Franken Wins Major Victory In Absentee Count

Al Franken received a potentially major boost towards his hopes of becoming Senator on Friday, when Minnesota state officials ruled that absentee ballots rejected because of clerical or administrative errors should, in the end, be counted.

The decision by the state canvassing board -- which was unanimous -- is, essentially, an official request for county officials to go back and count the wrongfully rejected absentee votes. This process has already begun in many counties and could portend sizeable gains for Franken.

The Democratic challenger has spent the past few weeks demanding that the state review the approximately 1,500 absentee ballots that they contend were unlawfully dismissed. Many of these votes have come from traditionally Democratic locales where, for one reason or another, voters are more likely to make clerical errors when completing their ballots.

The state has set December 19th as the end date for the sorting and counting of this absentee ballot pool (hardly a restrictive time frame for completing the task). The Coleman campaign retains the right to appeal the decision to a district or state court.

With the hand recount over in the state's Senate race, Franken's campaign claims to be clinging to a four-vote lead. This count, however, assumes that none of the challenges to ballots during the recount process will be upheld. In short: the race is incredibly tight. The inclusion of this pool of rejected absentee ballots could very well push Franken into the Senate.

UPDATE: The Franken campaign got more good news from the canvass board hearing. The state had, during the recount process, been unable to locate 133 ballots from the Minneapolis area. But rather than disregarding these votes, officials decided that they will use the results from Election Day.

Comments

[AshleyMarie]

Count every vote!!!

[somsoc]

The phrase that makes the GOP shake in their boots.

[FirstShirt]

Democratic candidates look more and more like the teletubbies.

[GQB]

We can always count on intelligent and relevant comments from rethugs.

[PiscesPrincess]

Yep.

[Donnat]

What happened to Coleman's head? Did someone put it in a vise? I've heard of a long face, but he abuses the privilege.

[PiscesPrincess]

What a stupid remark to make inferring that Democratic candidates look like teletubbies.
it is also insulting. both to the candidates as well as teletubbies.
all in all, responding to the above remark was a total waste of my time. But I just could not resist.

[somsoc]

Better teletubbies than satanic symbols like Cheney, Bush and Coleman.

[truth2008]

Count Baby Count!!!!

[kingofscotts]

Laugh it up now folks. The courts will be laughing this right out of the court room.

You can't do a hand recount of some areas and then use the election night results in other areas.

Funny how they are only looking to do that in an area that will yield more votes for Franken.

There are areas that could use election night results instead of handcounting that would yield more votes for Coleman but nobody seems to want to do that.

This is the most highly illegal case of election fraud we have seen in a long time and Franken doesn't have a prayer in the courts.

Somehow the entire history of statistics has been defied in this one election..­.....yeah right.

[Horus45]

And if the shoe were on the other foot you would be screaming that Coleman had the right to have these ballots counted.
Republicans are such cry baby hypocrites!

[Telemachus]

"You can't do a hand recount of some areas and then use the election night results in other areas."

Unless the actual ballots, which were actually counted, somehow got lost. Then the only choices are to use the results from your original count -- which was probably right -- or not use any count at all, which is certain to be wrong.

[kingofscotts]

THEY WERE NEVER LOST

They were run through twice how many times does the person who was there have to say this before you stop repeating the "they were lost" lie?

Second, how convenient that they are going to use election night results for areas that will net Franken more votes but handcount totals for areas that will cost Coleman votes.

Dems stealing elections the world wouldn't be the same without it.

[roshni]

No court is going to reverse this when Coleman is headed to jail.
MN election reform is long overdue - everyone involved looks like a fool.

[stepper]

The Canvassing Board's decision applies to ONE precinct where it is confirmed 133 votes were counted on election day and then lost. This is not a conspiracy to hand Franken the election. It is an attempt to not knowingly disenfranchise voters. Methinks a little thing called the Equal Protection Claus of a little thing called the US CONSTITUTION will help uphold the decision.

[kingofscotts]

Those are the very things that will force the courts to OVERTURN the decision.

The ballots are not lost.

They were run through twice which has been admitted already by the freaking person that did it.

But hey don't let pesky facts get in the way of you pretending to understand the law.

[publanski]

Actually, the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 seemed to defy "the entire history of statistics" but you didn't seem to mind that, I bet. Just as I'm sure you didn't mind the courts deciding the presidential election in 2000. If you you're looking for election fraud, you can't beat the Republicans.

[kingofscotts]

I hate to do this but I'm going to rain some facts on your parade.

First, the elections of 2000 and 2004 didn't defy statistics in anyway. I challenge you to prove otherwise. This recount so far has completely defied what human beings have thought to be statistical facts since the beginning of the study of statistics­.....that'­s a fact.

Second, regardless of what might sound good with your friends the SCOTUS didn't decide the election of 2000. The SCOTUS in a non-partisan vote decided that the state of FL couldn't break it's own laws in recounting only a small portion of the vote as Al Gore wanted.

Third, I don't expect for a minute that you are either competent or honest enough to understand either of these.

So I'll just say Merry Christmas and happy festivus

[gipper1]

The "tragedy" here is that any other Minnesota Democrat would have beaten Coleman handily.

Fraken should never have run for this seat.

[GIBill]

What makes you say that? Walter Mondale couldn't beat him in '02, and he wasn't an incumbent then.

[kingofscotts]

"What makes you say that?"

If you have to ask.......­.oh well I'll answer it for you perhaps you can share it with your fellow freshman.

Look at the number of people who voted for Obama in MN.

Now look at the number who voted for Franken in MN.

See the HUGE difference?

In a year when basically all you needed was a "D" after your name with a candidate like Obama bringing out record numbers of voters and Franken still couldn't pull of a decisive victory and in fact LOST.

That is the funniest damn thing Franken has ever contributed to society.

[Mosby007]

Then why didn't any other dem beat him in the primary?

[jahzilla]

Unseating an incumbent is always statistically tenuous, even with huckster Coleman at the helm. Most voters are woefully ignorant and merely vote by default, thinking they have done their duty.
Franken is an excellent choice (cut from the progressive "Wellstone" cloth), especially after having creamed all others in the primary.
Who doesn't know these things? Ah yes, the vast majority of those who hold just enough "knowledge" to be either dangerous . . . or a fool. Welcome to "fast-food" intellectualism. You know, like those who still think Reagan was in any way good for this country. Well, history (and all actual facts known) has proven that a sucker is born (and re-born) every minute.

[AZ AF VET]

He's good enough, he's smart enough and dog-gone it people like him!

[Wildofski]

Yeah! We've been waiting a long time for the Franken Decade to start!

[Kim D]

:-)

[FirstShirt]

He is a clown. No, really. That's what he does for a living.

[milo h minderbinder]

Yes, he's a comedian.

So what?

[GQB]

Jester, maybe... you know: the one who tells the truth to power.

[hjfraser2002]

Not for a long time. Come on catch up, we will try to go a little slower for you.

[somsoc]

And he has an IQ about double Coleman's pitiful IQ of 74.

[RobinLandseadel]

" Many of these votes have come from traditionally Democratic locales where, for one reason or another, voters are more likely to make clerical errors when completing their ballots."

Face it folks: We're screw-ups.

[LeeCalif]

At least we've got a sense of humor and don't try to disenfranchise voters.

[ikesambobby]

There's alot of thing's you can do to people that are horrible but one of the saddest thing's to me is to steal their vote. It's not that often that you get to have a say in what goes on. I pay alot of taxes but do I get to choose where it goes?

[somsoc]

The only way the GOP can win is fear, weak minded (bible belt) and disenfranchisement or cheating.

[Myshkin57]

What clerical errors did voters make? From what I've read, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the ballots. I don't think it's the voters who made the clerical errors.

[GQB]

Please share other insights from your psychic abilities. We're fascinated.

[GQB]

oops... responded to wrong post.
Clerical error on my part. :)

[roald]

A troll in Democrat clothing? There may be many reasons for technical errors on ballots, including fatigue from the long lines in predominantly Democratic areas or the pressure to vote and get back to work fast that may be greater in blue-collar areas.

[AndThenOneDay]

2 things. 1, poking fun at democrats doesn't make one a troll unless this board is now single-party. Which has not been a winning strategy when tried in the past.

2, the errors were on absentee ballots, so the time pressures an long lines you refer to aren't likely issues.

I've worked with people to get absentee ballots done. Esp. people in senior housing and public housing. There are definitely challenges, esp with getting consistent information. But time and lines, de facto, weren't consequential.

[roshni]

But our votes count!

[schicklett3]

The investigation against coleman should be expedited.­..and if he is found to be a crimnl then he should go to jail.
These crooks running our country need to be rounded up and sent to Iraq.

[Smurfysax]

Don't worry, Barrack will take care of that!

But, as you can see, folks are doing all they can to bring him down already.

[justobserve]

No, we wanted to export our "democracy" but it now showed ours is not better than anyone else's, just a tad different, so please don't export our criminals to anywhere else.

[Rgell]

some of them are already there... working for Blackwater­...

[JJM21]

"The Franken campaign got more good news from the canvass board hearing. The state had, during the recount process, been unable to locate 133 ballots from the Minneapolis area. But rather than disregarding these votes, officials decided that they will use the results from Election Day."

So, why have a recount if you are going to use the results from Election Day????

[bubbuh]

Sigh. Try reading the whole article.

[JJM21]

Did you just write, Sigh? Ha.

Followed the story. Read the article, which has nothing to do with the Update on the bottom.

About the update, it just seems odd to me that they can order a hand recount, then say if the results they get dont seem correct, they'll just take the original count. I dont care who it favors, it just doesnt seem right.

[LetReasonHoldTheReins]

Are you seriously this stupid??????????
They recounted because it is called for by MN state law. They are using the votes recorded on election day for the missing 133 ballots because... BECAUSE THEY ARE MISSING! Idiot.

[doctorwang]

How in the he/l can you recount missing votes? You can't. You can either completely disregard them- which would disenfranchise 133 voters....­..or use the original count.

[JJM21]

Then your assuming that there are 133 missing votes. It could also be that 133 ballots were mistakenly run through the machine twice.

You are probably right, Im just saying its all assumption.

[kingofscotts]

JJM21 suggest that they were run through twice and there are no missing 133 ballots.

Let's see what evidence we have to support that.

Hmmm, how about the person who ran them through twice admitted that this is exactly what happened.

Suddenly the Dems love election fraud. Whodathunkit

[hjfraser2002]

Not that question again

[jhoughton1]

Don't understand that update...

[alkamm]

As I understand it, the procedure was going to cost all those votes, but the vote is now going to simply divide those 133 votes in a percentage that was originally achieved by the larger vote. So. If Franken got 58 percent of the larger vote, they'll give him 58 percent of those 133 votes rather than no vote which would have been a loss of 8 percent of the 133 votes.

[CTtransplant]

No...as previously stated, they are going to take the actual count...no­t a percentage.

[bubbuh]

They will be meeting again next Tuesday.

[Jasonk]

"voters are more likely to make clerical errors when completing their ballots."

My understanding is that it was the Clerks who made the clerical errors.

[bubbuh]

Both did. But, in Minnesota a voters's clerical error is not one of the four reasons for rejecting a vote. Some of the clerks did not understand that.

[doctorwang]

good point, Jason!

[bubbuh]

Slowly we progress, step by step. Inch by inch we push through the tangled passages of the paper tundra. And, dimly, we see a n rectangle hidden by a light. With trembling fingers we raise our binoculars while the mists from the fishing shacks swirl and merge, first obscuring and then illuminating the object of our quest. Finally, for just a moment the fog is ripped by a skater's passing wind. We see the sign. It says "Meeting Adjourned Until Tuesday."

[LetReasonHoldTheReins]

NIAGRA FALLS!!!!

[roshni]

And we might actually win by the 27 votes predicted by Nate Silver....­..

[bikercrd]

I can't wait to see Bill O say "Senator Franken"!!

[bubbuh]

O'Reilly will decide he should run for something.

[Hillrick]

Head dog catcher is taken, maybe junior sanitary executive is open...and right up his line.

[hjfraser2002]

Hall monitor

[editorjuno]

...and I strongly recommend the nearest exit!

[AnthonyVolpe]

The hills?

[0whole1]

Nah. He may decide to run *against* something, but "for" implies positive undertaking.

[rabiddog6708]

Go, Al, Go! Leave, Coleman, Leave!

[bubbuh]

Count Al the votes! Count Al the votes!

[jazzman]

Franken may pull it out yet. It would be good because Coleman's in trouble anyway and his victory would just allow Pawlenty to appoint a Republican in Norm's place. Let's let an elected official serve.