Franken and Coleman fight over 1,350 uncounted ballots

By |

Here’s a quick recap of the latest developments in Minnesota’s Senate recount as of mid-day Monday.The biggest remaining pool of disputed ballots — 1,346 that that local officials rejected on Election Day for no legal reason — remain disputed. The campaigns of Al Franken and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman differ sharply on how many should be counted; indeed, the two sides are off by an order of 10. Yet under a state Supreme Court order they must somehow reconcile their views this week at 12 regional meetings where the ballots’ fate will be decided. Meanwhile, the state’s only sure-bet senator, Amy Klobuchar — no stranger to electoral squeakers — said she prefers a seat-’em-first, sue-’em-later approach to the contested post. The recount now comes down to the 1,346 absentee ballots that the state’s 87 counties didn’t tally but now say they should have. Continue Reading

Supreme Court denies Coleman motion on duplicate ballots

By |

The Minnesota Supreme Court will not wade into the murky issue of allegedly double-counted ballots in the U.S. Senate contest. Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign believes that in some instances both duplicate and original ballots were mistakenly included in the statewide manual recount. It had asked the state’s top court to prohibit the canvassing board from certifying any election results until the issue is resolved. But a unanimous Supreme Court ruled today that it doesn’t have sufficient information to get involved in the matter. “We do not and cannot decide that question based on the record presented in this abbreviated proceeding,” Justice Alan Page wrote in his opinion for the court. Continue Reading

Franken lead grows; Coleman campaign returns to court

By |

Shortly after the state canvassing board reconvened this morning, Al Franken moved into the lead for the first time during the U.S. Senate recount. The Democrat’s lead grew to more than 250 votes by the time the five-member panel broke for lunch, and it should continue increasing throughout the day. The canvassing board is scrutinizing ballots challenged by Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign and is expected to conclude the process today. Franken’s emergence as the frontrunner comes with a number of caveats. Most notably, the running tally does not include ballot challenges that have been withdrawn by the two campaigns. Continue Reading

MN Supreme Court on recount: “This is not Florida”

By |

Roger Magnuson wasted no time in bringing up Florida. In fact, the attorney’s first utterance before the Minnesota Supreme Court this afternoon referenced the legal debacle of 2000. Representing Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign, Magnuson argued that the state canvassing board’s actions of December 12, when it recommended that all 87 counties count wrongly rejected absentee ballots, were an “an invitation to go to Florida.”
But before Magnuson could begin to back up this assertion, he was interrupted by a clearly irritated Justice Paul Anderson. “This is not Florida,” he stated. “I’m just not terribly receptive to you telling us this is Florida.”
So it went throughout the one-hour hearing before the Supreme Court today, with the justices repeatedly interrupting and questioning attorneys for both campaigns. Continue Reading

Challenged, lost, rejected ballots: Today’s decisions on Coleman/Franken recount

By |

As the recount marches on, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board met December 12. Going into the meeting, three kinds of ballots were still contested: the 4000+ ballots challenged by either the Franken or the Coleman campaigns, the 133 “lost” ballots from a Minneapolis precinct, and an unknown number of wrongly-rejected absentee ballots across the state. MnIndy LiveBlog of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board meetingMNIndy LiveBlog of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie December 12 press conferenceLive coverage from The UptakeView photos of challenged ballotsFranken campaign video of absentee voters asking that their votes be counted Challenged ballots: The Canvassing Board strongly urged the two campaigns to review the challenges they have made and withdraw any that are not serious. Campaigns have withdrawn thousands of challenges in the past few days, but the Canvassing Board believes that a large number of frivolous challenges are still pending. The Canvassing Board will begin considering the challenged ballots on Tuesday, December 16. Continue Reading

U.S. Senate recount: Who will have the final say?

By |

A number of unanswered questions continue to cloud the ultimate outcome of the U.S. Senate recount in Minnesota. What will become of wrongly rejected absentee ballots? Will 133 lost Minneapolis ballots be included in the recount? How many challenged ballots will remain when the State Canvassing Board begins examining the contested votes early next week? And will the election ultimately be decided by the courts or the U.S. Senate? Continue Reading

Recount roundup: the final stretch?

By |

After taking a Thanksgiving break, the Minnesota recount is back, with about 14 counties to go and 10 percent of ballots still to be counted. With Friday’s final-count deadline looming, here’s a recap of recent news: Tough math for Franken, Palin v. Ludicris, and another 599 looks at screwy ballots.Latest figures from the Secretary of State, as of 8 p.m on December 1: Precincts counted: 93.75% (3872 of 4130) Percentage of votes counted: 91.13November 4 vote total for Coleman: 1,103,291November 4 vote total for Franken: 1,107,528Recounted number of votes for Coleman: 1,100,922Recounted number of votes for Franken: 1,105,030Total number of votes challenged: 5,943
Challenging Math: The Strib reports that a win by Al Franken will be something of a long shot: He’ll have to win “6 percent of his challenges of Coleman votes even if Coleman fails to succeed on any of his challenges.” Ramsey County election manager Joe Mansky says historical trends show that’d be difficult. “Franken’s best [and perhaps his only] chance will be in court, not with the recount,” he added. While Norm Coleman’s campaign puts the gap between the candidates at 282 votes, Team Franken sticks with a lower figure: just 73 votes. Ballot Challenge: We’ve said it before, the best way to grasp what election officials are up against is to look at the disputed ballots themselves. The Strib kindly offers 599 for your consideration. Continue Reading

Screw U: Students in Dinkytown turned away from polls on Election Day

By |

As of Tuesday night, Hennepin County officials had yet to recount ballots from Minneapolis’ Precinct 1, Ward 3. But when they do, there likely won’t be as many ballots to count as there were voters who tried to cast them. Residents of a student cooperative high rise called The Chateau, which towers over the Dinkytown neighborhood at the edge of the University of Minnesota campus, weren’t able to register at their polling place this year like they did in past elections. The problem: Election officials would not accept the same kind of proof of residency they had in the past — a letter from building management that explains Chateau residents pay for their heat and electricity as part of their rent and therefore don’t have individual utility bills. A revised letter prepared quickly after the Chateau’s office opened at 10 a.m. didn’t pass muster either. Continue Reading