Minnesota's Shame: The wholesale disenfranchisement of absentee military voters.

The Weekly Standard ^ | April 7, 2009 | M. Eric Eversole

[Scanian]

In its recent order, the three-judge election contest court in Minnesota reiterated a common theme during the Coleman versus Franken Senate recount--notwithstanding the numerous questions raised regarding the fairness of the election, "Citizens of Minnesota should be proud of their electoral system, a system which has one of the highest voter-participation rates in the country." The court emphasized: "the facts presented thus far do not show a wholesale disenfranchisement of absentee voters in the 2008 general election." Accordingly, without any discussion of those facts, the court refused to review several groups of absentee ballots including many rejected ballots from military members. It likewise concluded, again without discussion, that there was no violation of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), the federal law designed to protect absentee military voters.

But, what were the facts that led the court to this decision? Did military members have the same chance to vote as non-military voters in Minnesota? Did election officials reject military absentee ballots at the same rate as non-military ballots? Were military voters provided a reasonable opportunity to participate in the election as required by UOCAVA? The short answer to these questions is no.

[LeonardFMason]

Lawsuit after lawsuit should be filed. Appeal after appeal should be made. EVERYTHING in the world should be done to prevent Franken from being seated. Why? If for no other reason, to piss off liberals.

[jdsteel]

Grow a set, MN conservatives! Yell from the rooftops! Have a tea party on the judges front lawn, just like ACORN did with the AIG dudes.

[bgill]

Why is it in most every election, it’s the military absentee votes that are thrown out?

[pointsal]

Yep, this is bad treatment for members of the military. Shame on the judges involved in this charade.

[kevkrom]

At least one of the disenfranchised service members needs to file suit against the state of Minnesota for violations of UOCAVA, and individually against any officials (including judges) involved in the recount situation that refused to address UOCAVA violations.

[MuttTheHoople]

The GOP needs to grow a pair. I'm tired of hearing Conservatives whining, "WAAH WAAH! THEY'S UNFAIR"! Do something about it.

Set up a strategy to make the Minnesota Demorats PAY for this in 2010. Put the disenfranchisement of military votes FRONT and CENTER of every Minnesota election from here on out. Claim said Demorat for each election had a hand in SPITTING ON THE TROOPS (which they probably did). This is a gunfight, and we're using butterknives.

[MEGoody]

Libs scream that every vote should count. What they really mean is "every vote for a Democrat should count, but every Republican voter should be disenfranchised".

Liberal = hypocrite.

[OrioleFan]

Remember the Mark Herron memo to DemocRATs in Florida on how to disqualify military ballots?

[TribalPrincess2U]

It takes money

[gore_sux]

The only problem is that the GOP in MN is about the same as the DFL. Sure, Pawlenty tries to hold taxes down, but he is a fully converted global warming acolyte who sucks up to the teachers’ unions (and he is considered one of the more conservative GOPers.)

Where do conservatives turn to make their voice heard? I don’t know anymore. I’ve decided that after 7+ years of volunteer work in the GOP that they are not worth the effort. I am content to let them hit rock bottom while the state is destroyed by the DFL, then perhaps we can start rebuilding with a solid conservative base.