This Minnesota statute will help guide your decision. While the law says voting for too many candidates results in a defective ballot, it also allows election officials to declare a ballot valid if the voter's intent is "determinable."
The ballots below illustrate one of the conundrums facing the State Canvassing Board in the recount of Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. Now, it's your turn to play election judge.
Below are pairs of marked bubbles from 11 challenged ballots. All of the ballots have been challenged for the same reason — the contesting campaign believes that each voter has voted twice in the same race. MPR News has ordered the ballots according to the approximate amount of ink inside the top oval.
At what point does an extra mark become an overvote? Move your mouse over the images to see dividing lines along this spectrum of ballots. If the ballot with the tiny mark on the left is valid, and the ballot with two completely dark ovals on the right is an overvote, where would you draw the line?
Results