And another election …

Despite the mounting anxiety, confusion and anger, the closeness of the presidential election should teach Americans one fundamental lesson about democracy: Every vote counts. Or, in certain Florida counties, every other vote.

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Something else Americans learned is that that little dot of paper that is supposed to get poked out on punch ballots has a name. It’s called chad and, according to experts, there are five distinct categories used to describe chad not completely detached as the result of faulty poking – the hanging door, the swinging door, the tri, the pregnant and the dimple. A sixth category is being added for those who punched two holes for one office – the disqualified.

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Reaction to the muddle by the foreign press has ranged from alarm to ridicule, with ridicule winning in a landslide. In fact, the overseas comparisons between Florida election practices and that state’s trademark cartoon character have become so persistent and derogatory that Mickey Mouse is suing for libel.

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With control of the state senate in the balance, several recounts are under way here in Maine. Unlike Florida, there are no allegations of fraud or even ineptitude by election officials, just some extremely close races. OK, there are a few instances of hanging door chad.

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On the very day their forest-practices initiative was getting slaughtered by Maine voters, members of a certain persistent environmental group were out circulating petitions for another referendum, this time to ban the use of pesticides by the forestry industry. This time, however, industry thinks they have a point, because whatever it is using to control pests clearly isn’t working.

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The narrow defeat of the gay-rights law was a surprise, given the many opinion polls that showed strong support for the measure. One explanation offered by political scientists is that on sensitive personal issues the public may respond to a poll one way and vote the other. If so, pollsters may need to add to the standard margin of error a fibbing factor.