Franken On Ballot Challenges: I'll Have Less Than 500

The Franken campaign has again lowered the number of ballot challenges they will submit on Tuesday.

As reported by MinnPost.com, the campaign sent out this press release on Sunday:

Two days after members of the state canvassing board issued an urgent plea for campaigns to withdraw additional challenges in order to allow them to finish their work in a timely fashion, the Franken campaign today announced that it would have fewer than 500 challenges remaining for the board to consider on a ballot-by-ballot basis when it meets on Tuesday.

Communications Director Andy Barr:

"In making this pledge, we are taking to heart the good advice of the canvassing board and the best interests of Minnesotans who want to see this process move forward efficiently. We have the greatest respect for this process and for the men and women involved in carrying it out, and so we will work overtime between now and Tuesday to do our part. When the board meets on Tuesday, it will have fewer than 500 challenges from our campaign to individually review."

The Franken campaign has already withdrawn over 1,800 challenges and today's announcement was made in light of the canvassing board's goal of completing all of challenge reviews by December 19th.

The Minnesota Independent notes that the Franken campaign "is eager to please the board," especially since Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie "estimated that the State Canvassing Board could only evaluate 1,000 such ballots in the four days they've allotted this week."

Comments

[MikeMu]

The headline of this story should read 'Fewer than' not 'Less than' -- unless perhaps, like Coleman, the author believes votes are not countable.

[hortonhearsawho2]

Can anyone count there?

[mec57]

It's curtains, Al...say good night...

[Mogamboguru]

LOL. For the files: Franken is AHEAD in the count.

[Counterglow]

Careful, my friend. A genuine exercise of democracy might let a little light into that tightly shuttered room you call a consciousness. What will you do then, forced at last to face the reality you've tried so hard to deny?

[fDubya]

Then, he/she will again face away from "the reality" until more government-as-wrestling comes their way.

[pt001]

why are republicans anti-democracy?

[ObjectiveRealist]

The other guy wants to stop counting.

[RickCoMatic]

Here in Massachusetts, we got John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. Either of them would have seen to it that every last one of those ballots was counted long before now.
What’s your guy doing? Bellyaching and putting-up a stink, because he knows damn well if all them votes get rightfully counted, he’ll be the one a couple of bricks shy of a load. So, instead of acting Senatorial and correct, championing for the rights of his constituency to have their votes counted; this culprit acts like a mob mouthpiece trying to keep a crooked election from going legit! That, right there, says volumes about the guy!
You folks out there in Minnesota ought to be raising hell over the shenanigans Norm Coleman is pulling, wiping his feet all over our democratic process. Well, shame on that fool for doing it, when he shouldn’t even be thinking about it in the first place. And, this is why we don’t understand you folks, out there, in Minnesota.
You’d think the Minnesota VFW, American Legion, Vietnam Vets, Gold Star Mother’s, Families of Troopers off fighting in Iraq, along with a whole bunch of volunteers from the ACLU would be marching on the State House to make sure every last vote cast for the election gets to be counted. Because, at last count, you had over 500 from Minnesota who sacrificed themselves in this recent war, to make sure that when somebody voted – it counted!

[rabiddog6708]

All I want for Christmas......is Coleman out of a job and Al Franken in Washington.

[Cunningham]

What a great present, and it doesn't cost us a dime. ;-)

[redneckliberalpostbush]

No, Franken isn't going to let the criminal Coleman steal it

[balatro]

Franken doesn't feel the need to steal the election anymore. He figures the Senate will hand it to him on a silver platter.

[stepper]

Yeah, there's so much evidence to support this. Like Limbaugh saying it. And Hannity saying it too.

[redneckliberalpostbush]

that's right stepper lmao! if Limpd**k and Hannity say it, it's FACT!

[MCMetal1]

It still won't make up for the '00 or '04 presidential elections , or the after-math of both .........

[kevenseven]

Tough.

[alwaysthere]

My bank knows instantly when i withdraw money

and they haven't counted the votes yet !!

ya gotta love it

[In A World]

Not at all the same thing. This would be like you receiving random dollar amounts ($1.33, $2.50, etc) from 2 million people across the state... and some envelopes you can't open, so you just gotta kinda feel 'em: is that a penny or a dime? Hmmmm, hard to tell....

[Thad]

There's really no reason that on-site voting should be any less simple or effective than using an ATM, but you have a point as far as absentee ballots.

It would be swell if we could vote online the way we bank online, but the logistics of making sure every vote was logged correctly while still protecting every voter's anonymity may be insurmountable. The closest I've seen to a solution is the suggestion that two separate independent organizations work in tandem; one gives each voter an anonymous account, and the other uses that anonymous account to register votes. But that still doesn't prevent the two organizations from colluding, and of course a voting site would be vulnerable to the same social networking tricks as a banking site -- even though the site is cryptographically secure, scammers could steal account data from unwary users.

A long tangent, but all this to say, you're right, voting isn't like depositing money.

[redneckliberalpostbush]

ain't it insane how our "democracy" here in the "Land O the Free, Where People Watch us Pee" works?? LMAO

[stepper]

Yeah! I know exactly what you mean!

My spell-checker knows instantly I can't spell 'collaberate' but the haven't counted the votes yet.

I know instantly Keanu Reeves sucks in his latest movie but they haven't counted the votes yet.

My 2-year old knows instantly he's soiled his diaper and they haven't counted the votes yet.

My wife knows instantly those hairs on my jacket weren't from our golden retriever and they haven't counted the votes yet.

Um, actually I have no idea what you mean.

[mtracy9]

Hopefully, our right-wing Supreme Court wont jump in to steal this election for Coleman like they did for Bush back in 2000.

[redneckliberalpostbush]

You mean the Bush White Male Catholic and Woman Haters Club? Did you know they wear red cardinal robes now?

[Martampa]

Maybe those guys in Minnesota need help from Florida with the recount.

[In A World]

Why would a competent, intelligent state want help or take advice from the corrupt state of Florida, whose incompetence brought us the first court-appointed president in our nation's history? Minnesota will be just fine. We actually know what we're doing, unlike most other states.

[MCMetal1]

How can a state with an election this close with Coleman as one of the candidates , along with RE-ELECTING that i n s a n e n u t , Bachman , ever be considered "competent" and/or "intelligent".........?

[Cunningham]

133 ballots vanished. Somebody up there doesn't know what he/she is doing.

[Martampa]

I was joking - guess you didn't get the joke. I live in FL but wish I didn't.

[JustAHumanOnEarth]

Wow...He's STILL trying to steal this one?

[blindjester]

Don't worry. Coleman will probably not succeed.

Victory for democracy.

[WarrenPeace]

I know it's difficult to believe, but I think Justa Human's pronoun, "He," refers to Al Franken. It seems Justa is implying that counting votes is bad and that democracy is based on principles other than one-person-one-vote.

[Merckx]

Yeah, I know it's hard to believe but Coleman still won't give up.

[khiva]

Yes, Republicans will do anything to win an election except get more votes.

[redneckliberalpostbush]

Coleman is trying to stop the whole process now that the votes that were stolen are being pulled out of someone's A$$. " We must STOP this, Judge!!" These are the "real Americans" LMAO

[Oldbuck]

In order to be a true democracy we have got to make the state voting laws uniform let the states conduct the election but let made the way they are held uniform. I hope the one who really won the election wins fair and square.

[jaslyn]

Why are there ballots that can be unclear enough to challenge?? This b.s. system of different voting systems in different states should be cleaned up so that the real results are just that. Thank the Repubs for fixing the system to their favor.

[ohmetoo]

I agree, in all elections for national office the ballots should be standard, states should have identical ballots, from font to spacing.

If states want to reinvent the wheel for state election issues, have at it.

It is just time for a national voting standard, to weed out the BS that has been going on far too long. Oh yes and a ballot receipt, and paper ballots. Period end of story.

[Cinnamonape]

In addition the ballots should
a) randomize the order of the candidates; and

b) have the ballot in an ink that under a special light removes the name of the candidate from the "canvasser" when they are inspecting the ballot for challenge. Thus they would not know if the erroneous mark, light pencil or incomplete pen mark, "X" or √ instead of a blackened bubble, or circled name, or comment, fingerprint, etc. was intended for their candidate or not.

And the canvassers should not know what precincts the votes came from.

Doing this would likely end the "game" of trying to disqualify ballots for the other candidate and thus, temporarily and for media purposes, appear ahead.

[weatherwaxx]

That's fine, if you have unlimited time and funds. Reality is a small group of people trying to get the work done. If they don't know what precincts they're counting, it would be hellacious trying to keep track. I've done recount work--believe me, there's too much work to worry about the external details.

[Vere15]

In addition to your suggestions, I just voted in an election (non-American) where we received facsimilee ballots in advance and in the polling booth, they posted it with pictures of the candidates beside their name. While I didn't need such memory aides, a lot of my less politically interested friends indicated it was helpful to allow them to do what they considered adequate research in advance and focus on their selection through the voting process.

[nancytheragingliberal]

I am so impressed with Al. Too bad Kerry and Gore folded so fast. They should have fought. Al should be an inspiration on how to fight these crooks.

[In A World]

Gore folded? Whaaaa? It was one of the most drawn out election ever! Gore fought 'till he couldn't legally fight anymore when the Supreme Court made their ruling. By the way, Al didn't force this recount; it was automatically triggered under Minnesota state law and must be allowed to proceed, regardless of the candidates involved. Nevertheless, I am glad he's hanging in there and pushing back against Coleman's ballot challenges.

[brantl]

Gore did fold in the Senate, he refused to challenge the Florida electors.

[weatherwaxx]

WHAT is this BS about Gore folding? AL GORE FOUGHT TO THE SUPREME COURT! The next step would have been armed insurrection. He conceded to preserve the United States. And if you read Sandra Day O'Conner's resignation speech, if she had it to do over I doubt we'd be ending four years of Bushwhacking.

[Cunningham]

Dear President Bush:
"This is to inform you of my decision to retire from my position as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, effective upon the nomination and confirmation of my successor.

"It has been a great privilege, indeed, to have served as a member of the Court for 24 terms.

"I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the Court and its role under our constitutional structure."

Sincerely,

Sandra Day O'Connor
---


She doesn't appear to show any regret for being a part of the Felonious Five who installed Bush.

[Cunningham]

Kerry folded immediately, Gore did not.

[redneckliberalpostbush]

Kerry is a skull and bones member so is george stephanopolous
it has always creeped the hell outta me that a "Christian" that has command hallucinations like Bush belonged to a highly secret cult that does highly secret rituals in a place called the tomb and uses hitlers spoon as their logo YIKES