Did uncounted overseas ballots give the lead to Franken in Minnesota?

The American Thinker ^ | May 14, 2009 | Richard Baehr

[Scanian]

A shameful total of 98,000 of 441,00 ballots requested by Americans overseas in 2008, mainly military personnel, were never returned.

Assume Minnesota's share of these unreturned ballots was proportional to its share of the US population, or just over 1.7%. That would equate to about 1,700 ballots.

Franken's lead over Coleman is just over 300 votes at last count. Could these mainly military ballots have made the difference?

It seems quite possible (Coleman would have needed to win 60% of all these ballots to overcome Franken's lead).

Why exactly were so many ballots(over 20% of the total requested)from military personnel not received or counted?

[WOBBLY BOB]

Minnesota’s Shame: The wholesale disenfranchisement of absentee military voters.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/378ltyrg.asp

[knarf]

Someone should propose a bill that all military absentee ballots be collected to one point and a gurd (2,3,4 guys?) acompany the boxes to the US on a C137 or something.... then 51 military ... one from each state, be present to immediately take posession and acompany each states' box(es) to that state.

Post a guard until the time to count military votes ... let the military count them and submit a notarized count to the election headquarters.

[ozzymandus]

The RATS have always tried to disenfranchise military votes, because they tend to go heavily republican. Add this to the already-exposed vote-stealing in MN, and the RAT stealing of another election is plainly exposed.

[swatbuznik]

Yep, and this is why this news is eclipsed by a scandal story about Coleman. This is fraud so deep it’s just... no words. I’m furious about it!

[Cicero]

Why exactly were so many ballots(over 20% of the total requested)from military personnel not received or counted?

One reason, according to some of the stories posted here last fall, is that the Pentagon doesn't make much of an effort to get these ballots to the troops. As a result, they arrive too late to count.

I don't know if that's true, but it wouldn't surprise me. There are a lot of clintonoids in the top bureaucratic ranks, I believe. Bush did a little house cleaning, but not enough.

[Tzimisce]

There isn’t a single part of that election fight that smells right. Throwing out the military ballot is just one.

[knarf]

See my #3 ... send a million ballots over with a transport and let the military get the mail to the men.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Are you kidding?.....Democrats never count the military ballot in any election!...It’s just a fact!

[Hildy]

Is the Pope Catholic?

[Hildy]

Is the Pope Catholic?

[khnyny]

One reason, according to some of the stories posted here last fall, is that the Pentagon doesn't make much of an effort to get these ballots to the troops. As a result, they arrive too late to count.

That wouldn't surprise me as well. As an aside, a Pentagon official was just charged with spying for the Chinese.

[khnyny]

We ask our soldiers to put their lives at risk every day, fighting and dying in wars in foreign countries, but we don’t even give them enough respect to count their VOTE?

It’s shameful, embarrassing and disgusting.

[chris_bdba]

Id say it also helped elect Obama too.

[Dianna]

I don't know if that's true, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The military is a very large bureaucracy and votes are less important to the immediate mission than general mail (which is a huge factor in morale).

Furthermore, in order to coordinate everyone asking, receiving and sending back ballots in a timely manner, would take some persuation from the higher ups. I wonder if they have concerns about people complaining, "They harrassed me to vote because they wanted me to vote for the Republican guy..."

[WOBBLY BOB]

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0046M1