Following the Franken/Coleman recount/lawsuit news

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 •
Statewide election results — posted on the Secretary of State’s web site.
Canvass is the county-by-county vote report turned in to the Secretary of State’s office, and reflected in the figures on the Secretary of State’s web site.
Audit is the legally-required hand recount of selected precincts to make sure that machine totals are not significantly different from actual totals. This is done after every election. That just-completed audit resulted in the change of ony six votes in the Senate race.
State Canvassing Board, made up of two Supreme Court judges, two District Court judges and the Secretary of State, will meet on September 18 to certify the count and official election results.
Recount will begin AFTER the State Canvassing Board meets on November 18 and officially orders a recount. The recount takes place in more than a hundred locations across the state, conducted by local election officials and then reported back to the State Canvassing Board.
Recount is required by state law whenever the vote margin between the two top candidates is less than one-half of one percent.

Post Election Review page, Secretary of State web site
Guide to recount procedures

Recount Perspectives
Doug Grow on “slimy” attacks on recount process
Talking Points Memo
Coleman press release
Charts show state vote count toyed with tie more in ’62 than ’08
As GOP targets Ritchie, a meme is born: Minnesota = Florida

As the recount approaches, partisan rhetoric has ratcheted up, with Republicans sending out pages of “talking points” attacking Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Talking Points Memo reports that “Despite the backgrounder’s sometimes hysterical compilation of anti-Ritchie greatest hits — it claims that “the Communist Party USA Wrote Encouragingly Of His Candidacy,” citing an unsourced line from a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune — there’s no evidence that Ritchie has ever used his role as the state’s top elections administrator to advantage Democrats.”

The Coleman campaign office warned of “mysterious and murky” goings-on and “statistically imponderable results” from precincts. Coleman for Senate lead recount counsel Fritz Knaak criticized the ballot count as “extremely troubling,” and charged that numbers on the Secretary of State’s web site have “changed repeatedly after business hours in the dark of night.”

The Secretary of State web site said: “The unofficial election results reported on this site are the results reported directly to the Office of the Secretary of State by the county auditor of each county. “ As of 10 p.m. on Monday, November 10, the last update from the Secretary of State’s office showed Norm Coleman leading Al Franken by 206 votes. To check vote totals at any time, go to the Secretary of State’s web site and look for the page for statewide results without the judicial elections.

Representatives from both Coleman and Franken campaigns have been monitoring the post-election review over the past week. That review is different from the recount, which will begin after it is ordered by the State Canvassing Board on November 18.

After every State General Election, Minnesota Counties perform a Post-Election Review of election results returned by the optical scan ballot counters used in the state. This year, the review is mandated for the election for President, US Senator and US Representative. The review is a hand count of the ballots for each eligible election in the precinct compared with the results from the voting system used in the precinct. Post Election Review page, Secretary of State web site

To find information about when the recount will begin, what the rules for the recount are, what other races will be subject to a recount, what Norm Coleman’s latest lawsuit was about, and MUCH more … read the rest of this article, and check back for updates as more news becomes available. (The dateline at the beginning of the article tells when it was most recently updated.)

When is the recount?

Vote results are not official until certified by the state canvassing board, which will meet November 18. At that time, the board will officially direct the Secretary of State’s office to conduct a recount in the Senate race and in three legislative races. Under Minnesota law, a recount is mandatory whenever the margin between the two top candidates is less than one-half of one percent OR when 400 or fewer votes are cast in a particular race and the difference between the two top candidates is 10 votes or less.

Details about the date, times and locations for the recount will be compiled and made available to the candidates and the public by the end of the day Wednesday, Nov. 12.

According to Secretatry of State Mark Ritchie’s November 7 statement to the press, “Deputy Recount Officials must complete the recount and submit their results to the Secretary of State by Dec. 5. The state canvassing board for the recount will meet on Dec. 16, and will aim to conclude their work by Dec. 19.”

What are the rules for the recount?

The Secretary of State has a detailed guide to recount procedures. Among the highlights:

The recount will take place in the jurisdictions where votes were cast. That means recount locations across the state.

Recount officials will examine each ballot individually, to determine the intent of the voter.

Each candidate may have one representative in each precinct to watch the procedure, and to challenge any ballot if they believe the intent of the voter is not clear. Any challenged ballots will be reviewed by the state canvassing board.

All recounts are open to the public and the media. They must be allowed in the room where the recount is conducted, though entrance to the immediate “recount area” is limited to recount officials and candidate representatives.

What other races are being recounted?

Two Minnesota House races must have recounts. In District 12B up in Morrison County, DFL incumbent Al Doty leads Republican candidate Mike Lemieur by 76 votes. In District 16A, DFL candidate Gail Kulick Jackson leads Republican candidate Sondra Erickson by 99 votes. Minnesota Senate District 16 also must have a recount, as DFL candidate Lisa Fobbe leads Republican Alison Krueger by 85 votes. District 16 includes most of Sherburne County.

Coleman sues to prevent counting of 32 absentee ballots

The Uptake reports:

With a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate possibly hinging on the outcome, Senator Norm Coleman sued today to stop the counting of ballots in Minnesota’s very tight US Senate race. Coleman’s opponent is Al Franken. Franken’s campaign said it was informed of the lawsuit only about an hour before the hearing on it this morning and called the suit a “Saturday Sneak Attack.”

Sen. Coleman’s campaign asserted that 32 absentee ballots that were recently discovered and have not yet been counted should remain sealed. The suit also asserted that all ballot counting in the state of Minnesota should be halted and only ballots that were counted by midnight on election night should be valid.

The suit, filed in Ramsey County Court, was dismissed.

In the video below, Franken campaign spokesperson Andy Barr explains why the lawsuit was dismissed and talks about how the Coleman campaign has fought hard not to have all of the votes counted in this race. Other videos in the playlist include Franken attorney David Lillihaug commenting on the lawsuit and its unusual timing.

Current vote totals
Vote totals for Senate candidates at 8 p.m. on November 7 were:

Norm Coleman 1,211,565 — 41.99 percent

Al Franken 1,211,359 — 41.98 percent

Dean Barkley 437,389 — 15.16 percent