JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska election officials began counting more than 92,500 write-in ballots Wednesday in a Senate race that may hinge on voters’ penmanship and their ability — or lack of — to spell “Murkowski.”
Murkowsi. Murkowsky. Even, possibly, Muckowski. All were variations of Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s name noted by ballot counters and immediately challenged by observers for Joe Miller, her GOP rival in the still-unsettled Nov. 2 race.
Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate after losing Alaska’s GOP primary to Miller, a Tea Party favorite, in August. In the Nov. 2 election, voters cast several thousand more ballots for write-in candidates than they did for Miller, and it’s those ballots that are now in question.
An early tally of 19,203 ballots Wednesday showed Murkowski winning 89 percent of the write-in vote without dispute. Another 8.5 percent of ballots were counted for her but contested. There were two write-in votes for “Joe Miller.”
Observers for Miller — whose vote total trailed the number of write-in ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election by 10,799 as of Wednesday — were quick to challenge virtually any ballot on which Murkowski’s scribbled-in name was misspelled or letters were difficult to decipher.
Workers and observers came across a range of ballots, with plenty of variations on Murkowski’s last name; common misspellings were “Merkowski” and “Murcowski.”
For her first name, there even were some Lizas.
“Oh, misspelled. They forgot the ‘k,’ ” one worker said as she put the ballot in box No. 4, which was reserved for variations or misspellings of Murkowski’s name that needed a ruling from Gail Fenumiai, director of the Division of Elections.
The final decision rests with Fenumiai, who hoped to finish the count Friday but, given the plodding pace, expressed doubts about that Wednesday.
Fenumiai was generous in crediting misspellings to Murkowski’s tally, drawing objections from Miller observers. She said that if the name written was phonetically similar to Murkow ski’s, it would count.
Murkowski spokesman John Tracy suggested some of the challenges were frivolous.
“This isn’t supposed to be a penmanship test,” he said.
The count began as planned in spite of a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Miller seeking to prevent the state from using discretion in determining voter intent on individual ballots. Miller’s attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said he wants to ensure a fair count.
A judge Wednesday refused to stop the count while Miller’s complaint is being considered. The judge set briefing schedules for next week.
