Posted on 12/01/2008 2:09:15 PM PST by lewisglad
Al Franken’s (D) campaign may ask the Democratic-led Senate to intervene on his behalf to allow some disqualified absentee ballots to be counted in his quest to unseat Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).
Franken attorney Marc Elias made the case to reporters Monday that as many as 1,000 absentee ballots were improperly disqualified and that the Senate or the courts may need to step in to resolve the issue.
“No recount can be considered accurate or complete until all the ballots cast by lawful voters are counted,” Elias said of the recount that became necessary when only about 200 votes separated the two candidates on Nov. 4.
Minnesota's Board of Canvassers ruled last Wednesday that it would not revisit the improperly disqualified ballots. The bipartisan board ruled unanimously that it did not have the authority to order that the ballots be reviewed and counted.
Elias said that of the 12,000 disqualified absentee ballots in the race, “as many as 1,000” ballots were improperly excluded, and should be counted. He added that the campaign would appeal to the Board of Canvassers, courts or the U.S. Senate to ensure those ballots are counted. Last week, Elias had indicated that the campaign would not directly appeal the board’s ruling.
The U.S. Constitution allows each congressional chamber to be the "Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the Board of Canvassers’ decision to not count the absentee ballots “a cause for great concern” last week, fueling speculation that the Senate would explore the legality of the Minnesota recount’s results
“If ultimately there is no remedy before the canvassing board or before the courts, then that is certainly an option,” Elias said of the Senate’s potential intervention in the election results.
“The Franken campaign has made it clear that the recounted votes and will of Minnesotans matter little to them, and that they intend to take their campaign to change the outcome of this election on to the United States Senate,” said Coleman campaign spokesman Mark Drake. “Al Franken should personally reject this strategy outright, and honor the right of Minnesotans to choose who their senator should be — and not allow lawsuits and the strong-arm tactics of the majority leader of the United States Senate to intervene in this process."
According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's recount tally, Coleman leads Franken by 282 votes with 86 percent of the recount complete. In total, 5,623 ballots have been challenged, with the Franken campaign having challenged 67 more votes than Coleman's campaign. The Franken campaign said it would announce withdrawn challenges later this week.
The Franken campaign maintained that Coleman only led by 73 votes, citing its tally, which includes determinations of a voter's intent made by neutral observers. Those determinations are not final until certified by the Board of Canvassers, and are not included in the Secretary of State's official tally.
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“determinations of a voter’s intent “
I’d like to see the breakdown of votes on ballots falling in this hanging chad category. These are the votes of those too stupid to mark a simple ballot properly.
Algore’s Legacy
Hey, Frankenweenie - no choice made means no choice made. What's your problem with that?
I want Coleman to win this race.
But sometimes I think that any state that has sufficient peeps who would vote for El Joko Franken deserves him.
Translation: We must keep counting until the result matches our desired outcome.
No, Translation: “We counted and counted and still lost, therefore we must simply ignore the count and declare ourselves the winner.”
Are they absolutely certain, that they want to go there? Aren't they overriding the will of the voters? Could this turn around and bite them, come January?
“But sometimes I think that any state that has sufficient peeps who would vote for El Joko Franken deserves him.”
As a US Senator thought he would not be just Minnesota. His votes and clown voice would be the same as the others.
I believe the Senate Dems got away with it last time in the mid-70’s
“Franken May Seek Senate’s Help to Win Race”
“Franken May Seek Senate’s Help to Steal Race”
That’s what that headline really means.
I thought most of the rejected ballots had to do with the viability of the voter (Ie provisional ballots)?
Even though I doubt the American public would go ape-sh*t if the Democrats executed such a naked power grab.
I wonder if this would stop the courts from applying Bush v. Gore - the ruling that elections must be determined based on rules in place before the election was held.
“The Franken campaign maintained that Coleman only led by 73 votes, citing its tally, which includes determinations of a voter’s intent made by neutral observers”
Interpretation: Hand picked Franken partisan observers have concluded that even a spec of dust next to Franken’s name on the ballot constitutes voter intent for Franken.
Isn’t this the sort of thing that happened during reconstruction (the part of American history where we all fell asleep in high school)?
If memory serves, weren’t there cases where certain legislators weren’t seated or were seated due to decisions made by a the legislative body as a whole, more or less nullifying the wishes of the electorate?
Or am I just imagining this?
Senate Dems look to GOP moderates for help
UPI | 2008-12-01
Posted on 12/01/2008 12:59:28 PM PST by rabscuttle385
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141003/posts
“The Franken campaign maintained that Coleman only led by 73 votes, citing its tally, which includes determinations of a voter’s intent made by neutral observers.”
I see, a “neutral observer” can read people’s minds.
“Minnesota’s Board of Canvassers ruled last Wednesday that it would not revisit the improperly disqualified ballots.”
Thus, the writer presumes that the ballots were “improperly” disqualified. Note that there is no statement of why someone came to the conclusion that these ballots should be disqualified and no one who is interviewed to defend the decision. No bias here!
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