By Domenica Di Piazza, Editorial Director, TFCB

(Tom Emmer, above left; Mark Dayton, above right)

My brother is the co-founder of a great educational commonplace book (website, blog) called GOVERNINGWorks. It deals with political life and law (mostly American) and offers one main essay or interview per week (Tuesdays) along with wonderful links to all kinds of primary source materials (influential founding documents, important papers, inaugural addresses, photos, artwork, and more) free of cost and copyright restriction. It’s a rich resource for teachers and librarians and students.

As Minnesota is in the midst of yet another recount—this time between our gubernatorial candidates, Democratic-Farmer Labor (DFL) candidate Mark Dayton (above right) and Republican candidate Tom Emmer (above left)—my brother invited me to write a short essay about the recount for GOVERNINGWorks. It went live today, so take a peak at GWorks Reports.

Certification of the results of the recount are meant to be official on December 14, 2010. Hopefully, we won’t have to face another recount challenge as we did two years ago when Republican senatorial candidate Norm Coleman challenged the recount of his narrow loss to opponent Al Franken (DFL) in the U.S. Senate race in our state. Al Franken eventually prevailed in the challenge and took his seat in the U.S. Senate in July 2009, almost one year after the election itself in November 2008. (Click on the State of Minnesota Supreme Court final ruling to read the court’s final opinion on the contested election.)

For ideas on what to look for and how to follow this latest recount, read Minneapolis political reporter Jay Weiner at Minnpost.com, a reputable local news blog.

And don’t forget to check in next week for more from TFCB!

[photos: CC/Wikimedia Commons]