[JasonC]

Well, now I am not so sure. Looking at 1998 party registration totals, the Thule vote in these counties does look low - particularly Shannon - but not enough to fit the previous picture. Registered republicans are thin on the ground in these counties, enough so that one would not expect e.g. a few thousand extra Thule votes in them. Maybe a few hundred.

[goldstategop]

Yup. The GOP should play hardball and go ahead and seat John Thune in January. There's a credible case to be made he won the election but for vote fraud and so is the state's legitimate Senator. And at least the GOP will be abiding by the letter of the law whereas in contrast the Democrats broke every rule in the book to help Frank Lautenberg. Its time to show the Democrats we aren't pushovers. Thune should be seated and next time the Democrats won't resort to electoral chicanery to win.