If Mondale replaces Wellstone on the ballot, what happens to absentee ballots already cast? Will all votes for Wellstone automatically go to Mondale. What if a voter preferred Wellstone over Coleman, but given a choice between Coleman and Mondale, would rather have Coleman?
I have not been following this at all, but reason says that there would have to be a revote, no? I mean, you can’t vote for someone if he’s dead, and it makes no sense to have his votes default to some other guy who (possibly) no one likes at all (I’m not saying this about Mondale, but just as a somewhat extreme possibility).
So old ballots are invalid now? Is there enough time to print new absentee ballots, and for the ballots to get shipped to and back from voters (esp. those overseas)?
As of Friday, the Minnestota Secretary of State declined to answer questions on absentee ballots.
It looks like the governing statutes are found in Sec. 203B. Among other things, there is a provision for “unofficial” absentee ballots if the “official” supply runs out (203B.06 Subd. 3a). The Secretary of State appears to have the leeway to make additional rules.
I don’t see any clear directions in those statutes, so my first guess is that the Secretary of State may be able to decide how to approach the situation. Don’t take my word for it, though.
Here’s the Secretary of State’s website on the matter. Since she’s the person who will be deciding all of this stuff, it might be a smart idea to visit this site a couple of times before next Tuesday.
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/office/wellstone.html
I haven’t read all her statements on the matter, but it seems clear to me that absentee ballots that are returned with Wellstone selected will not be counted. (At least in regards to the Senate race- all your other selections will be counted.)
If you haven’t filled out your ballot yet, you can write in the name of the DFL’s new candidate (presumably Mondale), or contact your County Auditor’s office to receive a new or a supplemental ballot. You can also go to the polls on election day, invalidate your absentee ballot, and fill out a new ballot.
Here’s some more information from today’s Star Tribune:
Based on a number of news accounts I heard/saw today, absentee ballots for Wellstone will be discarded. It is difficult to imagine a more sensible to approach the situation, in my mind. The man is dead; a vote for him, well-intended or otherwise, is a vote for a dead man.
However, given the proclivity of the popular media for stirring up shit, and considering that Wellstone was a Dem, as are most members of the working press, it’s easy, ever so easy, to anticipate something like “dying chads” or “dead chads,” with the “dying” variety being those cast as Wellstone’s campaign was circling toward the drain, but before his death, and the “dead” variety being those cast after he was most definitely dead. Of course, we’ll be treated to an endless array of reasons why any vote for Wellstone, regardless of his condition, must and should be considered a vote for Walter Mondale, whether any voter even thought Mondale was still alive or not…
From The Star Tribune article:
“-People who already sent in an absentee ballot may vote on Election Day; that ballot will replace their absentee ballot.”
How does that work? No one knows which ballot is mine. My name isn’t on it. How could you (as an election official) know which absentee ballot to toss out (“AH, here’s KXL’s ballott. We’ll just toss this out since he came in and voted after all.”)
Doesn’t the envelope you send the ballot in have some identification? Some sort of serial number or even just a return address?
I’d assume they identify the original ballot that way.
Of course, this won’t happen, because the DFL candidate is going to win.
And in that case, it’s easy, ever so easy, to anticipate the Coleman campaign will whine incessantly that they were forced to shut down their campaign for several days in respect for a dead man, and that if they hadn’t had to do that, they would have won.
It’s already started, in fact. The Republican party spent yesterday, they day of Paul and Sheila’s funeral, demanding that the DFL candidate debate with Coleman this weekend. They couldn’t even wait until Wellstone’s body was in the ground!
Shouldn’t they invalidate all the absentee ballots sent so far? It seems unfair that only Wellstone ballots will be invalidated.
Here is an update. Those who cast absentee ballots for Wellstone may request, by regular mail, for a replacement absentee ballot prior to election day. Of course, given the fact that there are only a few days left until election day, the odds are that most who make this request will not receive their new ballots prior to Tuesday. The end result is the disenfranchisement of thousands of Minnesotans (is that a word?) but I guess that is what happens when a candidate dies so soon before an election.
PS Do all those who use absentee ballots really do so because they will be away from home on election day, or do many vote this way because they have made up their minds already and do not want to stand in line at the voting booth on election day?