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How MPR found the 'Lizard Person'

Posted at 12:24 PM on November 24, 2008 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

I was off last week and I deliberately avoided the news. So I missed all the fuss about The Lizard People ballot that seems to have captured America's attention.

MPR News revealed today that the Lizard People advocate is Lucas Davenport of Bemidji.

"A friend of mine, we didn't like the candidates, so we were at first going to write in revolution, because we thought that was good and to the point. And then, we thought the Lizard People would be even funnier, and there was kind of a running inside gag between some friends and I."

Still unanswered is who Lucas' friend end up voting for as there was only one Lizard People ballot.

But back to our story. How did MPR find Lucas? We didn't. He found us. He sent us an e-mail on Saturday evening.

My name is Lucas Davenport and I live in Bemidji, Minnesota. My ballot, the infamous "Lizard People" ballot is mine. If you'd like my story about why I voted "lizard people" and what my real intentions were, seeing as how it's already been thrown out, please contact me at xxxxxx or 218-xxx-xxxx. You may not believe me, but I could prove that it's my ballot, assuming that it hasn't been destroyed.

I wish it could be a more compelling story of intrigue behind the unmasking of Mr. Davenport.

Comments (6)

Does all of this somehow count as an "identifying mark," and therefore will the ballot be thrown out even if previously the voter intent would have been seen as to be voting for Franken?

Posted by MR | November 24, 2008 12:59 PM

On the contrary: I think it's pretty darn cool that Lizard Guy sought out MPR and not some newspaper or TV station.

Proving something I think we all knew already: Lizard People like public radio.

Posted by Jeff Horwich | November 24, 2008 1:44 PM

Something's fishy here -- isn't Lucas Davenport the name of John Camp's protagonist in "Rules of Prey" (and the other "Prey" novels?)

Did anybody ask to see the guy's ID?

Posted by Michael Popham | November 24, 2008 1:48 PM

If any other(s) wrote in "Lizard People" or any other name and properly marked their ballot next to the write-in candidate, it would not show up as a contested ballot.

Posted by G. Kennedy | November 24, 2008 1:51 PM

If you could Bob, could you make sure Lucas gets a medal of valor? Because Lucas is the closest goddamn thing to an American hero we have in this election.

Posted by Donavon Cawley | November 24, 2008 2:06 PM

What I don't understand, given all the hullaballoo over 'voter intent', is why he wasn't asked to divulge whether he intended to vote for Franken?

In the Pres race, he selected the write-in candidate Lizard People (with the filled in oval). But he selected a real candidate in the Senate race while still writing in Lizard People. Was he trying to vote in the Senate race, or was the whole thing part of his 'joke'?

* Yes, the law says his senate vote is an over-vote. My point is that people might be unwittingly disenfranchising themselves. I might think, for a moment, that yes, I really do want to vote for the Lizard People, but at the last minute have a change of heart & decide to fill in another candidate's oval, instead. Shouldn't the filled-in oval override the write-in if the write-in oval is blank?

Posted by bsimon | November 24, 2008 2:07 PM

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