Whether you stayed up all night or woke up in the morning, when you heard that there’s going to be another recount in MN you probably thought, “not again.” One thing that’s clear is that this isn’t a rerun of the 2008 recount.

In 2008 we were talking about hundreds of votes. Senator Al Franken won by only 312 votes. Today, Mark Dayton leads Tom Emmer by 8,779 votes. Big difference. There will be a recount triggered automatically by Minnesota law if the margin is less than one-half of one percent (likely the case), but being up by 8,700+ votes is way different than a few hundred.

Even though Emmer winning is very unlikely, he said he won’t waive an automatic recount. He’s picked up a whole six votes since they started certifying election results. Only 8,700+ to go!

Tom Emmer said in his press conference that the voters have spoken, but we don’t know what they said yet. We know that voters in Minnesota have spoken and they have elected Mark Dayton as our next governor. Dayton’s lead is pretty significant, but Emmer wouldn’t say whether he would challenge the recount results or not. Since he hired ex-Supreme Court chief justice Eric Magnuson, who was on the canvassing board in the 2008 recount and was notorious for keeping a tally sheet for challenged absentee ballots, it seems likely Emmer will challenge the results.

And unlike in 2008, it won’t take months to confirm the results. The State Canvassing Board will meet to officially certify the election results on November 23. The recount will begin a couple of days later, and on December 14 the recount will be over. 8,779 votes isn’t a lot compared to the number of Minnesotans who got out and voted, but Mark Dayton has a significant lead that will be very difficult to overcome.

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