Every vote does count!

By Chuck Kajer

Voters in Minnesota have spoken, and for the second time in as many elections, it's going to take some time to figure out just what they were saying in the largest statewide race.

Former Sen. Mark Dayton and State Rep. Tom Emmer are in a virtual dead heat, with Dayton leading by about 9,000 votes with nearly all of the precincts counted.

While this race is not as close as the Franken-Coleman senate race in 2008, it does fall within the one-half of one percent threshold to trigger an automatic recount.

A recount may also be possible in a local legislative race. State Rep. David Bly (DFL-Northfield) looked to have a comfortable lead in his race in District 25B with all but four precincts reporting. However those precincts were all in Scott County, including his opponent's hometown of Belle Plaine, and they came in strong for Republican Kelby Woodard, giving the challenger a 30-vote margin of victory.

Even in New Prague, voting was close. Chuck Nickolay defeated Duane Jirik by 27 votes for mayor and Shawn Ryan finished just 12 votes ahead of Pat Scripture for one of two city council seats.

If you ever wondered if your vote counted, all you need to do is check out the evidence. A handful of votes here or there could mean the difference in the makeup of our city council, our legislature, or even determine who our governor will be.

Just more proof that, indeed, Every vote counts.