As the recount continues in the neck and neck race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and his challenger Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota, a man has come forward to claim ownership of a disputed ballot that includes a write in indicating a vote for “Lizard People.”
The ballot in question came to national attention due to a duplicity on the ballot: the box for Franken is clearly filled in, but so is the space for write in candidates. Unlike most other countries, voters in the United States can add their own candidates to a ballot paper, and cast a vote for them.
Bemidji resident Lucas Davenport claims he voted for the Lizard People (not surprisingly) as a joke. From NPR :
“I don’t know if you’ve heard the conspiracy theory about the Lizard Men,” said Davenport. “A friend of mine, we didn’t like the candidates, so we were at first going to write in revolution, because we thought that was good and to the point. And then, we thought the Lizard People would be even funnier, and there was kind of a running inside gag between some friends and I.”
Lizard People refers to the conspiracy theory there’s a race of shape shifting lizards masquerading as humans who rule the world, but Davenport doesn’t consider himself a believer.
Davenport submitted his handwriting for testing to prove ownership of the ballot. How does the old saying go: this man votes ?
