[This story first appeared in the 31 December 2008 edition of the Weekly Report.]

No year passes in the land -- make that the cyberspace -- of PIM without naming a "Politician of the Year."

Up until November, we had one top candidate, and then became now, and well, we're pretty solid on another candidate. 

Still, we'd be remiss if we didn't open the floor for nominations, as we always do. Please send your (guaranteed confidential) nomination to staff@politicsinminnesota.com, or post your suggestion, below.

We'll announce the winner next week.

Two Minnesota DFL lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would give Minnesota voters the power to appoint U.S. senators in the event of an unexpected Senate vacancy.

The bill, proposed by State Rep. Ryan Winkler of Golden Valley and Sen. Ann Rest of New Hope, would require a special statewide election to fill such a vacant seat. Current law calls for the governor to appoint a replacement.

The proposed legislation comes in the midst of an ongoing recount in Minnesota for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's seat (at last count, Coleman's DFL challenger, Al Franken, led the recount by 50 votes) and in the wake of an ongoing controversy in Illinois, where embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested earlier this month on federal corruption charges for trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Blagojevich defied officials Tuesday and appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace Obama.

The state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure (CFPD) Board doled out $1.6 million to state House candidates in the run-up to this November’s general election.

A total of 263 candidates received public subsidies by agreeing to campaign spending limits – a total of 96 percent of the 274 candidates nominated in the September primary. Candidates who run unopposed don’t receive subsidies, though no state rep candidates ran unopposed in November, according to the CFPD.

To be eligible to participate in the public subsidy program, a candidate must file a Public Subsidy Agreement with CFPD agreeing to abide by statutory campaign expenditure limits and limits on the contributions candidates can make to their own principal campaign committee. A candidate must also raise a certain amount in individual contributions.

The money for the public subsidy program comes from the taxpayer check-off program on state income tax filings. State lawmakers also approved $1.1 million for the program from the general fund.

The chairman of the Minnesota DFL Party on Friday accused Gov. Tim Pawlenty of "passing the buck" in his plan to unallot $110 million in aids and credits to cities and counties.

"Last month, Minnesotans voted massively for change, but today, Gov. Pawlenty is peddling the same tired ideas that got Minnesota into this mess in the first place," Brian Melendez said in a statement. "Once again, he has passed the buck to local government and put Minnesota taxpayers on notice that they can expect yet another increase in their property taxes -- which have already skyrocketed under his failed leadership."

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Friday announced a plan to balance the 2008-09 state budget by "unallotting" $271.4 million in state spending, including slashing aids and credits to cities and counties, human services spending and appropriations to the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).

"It's not news to anyone in this building or in this state or across the country that we're facing historic financial and economic challenges," Pawlenty said at a Friday afternoon Capitol press conference. "Families across Minnesota are tightening their belts, and businesses are tightening their belts, and they expect government to do the same. We intend to make sure that happens.

"Unlike the federal government, we can't deficit spend. We can't print Monopoly money in the basement to fix the deficit."

One of the topics that has confused almost everyone watching the State Canvassing Board proceedings this week is the issue of the "double votes." To understand it, think of the double votes as the perch you throw back in the lake. [Way to go, Norm Coleman lawyer Tony Trimble, who devised the perch metaphor to explain double votes.]

Before I explain perch, a double votes primer:

Question: What's a "double vote?"

Answer: A double vote is a ballot that's been copied.

Question: What's a "duplicate ballot?"

Answer: A duplicate ballot is the same thing as a double vote. The terms are used interchangeably.

Duplicate ballots are ballots that have been copied.

[To be very precise: A double vote is a ballot that was copied on election night and has been counted twice during the recount because the election judges failed to make the duplicate as such on election night. Read on to better understand the precise definition.]

Question: Why would anyone copy a ballot?

Answer: A ballot is copied if it is rejected by a vote-counting machine because something is wrong with the paper. [That's as opposed to something being wrong with what's ON the paper specifying votes for the different offices. What's ON the paper is what the Canvassing Board is determining this week on the more than 1,000 ballots it is reviewing.]

Examples: Sometimes a mailed-in, folded ballot has to be copied before the machine will accept it. Maybe someone chewed on a ballot and the machine rejected it. Often an overseas ballot has been through international mail hell and comes back torn.

All these ballots are copied so that they can be fed into the machines to deliver the proper vote totals from each precinct on election night.

Question: That sounds confusing. How do election judges keep the originals separate from the copies of the ballots?

Answer: Minnesota law is very clear on what is supposed to happen. Minnesota Statutes Section 206.86, Subdivision 5, reads:

"If a ballot card is damaged or defective so that it cannot be counted properly by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy must be made of the damaged ballot card in the presence of two judges not of the same major political party and must be substituted for the damaged ballot card. Likewise, a duplicate ballot card must be made of a defective ballot card which may not include the votes for the offices for which it is defective. Duplicate ballot cards must be clearly labeled 'duplicate,' indicate the precinct in which the corresponding damaged or defective ballot was cast, bear a serial number which must be recorded on the damaged or defective ballot card, and be counted in lieu of the damaged or defective ballot card. If a ballot card is damaged or defective so that it cannot be counted properly by the automatic tabulating equipment, the ballot card must be tallied at the counting center by two judges not of the same major political party, and the totals for all these ballot cards must be added to the totals for the respective precincts."

Question: Assume I concede that the Minnesota law is clear, what's the problem?

Answer: Unfortunately, some precincts didn't follow the law. We are, after all, dealing with an issue that requires, perhaps, the most extensive human handling of the entire Minnesota election process (before a recount). Some original and duplicate ballots were not clearly labeled; some were not labeled at all.