Yesterday, a recount in Montana’s state house district 12 showed a tie between Rick Jore, the Constitution Party candidate, and his Democratic opponent. Jore accepts the recount as fair, but the Democrat does not.

This creates a wild and confusing situation. A tie would result in a “vacancy,” allowing the Governor to choose the winner. The current Governor is a Republican, but she will be succeeded by a Democrat next month. The disputed seat is the deciding vote in a split legislature: if Jore wins, the Republicans will control the State House. If the Democrat wins, the State House will be tied and the Speaker of the House will be chosen by the same party as the incoming Governor, a Democrat.

Democratic candidate Jeanne Windham went to court yesterday and received an injunction blocking the Secretary of State from certifying the election and blocking the Governor from appointing a winner.

Judge Dorothy McCarter will hold a hearing on the issue December 10. In addition, Democrat Windham said she intends to file a separate legal action asking state courts to throw out five disputed ballots. On each of the disputed ballots, voters made marks for both Jore and the Republican in the race, Jack Cross. Lake County election officials and the local recount board, however, decided to count the votes for Jore. They said marks on the ballot indicated the voters intended to vote for Jore. On four of the ballots, the voters also marked an “X” on Cross’s name. On a fifth ballot, the voter placed a squiggly line next to Cross’s name. Windham and state Democratic officials said if it’s not clear which candidate the voters are choosing, state law requires the ballot to be thrown out. If any of these ballots are disqualified, Windham wins the race. Chuck Denowh, executive director of the Montana Republican Party, said Windham’s claim is “pretty frivolous,” and that he thinks voters who cast the disputed ballots clearly intended to choose Jore.

Last night, a Libertarian Party nominee won an important county partisan election in Georgia.

Ben Brandon won the run-off election for Dade County Executive. He beat the Republican candidate 1,614 to 845. Brandon received 33% of the vote in the November 2 election for the partisan office. The Republican candidate received 40% and the Democrat received 27%. This is the first time Dade County voters are electing a County Executive, so there is no incumbent. Previously, the post was a hired position.

It was the first time any Libertarian had won a partisan election in that state. It is also the first time any minor party has won any partisan election in Georgia since 1968, when George Wallace’s American Party carried the state in the presidential election. It may even be the first time a minor party has won a partisan election in Georgia (for office other than president) in over 100 years. The Peoples Party was very strong in Georgia in 1898, but odds are no minor party has won a partisan race in Georgia for county office since that year.

Today the 2nd circuit affirmed a 2003 decision of a US District Court, and agreed that New York state must let voters register as members of parties that are not qualified parties. Green Party of NY v NY State Bd. of Elections. Now, parties that manage to place a statewide nominee on the ballot will have the right to a list of all voters who register into that group. At the present time, groups that may receive such a list are the Green, Libertarian, Socialist Workers Parties (of course, the qualified parties of New York also have access to such a list; they include the Democratic, Republican, Independence, Conservative and Working Families Parties).

The decision will be useful in a planned lawsuit against Iowa, one of only two states that still will not permit anyone to register into a nonqualified party (the other such state is Kansas). There are also a handful of states that physically permit voters to register into unqualified parties, but refuse to keep a tally of such voters).