In the results of the gubernatorial recount posted by the Secretary of State Tuesday, there was a puzzle: Waseca, home to 8,000 voters, saw 114 challenged ballots -- more than any other county in the state.
Yes, said auditor/treasurer Joyce Oliver on challenges: "We have a ton of them."
Of the challenges passed on for the state canvassing board to judge 111 were from representatives of Republican Tom Emmer.
Oliver said she would consider most of those challenges frivolous but, since she's new and on the advice of the Secretary of State, she decided not to challenge the Emmer observers' objections and just passed them all on.
But the vast majority, she said, will likely not pass muster.
She said many of the ballots Emmer's people wanted counted were completely blank.
"There was nothing on them. Not a mark of any kind," she said.
