Senate race certification set for Monday with Franken up 225 votes

[Moby]

As I understand it, if Coleman isn't ratified the winner he has to give up his office, can't vote or enter the floor. That kind of sucks.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/37047159.html
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on Coleman's request to consider more wrongly rejected ballots.

By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE and MIKE KASZUBA, Star Tribune

Last update: January 4, 2009 - 9:27 AM

DFLer Al Franken won an impressive share Saturday of what may be the last ballots tallied in the U.S. Senate recount, boosting his unofficial lead over Sen. Norm Coleman to 225 votes heading into a Monday meeting where the state Canvassing Board will certify the final result of the race.

At least two things, however, still stand in the way of Franken becoming Minnesota's newest U.S. senator: the possibility of a ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court that more wrongly rejected absentee ballots should be counted, and a legal contest that Coleman attorneys all but promised should Franken prevail.

It took only an hour Saturday afternoon for election officials to count 933 absentee ballots that all sides had agreed were wrongly rejected. Franken won 52 percent of them and Coleman captured 33 percent (the rest went to other candidates or cast no vote in the Senate race). It was a surprisingly muscular margin that was reflected in the glum looks of Coleman staffers and the satisfied appearance of Franken's staff.

Franken started the day with an unofficial lead of 49 votes. He achieved a net gain of 176 votes on Saturday.

Coleman's attorneys said that depending on what the court decides, they would be ready to file a legal action contesting the recount results as early as Tuesday. Recount attorney Fritz Knaak said that he believed 300 to 400 ballots would go Coleman's way in a contest, including through the addition of absentee ballots so far excluded and the elimination of so-called "double votes" in Minneapolis.

"We are prepared to go forward and take whatever legal action is necessary to ... remedy this artificial lead that we believe is being shown now for the Franken campaign," Knaak said.

Franken recount attorney Marc Elias was somewhat restrained in his comments following the counting, expressing satisfaction that the disputed absentee votes were counted and confidence that Franken will be declared the winner Monday.

"We are confident that since there are no ballots left to count, the final margin will stand with Al Franken having won the election by 225 votes," he said.

The margin, he said, was "comfortable." Compared with previous Franken leads of four votes or 50, he said, "225 votes is a real victory ... [it's] a close election, but it's a fairly clear victory."

Absentee ballot heartbreak

After the counting, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said he was satisfied that the recount results were as accurate as they could be, given human limitations, the scope of state law and Supreme Court directives.

But he said that the entire pool of 12,000 rejected absentee ballots "break my heart" because a complicated system disenfranchised those voters. And he said he wasn't happy at all with the court order that allowed the counting of only wrongly rejected absentee ballots that both campaigns agreed to accept.

"The two campaigns got to veto the right to vote of over 400 Minnesotans," he said.

The outcome Saturday was not a complete surprise, as the ballots counted came disproportionately from precincts where Franken did well on Election Day, according to a Star Tribune analysis. But Franken's margin was larger than expected, as Elias acknowledged.

"I told you when we were up 49 votes that I doubted we were going to lose more than 49 votes. I thought we'd gain some. ... We obviously gained more than we thought we would, and that's gratifying," he said.

Focus on the court

With the recount complete, focus immediately shifted to the Supreme Court, which continued to consider a request from the Coleman campaign to alter the process and add more absentee ballots to be reconsidered. But there was no word Saturday from the state's highest court as to when it would rule or hear arguments.

The state Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet Monday (and Tuesday, if necessary) to review the tally of the previously rejected ballots, then certify the final result.

Under state law, an election certificate formally naming a winner cannot be issued until all legal disputes are resolved.

The new Congress convenes Tuesday in Washington.

The Franken campaign, Ritchie and various county officials filed responses with the Supreme Court on Saturday morning. Franken, Ritchie and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman all argued forcefully against the Coleman petition. They said the process for identifying wrongly rejected absentee ballots had worked as intended and should be completed.

The Franken brief argued that the Coleman campaign had missed deadlines to request reconsideration of additional ballots, and added that all rejected absentee ballots have now been reviewed at least twice by local officials.

But it appeared that the rules for handling added ballots were understood and applied differently from one county to another. While officials in Hennepin, Ramsey and Rice counties said they had refused to consider additional ballots, officials in Anoka, Stearns and Pipestone counties said they had done so, even without agreement from the campaigns.

Much of the day Saturday was spent conducting a preliminary sorting of the ballots. At one point, state officials painstakingly separated the secrecy envelopes from the ballots.

Gelbmann, in announcing the move to reporters and lawyers, said it was another step to preserve the secrecy of individual votes and to "preserve evidence for possible future litigation."

Drama at day's start

The day began with a moment of drama when Tony Trimble, a lead recount attorney for Coleman, formally asked that the counting not begin until the Supreme Court made its ruling. "This procedure should not continue until the Supreme Court has acted," Trimble said, reflecting Coleman's dimming hopes of winning the recount without the addition of more ballots.

For much of the past week, the Coleman campaign had tried to force the secretary of state's office and local election officials to add 654 absentee ballots to the total, saying they, too, needed to be reviewed. The ballots came disproportionately from precincts where Coleman fared well in the election.

As meetings were held last week across the state to review the absentee ballots, Coleman's lawyers were largely unsuccessful in trying to get local election officials themselves to add the 654 ballots to the official count.

In Hennepin County, as elsewhere across the state, local election officials told Coleman that the two campaigns would have to first agree to adding more votes before local officials would consider doing so. Throughout the week, however, Franken officials repeatedly rejected attempts by Coleman to add more votes.

On Saturday, Trimble said the campaign would drop its objection to starting the count -- if the 654 ballots were included, along with several dozen ballots Franken wanted to add.

But after conferring with the Minnesota attorney general's office, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann said the counting would continue.

kduchschere@startribune.com 651-292-0164

mkaszuba@startribune.com 651-222-1673

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[Cat slave]

LOL.....yeah, they kept counting until they got a result they liked. ROTFL.:lmao2:

[bairdi]

LOL.....yeah, they kept counting until they got a result they liked. ROTFL.:lmao2:
Yeah.....we sure as hell don't want to count all the votes.

[Cat slave]

Yeah.....we sure as hell don't want to count all the votes.

Of course not. Only the ones that serve our purpose.:D

[Hog Trash]

This confirms it...The government has become a joke. [a really bad joke at that]

[Smurf-Herder]

This confirms it...The government has become a joke. [a really bad joke at that]

It's a Black Comedy - no racial pun intended, for you hyper-sensitives out there.

[Cat slave]

I still say throw some paint on Franken and he could pass for the Joker in Bat
Man movies.....or the senate, apparently theres not much difference.

[Moby]

Were there any laws broken?

The state constitution clearly states that a recount was to take place. That was added long before this race.

Other then not getting the results that you wingers wanted, what is the problem with following the law?

[Hog Trash]

I still say throw some paint on Franken and he could pass for the Joker in Bat
Man movies.....or the senate, apparently theres not much difference.Senator Joker?...Holy Government Cow Crap Batman!

Does this mean The Joker is one of the good guys now?

I suppose so Robin. But he's still a crook and uglier than hell!
It's a Black Comedy - no racial pun intended, for you hyper-sensitives out there.It's sad that, for PC purposes, we have to include disclaimers in our posts now.

[Cat slave]

It depends on what "good" means.....rotfl.....:lmao2:

[Smurf-Herder]

If Freakin Al won by only 225 votes and the courts refused to disalow DOUBLE COUNT votes, I think it's a total farce.

But he'll be fun to watch making a fool of himself on C-Span. Wonder what SNL, Lenno, Kimmel and Letterman will do with him.:lmao2:

[Cat slave]

He sure will be a joke.....Im starting to look forward to the laughs!:thumbsup:

[Smurf-Herder]

He sure will be a joke.....Im starting to look forward to the laughs!:thumbsup:

I'm looking forward to the poetic justice of Freaky Al being lampooned on SNL. Franken and Davis were two of the original writers for Saturday Night Live back in the 70s.

[Hog Trash]

If Freakin Al won by only 225 votes and the courts refused to disalow DOUBLE COUNT votes, I think it's a total farce.

But he'll be fun to watch making a fool of himself on C-Span. Wonder what SNL, Lenno, Kimmel and Letterman will do with him.:lmao2:Letterman and Frankin are both left-wing loons....I wouldn't look for anything to critical or insulting about him from Dave.
I'm looking forward to the poetic justice of Freaky Al being lampooned on SNL. Franken and Davis were two of the original writers for Saturday Night Live back in the 70s.Same here....SNL may poke a little fun at Frankin, but nothing to damaging, like with Palin.

[Cat slave]

Oh, I dont think anyone is sacred to SNL....whatever gets the higher ratings....
but Franken may not be much of a draw so we will have to wait and see.
Not a lot of material there to work with.

[Smurf-Herder]

Oh, I dont think anyone is sacred to SNL....whatever gets the higher ratings....
but Franken may not be much of a draw so we will have to wait and see.
Not a lot of material there to work with.

Freaky Al hasn't gotten started yet.

I remember a story a couple years ago when he created a scene at a press dinner, challenging Hannity to a fist fight. He's a mental case, just waiting to explode. Lots of embarrassing material locked up in that deranged mind.

[bairdi]

Franken, like Olbermann, is hated by the egg sucking right wing slime merchants because he calls them out on their lies and tells the truth. Just watch how he calls this guy out. He won the election fair and square. Get over it. :)

ZHx0oLrGjKY

[kres24GT]

Another great example of two party politics sheepdom here. If they roles were reversed the posts here would reversed almost verbatim.

[Smurf-Herder]

Franken, like Olbermann, is hated by the egg sucking right wing slime merchants because he calls them out on their lies and tells the truth. Just watch how he calls this guy out. He won the election fair and square. Get over it. :)

ZHx0oLrGjKY


This was clearly a stolen election if there ever was one.

A court allowed photocopies of damaged ballots to be counted along with the originals; showing in the end more ballots than people who actually voted. 173 in one precinct alone. And the difference was less than 250 total.

No. This is a stolen election. There is no way around it.

[Bill]

It's the business of the state of Minnesota, and the Minnesotans.

[Smurf-Herder]

It's the business of the state of Minnesota, and the Minnesotans.

There's something fundamentally wrong with the concept of counting a vote twice, just because the original couldn't be read by an optical scanning machine. One should cancel out the other. Only one vote was cast and only one should be counted.

Remember, this guy will be voting on things that affect the entire country; not just his state.

[Hog Trash]

It's the business of the state of Minnesota, and the Minnesotans.Not true...It's all our business.

His decisions in the Senate could influence policy for the entire nation.

If he's there fraudulently it harms the entire nation.

[Moby]

There's something fundamentally wrong with the concept of counting a vote twice, just because the original couldn't be read by an optical scanning machine. One should cancel out the other. Only one vote was cast and only one should be counted.
Come on, there's still no evidence that any votes were counted twice. This is a claim made by a man that is already under investigation. There's a shit load of lawyers there and have been since election day. So far the courts have been involved, the Minnesota Supreme Court will make a final decision about Coleman's claim. If it's true then it needs to be dealt with.

Even by Coleman's own claim of 150 votes, that still puts him short. He still loses to Al Franken.

If you're such a loser that you can't beat Al Franken do we really want you in The Senate?

[Moby]

This was clearly a stolen election if there ever was one.

A court allowed photocopies of damaged ballots to be counted along with the originals; showing in the end more ballots than people who actually voted. 173 in one precinct alone. And the difference was less than 250 total.

No. This is a stolen election. There is no way around it.
Similar claims were made in Ohio in 2004. I wonder why the media wasn't all over it. :banghead:

[ROdger Right]

hmmm use your nagan to try and figure out why they would discredit such a man. Did they count the votes the graveyards cast?

[Smurf-Herder]

Similar claims were made in Ohio in 2004. I wonder why the media wasn't all over it. :banghead:

Based on making photocopies of wet paper ballots that an optical scanner couldn't read?

[Smurf-Herder]

Come on, there's still no evidence that any votes were counted twice. This is a claim made by a man that is already under investigation. There's a shit load of lawyers there and have been since election day. So far the courts have been involved, the Minnesota Supreme Court will make a final decision about Coleman's claim. If it's true then it needs to be dealt with.

Even by Coleman's own claim of 150 votes, that still puts him short. He still loses to Al Franken.

If you're such a loser that you can't beat Al Franken do we really want you in The Senate?


Hey, this article has a lot of info ......... as well as the name George Soros. :p

Franken's Coup: Anatomy of a Vote Grab

Two months after Minnesota voters appeared to return incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman to the U.S. Senate by 725 votes, state officials Monday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the election.

Franken was named the victor by the Minnesota Canvassing Board, the five-member panel appointed and led by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who has been criticized for ties to the ACORN voter-registration organization the federal government is investigating for alleged vote fraud, as well as to left-wing billionaire George Soros.

The announcement marks the end of a recount process that overturned the apparent result of Election Day.

The board ruling will not result directly in the issuance of documents needed to seat Franken in the Senate, however. Under Minnesota law, that can take place only after all of Coleman’s legal options have been exhausted.

Franken’s apparent victory cannot be certified for at least seven days to allow time for legal challenges to be filed.

The Canvassing Board’s decision followed a state Supreme Court ruling on Monday rejecting Coleman’s request to factor in another 654 rejected absentee ballots from pro-Coleman precincts. That ruling was a major blow to Coleman’s hopes of winning re-election.

The court pointed out that the Franken campaign did not agree with the Coleman campaign that the ballots had been rejected improperly, and it invited the Coleman campaign to file a lawsuit pressing to count those ballots. But in past elections, courts have been very reluctant to issue any ruling that changes election results once state authorities certify them.

“Given our campaign’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that the vote of no Minnesotan is disenfranchised, today’s ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court is both disappointing and disheartening,” said Coleman recount attorney Fritz Knaak in a statement.

The ruling “effectively disregards the votes of hundreds of Minnesotans,” Knaak said.

Coleman’s attorneys also have objected to 150 duplicate ballots that may have been counted twice. They now say a legal challenge to the board’s declaring Franken the winner is “inevitable.”

Democrats have spoken increasingly of seating Franken on a provisional basis, until the court challenges, which could take weeks or even months, are resolved. But Senate Republicans, led by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, have promised to filibuster any such effort.

Cornyn says he is confident that no Republican would join Democrats to approve seating someone whose election victory has not been formally certified. Doing so, he says, would cause “damage to the Senate and its reputation as an institution,” adding, “It would be a recipe for chaos.”

If Franken is not seated, the new Senate probably would convene with just 98 members. The other vacancy stems from the seat President-elect Barack Obama vacated, which has been entangled in the charges pending against Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The state Supreme Court ruling that cleared the path to Franken’s being declared the winner was just the latest in a litany of electoral frustration for Coleman. Virtually all significant court decisions and election rulings have gone against him, a trend raising eyebrows as well as alarms among Republicans.


“Any fair-minded person should be concerned about what’s going on in Minnesota,” writes Kevin Hassett of Bloomberg.com.

The former adviser to Sen. John McCain adds, “Throughout the recount, the state’s majority political machine has been grinding away in Franken’s favor.”

Washington Times editor and writer Peter J. Parisi tells Newsmax, “I predicted to everyone I knew that I could guaran-damn-tee that Franken would steal this thing, and it looks like I was right.”

After counting 933 absentee ballots that were rejected improperly — probably Coleman’s last best hope of regaining the lead that he enjoyed for more than six weeks following the Nov. 4 election — Franken’s advantage swelled to 255 votes.

In yet another legal setback for Coleman, the state Supreme Court on Monday rejected Coleman’s request that another 654 absentee ballots rejected from pro-Coleman precincts be counted. The ruling was a major blow to Coleman’s hopes of winning reelection.

The court decided not to require state officials to count those ballots because the Franken campaign did not agree with the Coleman campaign that the ballots had been improperly rejected. The Coleman campaign can take further legal action to request the counting of those ballots, but in past elections courts have been very reluctant to issue a ruling that change election results certified by state authorities.

On Friday, Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty slammed the state’s Supreme Court for turning over too much authority to the two campaigns, saying it effectively gave them veto power over which ballots ought to be counted.

“It seems odd that you would turn over somebody’s legal right to vote to the campaigns,” Pawlenty said. “It seems to me that would be a matter of law, or facts of law, for the courts to determine.”

At times, Canvassing Board faux pas have contributed to conservatives’ growing sense of unease over its deliberations. The five-member panel supervises all aspects of the recount that deposed Coleman as the apparent winner.

Most observers agree that the board has maintained the appearance of objectivity, although Secretary of State Ritchie accidentally moved on Dec. 16 that a disputed ballot “be allocated to Senator Franken.”

“Weariness or Freudian slip?” a Star-Tribune reporter quipped in reaction to the gaffe.

Ritchey, who has ties to both ACORN and left-wing financier Soros, quickly amended his motion, specifying “candidate Franken,” and spectators appeared to dismiss the flub with a laugh.

The incident no doubt struck Coleman supporters as less than amusing, however, given Ritchie’s chairmanship over the largest recount in Minnesota history.

A Franken win would leave the Obama administration just a single vote shy of being able to cut off debate over U.S. Senate legislation anytime it wants.

To be sure, the board has faced some tough calls. On Dec. 17, for example, it took a vote away from Coleman because it had been cast on ballot for the primary instead of the general election. No state law addresses that unusual circumstance.

According to StarTribune.com, Coleman attorney Tony Trimble urged the board not to “disenfranchise a voter for the ballot [he] was given, that came from election judges.”

The 2008 Recount Guide from Ritchie’s office states: “a ballot or vote must not be rejected for a technicality if it is possible to decide what the voter intended, even though the voter may have made a mistake or the ballot is damaged.”

Saying the situation was “too bad, it breaks my heart,” Ritchie moved that the ballot be placed in the “other” pile, and the board agreed so Coleman did not get credit for the vote.

For Coleman, it was just one more setback in what has become a nightmarish electoral chronology:

Nov. 4, Coleman Leads by 725 Votes — Unofficial tallies of election results statewide show Coleman the winner by 725 votes out of nearly 3 million cast. The narrow margin automatically triggers a recount.

Nov. 5, Coleman Leads by 475 Votes — Ritchie’s office distributes a news release stating, “In Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race, a slim margin of 475 votes favors Republican candidate and Republican senator Norn Coleman over Democratic challenger Al Franken.” The 250-vote difference? It stems from adjusted figures state and county officials around the state submitted.

Nov. 6, Coleman Leads by 438 Votes — Coleman’s margin continues to diminish as more adjusted figures come in. Why the adjustments consistently favor Franken goes largely unexplained.

“What struck me as really outrageous was, in the beginning, how Coleman’s lead shrank,” comments Matthew Vadum, senior editor for Capital Research Center, a conservative watchdog of nonprofit groups. “The counties were allowed to correct their vote totals with barely a peep from Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. He just considered all this to be legitimate, and it was their prerogative to do that — and it looks like he let them get away with murder.”

Vadum tells Newsmax, “That basically laid the foundation for the slugfest now going on in the recount contest. He chopped off Coleman’s lead and got it within stealing distance.”

Nov. 7, Coleman Leads by 239 Votes — Ritchie’s office announces the State Canvassing Board will convene to begin supervising the statewide recount on Nov. 18. “This week,” Ritchie adds, “county election officials have been busy proofing the unofficial results previously submitted to this office’s Web site. Corrections have resulted in a shifting margin which now stands at 239 votes with the advantage to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.” Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak says the campaign is “profoundly suspicious,” adding, “We’re mystified at this apparent pattern of every time there seems to be a change, it happens after hours and it happens in the Franken [campaign’s] favor.”

Nov. 8, Coleman Leads by 221 Votes — The New York Times reports that 32 absentee ballots were found after an election worker drove around with them in the back seat of his car for five days. An initial protest from Coleman is withdrawn, and the votes are counted. A document posted on the secretary of state’s Web site says shifting vote counts are “routine,” citing a 2006 election in which 2,100 ballot changes occurred after Election Day.

Nov. 12, Coleman Leads by 221 Votes — Ritchie, as secretary of state, names the members of the Canvassing Board who will oversee the recount: Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson, whom GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed; Minnesota Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson, also appointed by Pawlenty; Chief Judge Kathleen R. Gearin of the Second Judicial District, a solid Democratic area; Assistant Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary, also of the Second Judicial District. By law, Ritchie will chair the board. Pawlenty appears on “Hannity & Colmes” and defends Minnesota’s secretary of state: “I know Mark Ritchie. He is a partisan on the other side of the aisle, as I am as governor. He is trying his best to conduct this fairly. The laws in Minnesota have certain limitations. There’s no evidence that he or anyone else has had actual wrong-doing. What we’re saying is that this process has resulted in some strange irregularities — statistical irregularities — and some suggestion that something is amiss.”

Nov. 18, Coleman Leads by 215 Votes — Ritchie convenes the first meeting of the Canvassing Board. The New York Times reports that the margin now stands at 215 votes. A statewide hand recount begins.

Nov. 19, Coleman Leads by 215 Votes — Ramsey County District Court Judge Dale B. Lindman grants a Franken campaign request that the county be required to release data on absentee ballots that may have been rejected improperly.

Nov. 21, Coleman Leads by 136 Votes — Coleman’s lead begins to slip almost as soon as the recount begins. In Duluth, Franken gains 30 votes, most attributed to errors stemming from outdated Eagle scanning machines. By day two, 46 percent of the 2.9 million ballots cast have been recounted. Some 823 ballots have been challenged by the two campaigns, generally on the grounds that local officials had misinterpreted the voter’s intent. As soon as a ballot is challenged, it is set aside and will not be counted until the Canvassing Board rules on the dispute.

Nov. 26, Coleman Leads by 238 Votes — As the recount moves to precincts favoring Coleman, his lead begins to increase. The Canvassing Board rules it does not have the authority to order local election officials, as requested by the Franken campaign, to reconsider the 12,000 absentee ballots rejected on Election Day. It agrees to discuss the matter further in future meetings.

Dec. 2, Coleman Leads by 340 Votes — Coleman’s lead continues to grow. The campaigns learn that 171 ballots in heavily Democratic Ramsey County were not counted because of a combination of machine and human error. When those votes are counted, Franken picks up 37 votes.

Dec. 3, Coleman Leads by 303 Votes — Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert reports that 133 votes cast on Election Day were double counted — that is, they were run twice through the optical scan machines that tabulate the vote. Correcting this error costs Franken about 35 votes, but other aspects of the recount favor Franken. Meanwhile, the number of challenged ballots in the race swells to nearly 6,000. Resolving those challenges, Franken’s attorneys say, actually will give him a 22-vote lead. About 138,000 ballots still must be recounted, officials say.

Dec. 5, Coleman Leads by 192 Votes — Ritchie extends the recount deadline because the 133 ballots cannot be accounted for in Ward 3, Precinct 1. Records show 133 ballots were cast that cannot be located. Not counting the ballots in the Democratic stronghold would cost Franken about 46 votes; the whole point of the recount is to review the actual ballots, however. Ritchie dispatches Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann to aid in the search and to serve as an official observer. Also, Ritchie asks local election officials statewide to begin identifying and separating absentee ballots that may have been improperly rejected.

Dec. 10, Coleman Leads by 192 Votes — The Minneapolis elections director informs Ritchie that the 133 missing ballots cannot be located. Coleman’s attorneys ask that the fate of the 133 votes be decided in court. Franken’s attorneys want the Canvassing Board to accept the vote tallies recorded on Election Day.

Dec. 11, Coleman Leads by 192 Votes — On the eve of a Canvassing Board meeting to decide how to handle wrongly rejected absentee ballots, Franken submits 62 affidavits from Franken supporters who say they were disenfranchised wrongly when their absentee ballots were denied. Franken also releases a six-minute YouTube video of voters’ stories. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune characterized Franken’s affidavits as “the latest attempt by the campaign to increase the pressure on the board to count absentee ballots that were improperly rejected.”

Dec. 12, Coleman Leads by 192 Votes — By unanimous vote, the five-member Canvassing Board asks all 87 counties to include in their recount votes all absentee ballots deemed to have been rejected improperly. The Coleman campaign, concerned that different counties may use different standards for evaluating absentee ballots, asks the state Supreme Court to order a halt to the counting of absentee ballots. In a double-whammy for Coleman, the Board also decides to accept the Election Day vote tally, including the 133 votes missing from Ward 3, Precinct 1.

Dec. 16, Coleman Leads by 192 Votes — The Canvassing Board begins to review challenged ballots. The Board first considers ballots for Coleman that had been challenged by Franken’s attorneys. Most of these ballots are ultimately expected to go to Coleman, which should widen his lead.

Dec. 17, Coleman Leads by 358 Votes — The counting of Franken challenges concludes with Coleman’s lead growing as expected, to 358 votes. The board discusses a Coleman request that as many as 150 duplicate ballots that the campaign believes already have been counted should not be counted again. Ritchie lectures Coleman’s attorneys that the staff is “not happy” to see the issue being raised. Coleman, he said, is asking the board “to settle a question you raised very late and a lot of legal paper came to us late — like a blizzard.”

Dec. 18, Coleman Leads by 5 Votes — The counting begins of ballots for Franken that Coleman had challenged. Franken rapidly cuts into Coleman’s lead, as the Canvassing Board awards the votes. In a stunning setback for Coleman, he leads by a mere 5 votes by day’s end, with more ballot challenges remaining. On one ballot, where the oval next to Franken’s name had been darkened but Franken’s name had been changed to “Frankenstine,” the board voted 3-2 to award the vote to Franken.

Also, another legal decision goes against Coleman: The state Supreme Court rejects his request that the counting of rejected absentee ballots be halted, and orders the two campaigns to agree on which ballots were rejected improperly.

Dec. 19, Franken Leads by 249 Votes — Franken’s campaign continues to steamroll ahead, and for the first time since Nov. 4, Franken leads rather than Coleman. Also, the Canvassing Board rules that the 150 duplicate ballots should be added into the vote totals. The Canvassing Board tells Coleman it will count (or double count) the votes and says he can challenge the board’s decision in court. The Coleman campaign immediately files an appeal with the state Supreme Court. The Coleman campaign predicts the Franken lead is only temporary.

Dec. 20, Franken Leads by 249 Votes — The Franken campaign projects that once all dropped challenges — that is, challenges initially filed but later withdrawn — are added back into the tally, Franken will lead by 35 to 50 votes.

Dec. 24, Franken Leads by 46 Votes — Adding back in the withdrawn challenges helps Coleman, but not enough for him to retake the lead. The state Supreme Court, in a 5-0 opinion, denies a Coleman request to block the Canvassing Board from certifying the election results until the fate of the 150 duplicate ballots can be resolved. However, Coleman will be free to file subsequent legal appeals. Coleman attorney Knaak responds: “We are deeply disappointed.”

Dec. 28, Franken Leads by 46 Votes — Minnesota’s other senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, issues a call for the candidate certified the winner by the Canvassing Board to be seated on a provisional basis, even if court challenges are pending.

Dec. 29, Franken Leads by 49 Votes — The Canvassing Board awards a few last outstanding votes, and Franken’s margin increases to 49. Coleman’s campaign identifies 654 absentee ballots in counties where the voting patterns favor the incumbent GOP senator, in addition to the 933 ballots city and county election officials had identified. As expected, the two candidates are unable to agree on which ballots should be counted, and a series of meetings convene around the state to make a determination. Also, a Minneapolis Star-Tribune analysis of the voting trends suggests that counting the rejected absentee ballots probably would favor Franken. The analysis does not include the 654 new ballots Coleman identified.

Dec. 31, Franken Leads by 49 Votes — The Coleman campaign sends a letter to the secretary of state’s office objecting that the process for deciding which absentee ballots were rejected improperly will lead to “an invalid and unreliable election result.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., suggests Franken is closing in on a victory. "At this stage, it appears that Franken will be certified the winner by the State Canvassing Board,” a statement from Reid’s office declares. That draws a sharp rebuke from GOP leaders. “The American people will see right through Harry Reid’s crass partisan power grab,” says former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

Jan. 2, Franken Leads by 49 Votes — Local election officials send 933 rejected absentee ballots to the secretary of state’s office for counting. Texas GOP Sen. Cornyn warns that Republicans will filibuster any attempt to seat Franken when Congress convenes.

Jan. 5, Franken Leads by 225 Votes — Counting the 933 rejected absentee ballots balloons Franken’s lead. The state Supreme Court rules that it will not order state officials to count 654 other absentee ballots that Coleman says should be included. The Canvassing Board schedules a Monday afternoon meeting to certify a winner.

Weeks of legal disputes are expected to follow the Canvassing Board’s decision.

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/frankens_vote_grab/2009/01/05/167908.html

[Hog Trash]

Franken was named the victor by the Minnesota Canvassing Board, the five-member panel appointed and led by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who has been criticized for ties to the ACORN voter-registration organization the federal government is investigating for alleged vote fraud, as well as to left-wing billionaire George Soros.
ACORN is a government sanctioned, taxpayer funded, corrupt liberal organization whose primary goal is to fraudulently influence elections.

The name, ACORN seems to come up in every voter fraud scandle in the country. This is is obviously, without a doubt a criminal organization.

This is an absolute disgrace that not only are they aloud to exist and function, but recieve money and support from the US government.

People in every state need to contact their Congress and Senators and DEMAND ACORN funding stop, and be investigated and prosecuted.

They should also demand that any elected, appointed, or hired, local or federal government employees, suspected of ACORN ties be investigated and prosecuted.

Prison terms and fines should be extreme!!!

[Moby]

Based on making photocopies of wet paper ballots that an optical scanner couldn't read?
This is claim. Is there any evidence that this actually happened?

I'm not saying that there isn't any but if there is I couldn't find it.

[Moby]

hmmm use your nagan to try and figure out why they would discredit such a man. Did they count the votes the graveyards cast?
Hmmm... So why would the FBI and the DOJ be trying to discredit a Republican Senator when both organizations are run by a Republican President. You think that maybe they have evidence to believe he was doing something illegal?

[Moby]

Hey, this article has a lot of info ......... as well as the name George Soros. :p
You crack me up Smurf.

This is an article by News Max and the only mention of Soros is that some claim Ritchie has ties to an organization that Soros has ties to.

It's News Max, not mentioning anything about the actual ties, any money exchanging hands, any favors, any anything other then the usual pundit speak of trying to connect things without any supporting evidence.

You are SO MUCH SMARTER THEN THIS. Why allow the pundits to keep doing this to you?

[Moby]

Dec. 3, Coleman Leads by 303 Votes — Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert reports that 133 votes cast on Election Day were double counted — that is, they were run twice through the optical scan machines that tabulate the vote. Correcting this error costs Franken about 35 votes, but other aspects of the recount favor Franken. Meanwhile, the number of challenged ballots in the race swells to nearly 6,000. Resolving those challenges, Franken’s attorneys say, actually will give him a 22-vote lead. About 138,000 ballots still must be recounted, officials say.
Does this mean that the issue of double counts was properly handled already?

[Smurf-Herder]

Does this mean that the issue of double counts was properly handled already?


I'm waiting to see how it goes in court, at this point.

[Smurf-Herder]

You crack me up Smurf.

This is an article by News Max and the only mention of Soros is that some claim Ritchie has ties to an organization that Soros has ties to.

It's News Max, not mentioning anything about the actual ties, any money exchanging hands, any favors, any anything other then the usual pundit speak of trying to connect things without any supporting evidence.

You are SO MUCH SMARTER THEN THIS. Why allow the pundits to keep doing this to you?


You're forever minimizing Soros ...............

[bairdi]

You crack me up Smurf.

This is an article by News Max and the only mention of Soros is that some claim Ritchie has ties to an organization that Soros has ties to.

It's News Max, not mentioning anything about the actual ties, any money exchanging hands, any favors, any anything other then the usual pundit speak of trying to connect things without any supporting evidence.

You are SO MUCH SMARTER THEN THIS. Why allow the pundits to keep doing this to you?
News Max, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Littlegreenfootballs, frontpagemag, gatewaypundit, captainsquarters, David Horowitz, Karl Rove, Fox News.....these are the unbiased sources of truth from which smurfy, hawg, hd, frankie and the rest get all their news. I've come to the conclusion that no.....they are not "SO MUCH SMARTER THEN THIS" that they can break away from the programming they subject themselves to. I wonder if anyone can do some type of intervention? :lmao2:

[Moby]

You're forever minimizing Soros ...............
Not at all. I'm just asking you to support your fear. You pointed out that Soros was in the article as if he was heavily involved with this issue.

I just pointed out that News Max was placing the Soros in the article without any evidence that the did anything wrong but in your mind the connection was made.

Don't you see how it works? I just gave you a perfect example on how to learn about the sources that are manipulating you. This example is great.