It was a tale of two cities today in our check-in at two rural counties. First at Litchfield in Meeker County where it was boisterous and active. Coleman won the county in the general election vote. We witnessed more than half a dozen challenges in about an hour. Most of those challenges came from the Franken camp which was much more vocal and aggresisve in contesting ballots. In fact a county official had to remind a Franken watcher that she wasn't allowed to challenge the ballots because she wasn't the designated observer. Each campaign had about half a dozen supporters there.
We didn't see any really confusing ballots. There was just one oval that was circled instead of filled in. One challenge came from a slight rip in an upper corner, one used red ink instead of black, other ovals weren't exactly 100% filled in, another had an X on another race. As media in Litchfield we were granted great access and could clearly see the ballots and hear the challenges.
Then to St. Peter in Nicollet County where the tone and approach was totally opposite. It was quiet and serious and challenges were rare. We chose this site because Coleman and Franken nearly tied with less than one-percent separating their vote totals. Here the Coleman campaign was reviewing the backside of all the ballots. We were shooed away from the counting tables and asked to sign in and wear name tags even though we were wearing picture press credentials. In both locations, there were many recognizable faces, former lawmakers, office holders and even their spouses. Tomorrow we'll head to Franken territory so our Almanac story will hit a Coleman, Franken and tied recount county.