single highrise in the Seward neighborhood
In a class of thirty, my daughter has two Somalis in her class.
(Minnesota got a significant number of Hmong immigrants as well. The Luthern church here is very big on immigrant sponsorship).
Eh? Do they just let anybody vote who shows up at the polls?
Same day registration in Minnesota:
(I’ve voted when recently moved on the vouching thing by saying to someone in line “hey, I just moved here, will you vouch me” - and they DID! I must look honest. I HAD just moved there.)
The thinking is everyone knows everyone else. You would think I was kidding, but no.