Coleman And Franken Make A Deal

Minnesota Public Radio reports that Sen. Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken have struck a deal on disputed absentee ballots in their recount.

The plan they've submitted, which must be reviewed by the Minnesota Supreme Court, would count rejected absentees only if both sides agree they were wrongly cast aside.

The proposal draws out the process past the high court's end-of-the-year deadline. It could leave Minnesota without a decision on who won the race until after the new class of Senators is sworn in on Jan. 6.

Ritchie said concluding the work in time for the new session of Congress is not something he's at all concerned about.

"We've been really clear in saying our top priority is accuracy and transparency and the timing thing is just not our issue," [Secretary of State Mark] Ritchie said. "I want to put an underline, we don't care as long as it's accurate and we've done it in an accurate and transparent way. We don't care when it's done."

Coleman, meanwhile, lost a bid to have 16 discarded challenges reconsidered. His only current hope seems to lie in dubious legal maneuvers, such as using the Election Day results over the recount results in 25 specific precincts.

UPDATE: The Minnesota Supreme Court has granted a request from the Franken and Coleman campaigns to approve a framework for counting wrongly-rejected absentee ballots.

Comments

[AZWolfster]

Why would Franken agree to this? If it's true that Dems make more mistakes on their ballots, such a rule would benefit Coleman much more greatly, no?

[JZ735]

Minnesotans better learn how to pick better candidates, because both of these chumps are losers.

[newunderground]

nuh uh Franken's the BOMB, MAN

[ShephDJ]

I don't understand what the purpose of this agreement was in the first place. Why make it? Ritchie is doing what he is going to do.

[StephCaster]

This is absurd. They were asked by the court to come up with CRITERIA for evaluating the ballots. Criteria should be objective, not "whatever we feel like." A disgrace on both campaigns and an insult to every citizen of our republic. Shame. Shame. Shame.

[BannedInBoston]

And on and on and on....

[benne]

I HATE these agreements by the candidates over votes. It reinforces the idea that they own the votes rather than the voters themselves owing their votes.

[AmbivalentGuy]

Dead on -
politicians are chosen by our agreement.

Casting out votes because someone circled a name
instead of filling in a little circle is nuts.

We don't have literacy requirements to vote,
thus the idea that the "instructions weren't followed"
is immaterial - it is NOT required that a voter be
able to read the instructions.

Besides, I have dyslexic friends who couldn't
make heads or tails of those props that are
worded in such a way that you don't know if
you are voting Yes or No - The negatively worded
ones are most commonly misunderstood.

[William1950]

our election process is so flawed.... whoever wins this one looses anyway.

[Pete2069]

No ,,,, we lost it when we let Bush and Cheney stole the election in 2000 and 2004 and we have and will pay for it through out eternity..­.

[StrangerThanFiction]

I AGREE...HO­WEVER...NO ONE STANDS UP ANYMORE...­EXCEPT TO WRITE A FEW SENTENCES.­..FOR WHAT IS RIGHT IN THIS COUNTRY...­ALL TOXICALLY MODIFIED ARE WE...SO WE CAN ALL BE PASSIVE AND COMPLIANT!!!

I KEEP SAYING..."­WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE PEOPLE WITH GUTS...LIK­E CINDY SHEEHAN...­TO SPEAK UP AND MARCH AGAINST WHAT IS WRONG FOR WHAT IS RIGHT???

THEY BEAT HER DOWN...THE SO AND SO'S...AND FEAR OF REPRISAL IS WHAT KEEPS PEOPLE DOWN! I LEAVE YOU WITH 2 QUOTES:

"The tyrant, who in order to hold his power, suppresses every superiority, does away with good men, forbids education and light, controls every movement of the citizens and, keeping them under a perpetual servitude, wants them to grow accustomed to baseness and cowardice, has his spies everywhere to listen to what is said in the meetings, and spreads dissension and calumny among the citizens and impoverishes them, is obliged to make war in order to keep his subjects occupied and impose on them permanent need of a chief."
~ Aristotle

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
~ Margaret Mead

[dessertsfirst]

Have you seen pictures of some of the ballots cast? Part of the blame has to go to the Minnesotans themselves who played pictogram on the ballots, requiring a wizard to figure out for whom the vote should be cast!!

[leftbehind2000]

???

Why do the candidates get to decide whether or not my vote is counted?

[milo h minderbinder]

Because that's the decision the MN supreme court handed down.

Seems like a pretty dumb one since it gives either side veto power over ballots that they suspect may lean one way or the other. I wouldn't expect really consistent logic behind which are counted, and I doubt many will be counted at all. The supreme court decision basically forces both sides to be partisan since being fair would mean losing.

Shame they just didn't decide on a method of including ballots or not instead of this odd system.

[Billpoch]

Why didn't Norm hire professionals like Rove and Jeb Bush if he wanted to steal an election.T­he solution was simple. If he could not figure that out ;he doesn't deserve to be in the Senate.

[taricaziz]

voting for Barkley was like buying a stock of a company that just announced it's filing for bankruptcy.

[Pat15]

right there is no shortage of idiot citizens in this country just like in 2000 I think 250000 voters went for Nader ...who had zero chance of winning anything ...Nader the guy cant even win a house seat let alone anything else ..

[StrangerThanFiction]

PLEASE DON'T DISCOUNT NADER...IN THE 70'S & 80'S NADER'S FIGHT AGAINST CONSUMER FRAUD, MANUFACTURING ERRORS, TOXIC CHEMICALS IN EVERYTHING FROM HOUSE PAINT TO TOXIC WASTE DUMPS...HE SAVED MANY AMERICAN!

HOWEVER, MR. NADER HAS FORGOTTEN WHAT HIS TRUE STRENGTH WAS AND BECAME SO EGOTISTICAL THAT HE STOPPED DOING WHAT WAS NEEDED FOR HIS OWN SELF INTERESTS.­..THUS LOSING HIS TRUE VALUE!

IF HE HAD BEEN ON THE WATCH, AS IN THE PAST, WE WOULDN'T HAVE SO MUCH TOXIC WATER, FOOD, AND PRODUCTS FROM FOREIGN LANDS!

YOU LEFT US IN THE LURCH, MR. NADER...NO ONE COULD HAVE DONE IT THE WAY YOU DID...AND YOU DID IT WITHOUT BECOMING PRESIDENT!!!

[jarjarbush]

All is not lost. Prior to the investigation, trial and sentencing, Norm can live off of his Sham Wow commercial money.

[billw8017]

The voter's intent matters above all, then all votes should be counted. Coleman has a right to his day in court. Minnesota will do it right.

It does make quite a show! Will it finally come down to the last vote counted?

[milo h minderbinder]

Coleman is a hypocrite. He criticizes Franken for letting the recount happen (even though it's automatic, not at Franken's request), and says he wouldn't have had a recount if he was behind...n­ow when he's behind, he says he's going to sue until he wins?

[flash LI]

This is crap! All votes, even ones that are not discernible should be cast in Franken's favor. It's only fair!

[salh]

Crap is the proper word to describe a vugar comic like Al Franken. He will sink the U.S. Senate to a new LOW if he wins. His comedy wasn't fit for any audience.

[Beowoof]

Absolutely! Al Franken, Dennis Leary, Andrew Dice Clay, Howard Stern, Dana Carvey....­.they're one and the same.

[walkaway]

At least he's not a crook and a cheat like Coleman. He is an embarrassment to his party and the Senate. Coleman has sold his soul so many times that the Devil owns 110%.

[jbr415]

While you may have heard Al Franken as a comic, you've obviously never heard him as a senate candidate. I found him to be logical, honest, pragmatic, progressive and uncorrupt (unlike the other candidate--How DOES that new suit fit, Norm?) It was a dark day when Paul Wellstone and his wife died. Instead of Minnesotans honoring this truly genuine, alturistic man, they elected a crook carpetbagger. The sooner he is kicked out, the better off this country will be.

[garykay]

What is the proper word to describe a president and vice-president who lied to the American people and illegally invaded a soverign nation in direct violation of our Constitution. When the parents of the gallant young men and women who have lost their lives/limbs/minds over Iraq finally come out from under the ether of misguided patriotism, I'm certain the tone of Al Franken's vocabulary will be the very last thing on their minds. Bush/Cheney, as low as you can go!

[Indieguy]

8 years of the bush admin., now that's vulgarity that trumps anything done by a comic.

[AmberGaze]

Now I know who he favors! A grown-up version of Eddie Munster, LMAO!

[AmberGaze]

What happened to the caterpillar-brows, Eddie?

[Zeibens]

Nah.... I'm thinking more like Eddie Haskell on "Let it to Beaver"
you know the shameless suck up - kinda nails it on the head dontcha think?
"Nice suit Mr. President. You been losing weight? You look great!"

[mudshark12]

I got a bad feeling about this....