Okay, let me add to your political saturation level. Hey, it’ll all be over tomorrow night (we hope). I thought this was an interesting story, especially considering the business CHS is involved in.
Minnesota polls are showing otherwise, but the 20-year-old straw vote tradition at the headquarters of CHS Inc. (NASDAQ:CHSCP) , a leading energy and grain-based foods company, is giving Tuesday’s election to John McCain for president and incumbent Norm Coleman for U.S. Senate.
“We’ve conducted these straw ballots on major national and statewide elections at our location for two decades as a way to encourage employee interest and get out the real vote on Election Day,” said Jim Bareksten, director, government affairs. “Each time, our employee vote has mirrored the actual outcome — including the election of Jesse Ventura as governor in 1998.”
The election, which also included employees at the company’s Rosemount, Minn., transportation terminal drew 153 “voters.” In the presidential contest, Republican McCain drew 57 percent of the votes to Democrat Barack Obama’s 43 percent. Straw poll participants gave Coleman, a Republican, 57 percent to 33 percent for Democrat Al Franken and 10 percent to independent Dean Barkley.