[windchime]

"Are the pollwatchers permitted (by law) to observe the ballot counting, or do they have to leave after the polls close?"


The manual says the watchers may be present during the opening and closing activities as well as during the hours while the polls are open.

No counting occurs at the polling place and with touch screen there are no ballots per se. There are the Results Cartridge and the printouts of the Official Election Result Reports that The Poll Clerk and one Poll Inspector of a different party affiliation take to the assigned Ballot Delivery Center.

[princess leah]

I think this year's Free Republic Election signs should include "LEAVE NO POLL UNPROTECTED"

[Otta B Sleepin]

No counting occurs at the polling place and with touch screen there are no ballots per se

Unfortunately there will be handcounting of the supplemental ballots for the Senate race here in MN this time around. My friend who's an election judge is dreading this.

Also, don't individual precincts count the absentee ballots for their precinct? Maybe this is a MN thing, or maybe I'm totally confused, which is entirely possible. I'm so immersed in politics these days that this morning during a history lesson, I kept referring to the Dominican Republic as the Dominican Republican. My kids got a real kick out of that!