Free Republic

KSTP investigated absentee ballot inconsistencies and reported their findings last night, and you can watch the video here. Many cities put up roadblocks to their investigation request -- and Bloomington threatened felony charges against KSTP if they reported on their findings. The most damning part is Sec. of State Mark Ritchie's denial of problems and response when asked to look at ballot envelopes and comment. "Ritchie first told us he could not read our examples, then said he wouldn't look at photocopies of absentee ballot envelopes." A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigation has found that mistakes made with absentee ballots in...

If the next election is the first time you will vote there is something called a "spoiled ballot" and they will not count your if challanged and it is spoiled. In Minnesota, incumbant Republican Norm Coleman lost to radio talk show host Al Franken in a very close election. The election was decided by a few hundred votes. Each of the states have their own rules about conducting elections. In Florida the Bush v. Gore election was close and "voter intent" seemed to be the Florida standard with the hanging chad. Take a look at this ballot. Here the voter's...

A conservative group and several gubernatorial candidates are asking Democratic Attorney General Lori Swanson to investigate ACORN over voter registrations and other activities in Minnesota. Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis says a felon convicted of registering illegally in Ramsey County claimed an ACORN canvasser helped her. He was joined at a news conference on Wednesday by a handful of GOP candidates and one Democrat.

Here's a shocker. ACORN may have helped Al Franken steal the US senate seat from Minnesota. The Minnesot Star-Tribune reported: But ACORN does have a special place in its heart for at least one prominent Minnesota politician. Last year, it showered praise on Al Franken, endorsing his run for the U.S. Senate. Franken returned the esteem: "I'm thrilled and honored to receive this endorsement," he gushed in a press release. He added that he was "more motivated than ever to work with ACORN."

Rasmussen Reports has just released a new approval/disapproval poll from the late great state of Minnesota, a state which has elected Jesse Ventura and Al Franken into statewide & federal offices, perhaps the two largest disgraces to elected office in history. Anyhow, polling data does not go well for Senator Franken, who is entering his third month in the United States Senate, after ballots mysteriously we're found to give him the edge over Republican Senator Norm Coleman. The polling data is not good for Franken, as he has to be the least liked new Senator in the United States of...

After a banner bounce-back year for Democrats in 2006, many believed the 2008 Senate race was theirs to lose. In 2002, when Coleman was elected with Bush's blessing, 70 percent of Minnesotans approved of the president's performance. By 2008, 70 percent disapproved. A hurricane had flooded New Orleans in 2005, and two years later at the other end of the Mississippi River, an interstate bridge in Minneapolis had collapsed into those waters. Polls showed the state of Minnesota, like the rest of the country, wanted change. The campaign got personal early. Already being knocked around for his jokes and writings,...

The state's judges are paying tribute to the three-judge panel that decided the winner of Minnesota's disputed U.S. Senate election between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. The Minnesota District Judges Foundation has presented its Community Service Award to Judges Elizabeth Hayden of Stearns County, Kurt Marben of Pennington County and Denise Reilly of Hennepin County. It says they displayed "the highest levels of professionalism, public service, and judicial independence and integrity." The three judges declared Franken the winner by 312 votes in April. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the panel's decision in June. Coleman decided not to appeal...

In a pair of crowded, cluttered, work-ripened hotel suites, campaign workers quietly tapped at their laptops and could hardly believe what they saw. The roars and tears of supporters of Barack Obama and John McCain had long subsided. It was the early morning after Election Day 2008, time for them to either celebrate or drown their sorrows. But these stalwarts of the bitter red-vs.-blue U.S. Senate battle between Norm Coleman and Al Franken stayed at their posts and nervously watched the numbers. Which were frozen. After two years and $40 million, Coleman and Franken were tied and headed into overtime....

It’s one of the most important (and unanswerable) questions in the whole healthcare debate, and yet it’s hardly discussed at all — by either side. Certainly, no good answer has been given by the Obama administration regarding how to pay for such a massive governmental expenditure, and the reason no good answer has been given to this question is that no good answer for it exists. Watch the following quick video clip, and be stunned at how economically out-of-touch these people are. Keep in mind also as you watch that these are the very people who are pushing so hard...

The Census Bureau today is reporting what Minnesotans have long known and can be proud of: Minnesota's citizens consistently lead the nation in casting their ballots. Newly released census figures show that in the 2008 presidential election, Minnesota and the District Columbia led the nation in turnout with 75 percent. The national average was 63.6 percent. For the nation as a whole, about 131 million people reported voting in the 2008 presidential election, an increase of 5 million from 2004. The increase included about 2 million more black voters, 2 million more Hispanic voters and about 600,000 more Asian voters,...

Jesse Ventura, former Minnesota governor, weighs in on Sonia Sotomayor, Sen. Al Franken, and Sarah Palin's resignation.

His first votes were largely along party lines, including one against a measure to require building 700 miles of border fence by 2011, which he opposed because "none of the relevant effective law enforcement agencies were asking for it," spokeswoman Jess McIntosh said. Fellow Democrat Amy Klobuchar voted for the measure. Many of Franken's new staffers -- 26 hired so far -- are Washington veterans, including chief of staff Drew Littman, a former lobbyist who has been an instrumental figure in setting up many Senate offices over the years. Franken also signed on to his first earmark requests on Wednesday...

As a military officer for 30 years, I came to recognize the necessity of good leadership. When I retired from the military in 1998, I became active politically in the Republican Party. Since that time, I've been elected to two National Republican Conventions, acted as a military spokesperson for the Bush/Cheney campaign in 2004, and served as national veterans coordinator for Fred Thompson's presidential run. In 2007, I ran for Minnesota GOP party chair as a reform candidate, and lost. Over the years I have raised tens of thousands of dollars for GOP coffers, donated many thousands of dollars to...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged?Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006...

Just when you thought things couldn’t get more farcical in our nation’s capitol, the Al Franken Circus heads to town. Franken was declared the winner yesterday of the long-contested Senate race by the Minnesota Supreme Court with a razor-thin margin of 312 votes out of over 2.9 million votes cast. Norm Coleman chose to bow out of the race rather than continue the contest taking the fight to the federal courts. It is estimated the two camps have spent more than $1.7 million in legal fees through March, the end of the last FEC reporting period. Rumors abound that Coleman...

Franken Declared Winner of Minnesota Senate Election, Giving Dems Filibuster-Proof Majority After the Minnesota high court rejects a legal challenge from Norm Coleman, the Republican concedes to Democrat Al Franken in the state's Senate race. Democrat Al Franken, right, with his wife Frannie Franken smile as they meet the media at their house in MInneapolis Tuesday June 30, 2009 after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Democrat in the Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. (AP) Democrat Al Franken as the winner of the state's vacant Senate seat after the state's high court ruled that Republican challenger...

Comedian Al Franken was declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race today after the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected all of Sen. Norm Coleman's legal arguments that the recount had been unfair. Coleman conceded the race in the video below . . . . (Watch Video) . . . . The victory gives the Democrats 58 Senate seats, with two independents who virtually always vote with the Democrats. That equals a 60-vote super majority in the Senate if they all stick together. Sixty votes are enough to invoke cloture, which allows legislation to be brought to the floor. . ....

The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent nearly $1 million on Norm Coleman’s legal fees to back the Republican's appeals and draw out the Minnesota Senate race. But now that the state Supreme Court made its final ruling, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn said he "respects" Coleman's decision to concede: "Throughout the last several months, Senate Republicans have made clear that the people of Minnesota, not politicians in Washington, should decide this election. Now that the courts have spoken, I join Norm in respecting that decision and moving forward to address the important issues facing our country....

“I am deeply disappointed in the decision made by the state Supreme Court, and I share the frustration of Minnesota’s voters. At the core of our democracy lies two concrete principles: No valid vote should go uncounted and all votes should be treated equally. Sadly, those principles were not adhered to during this election. While I would have proudly stood behind Norm Coleman had he chosen to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, I know that his decision to withdraw from this race was not an easy one, but one that he felt was the best decision for the people...

In a 15-minute news conference, looking relaxed and upbeat, Norm Coleman congratulated Al Franken, reminisced about his 6-year term and the "longest election in Minnesota history" and didn't discuss the details of the rejected legal challenge. "We have reached the point where further litigation damages the unity of our state," Coleman said. "I congratulate Al Franken in his victory in his election." "The bottom line is that's history. I'm not looking back… We are a nation of laws, not men and women. The court has spoken.".... Moments later, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's office issued the following statement: "The Minnesota Supreme Court...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race, ending a nearly eight-month recount and court fight. Coleman conceded at a news conference in St. Paul, a few hours after a unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and liberal commentator should be certified the winner..............

Coleman: the GOP's million-dollar man GOP senators, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee insist that the Coleman challenge has been worth the money — for now. Over the past three months, the NRSC spent nearly $1 million to pay his legal bills, and since Election Day, Republican senators and the RNC have pumped in hundreds of thousands of dollars more. -snip- Coleman’s legal challenge has reached the Minnesota Supreme Court, but many legal experts believe that the court’s decision — expected any day — will affirm that Franken won last November’s election. If that happens, Coleman...

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of Al Franken in the disputed U.S. Senate race, according to Franken's attorney.

June 30, 2009 BREAKING: Minnesota's highest court rules for Al Franken Posted: 02:25 PM ET (CNN) — Minnesota's Supreme Court has dismissed former Sen. Norm Coleman's challenge to the state's November election results and declared Democratic challenger Al Franken the winner. The unanimous opinion ruled that Franken "received the highest number of votes legally cast" and is entitled "to receive the certificate of election as United States senator from the state of Minnesota." The former "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer had declared victory in the disputed race after a recount ended in January, but Coleman — a Republican who...

Al Franken confirmed to MN senate by MN supreme court.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled Al Franken the winner of last November's Senate race, putting the former "Saturday Night Live” star on the brink of becoming a United States senator and Democrats on the cusp of holding a dominant supermajority in the Senate. In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the court upheld a three-judge panel's April 14 ruling that Franken defeated Republican Norm Coleman in the race by 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast....

Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) said Sunday he has no plans for further delay in certifying the results of the state's disputed U.S. Senate election so that Republican Norm Coleman can pursue a federal court challenge. Pawlenty told CNN that he would abide by whatever ruling the Minnesota Supreme Court makes in the contest, where Democrat Al Franken appears to have an upper hand. "I'm prepared to sign [the certification] as soon as they give the green light," Pawlenty said. “I’m not going to defy an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court. That would be a dereliction of my duty."...

The National Republican Senatorial Committee spent almost $1 million last month on Republican Norm Coleman's attempt to win last year's U.S. Senate race. Coleman is attempting to overturn Democrat Al Franken's slender lead. The former senator's appeal of a trial court's decision that Franken won is awaiting a ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court. That ruling could be issued any day. Last month, the NRSC spent $937,917 to help Coleman in that effort. Minneapolis law firm Dorsey & Whitney, home to Coleman attorney Jim Langdon, received $350,171 of that and Washington, D.C., law firm Patton Boggs, Coleman legal spokesman Ben...

PIM has now heard from two sources on different sides of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race recount scene that the final Minnesota Supreme Court ruling is expected to arrive tomorrow, Thursday, June 18th

GOP activist and blogger Michael Brodkorb has asked for copies of rejected absentee ballots from areas where for the most part Republican Norm Coleman ran strongly in the disputed November election for U.S. Senate... Statewide, local election officials rejected about 12,000 absentee ballots on Election Day for failing to meet legal requirements. Nearly 1,300 were eventually deemed legal after reconsideration by the officials, representatives of Coleman and fellow Senate candidate Al Franken, and judges who heard the U.S. Senate trial. But the rest remain excluded because the judges said they lacked evidence they were cast by registered voters or met...

Minn. court orders Coleman to pay $95K to Franken 18 hours ago ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republican Norm Coleman must pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs for his appeal of Minnesota Senate election results. A Ramsey County court administrator entered the judgment Wednesday. It results from the two-month trial that ended with Coleman 312 votes short of Franken.

A review of Minnesota’s statewide database of registered voters revealed at least 2,812 deceased individuals voted in last November’s general election, according to a new report by the “traditional values” advocacy group Minnesota Majority. After obtaining the list of voters who participated in November’s election, the group hired an independent firm who specializes in “death suppression” for direct mailing lists to review the data. The process, which involved matching names and addresses to state death records, bore troubling results. According to Minnesota statute 201.13, the commissioner of health is to report monthly the name, address, date of birth, and county...

Senate Republican leaders appear willing to go to the mat for former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), but it's unclear whether Coleman wants to go to the mat for himself. The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to rule within weeks on whether Democrat Al Franken bested Coleman in the long- contested 2008 Senate race. Republicans said they were ready to protest any Democratic leadership attempts to seat Franken — if the court rules him the victor — until Coleman either exhausts his appeals process in the federal courts or decides to throw in the towel. Cornyn and Senate Republican Conference Vice...

Norm Coleman had an unusual escort to yesterday's Supreme Court hearing on the Minnesota recount, a sharp-eyed MinnPost reporter found: Like an Agatha Christie mystery, all the key players arrived on the scene, as if reprising their performances since the recount began. Friedberg, the dapper, 72-year-old Minneapolis defense lawyer, showed up by 8:15 a.m., 45 minutes before the start of the argument, wearing his father's lucky cufflinks and spraying throat-soothing liquid into his laryngitis-afflicted throat. Soon after, Coleman himself walked in, accompanied by his criminal defense lawyer Doug Kelley, who is handling any matters related to an ongoing FBI investigation...

And now, again, we wait. This wait, though, is different. This time, Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is in the hands of five state Supreme Court justices. The state has grown uncomfortably accustomed to waiting in the nearly seven months since voters went to the polls. And voters, who have been represented by just one senator since January, still don't know for sure if Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman will walk those hallowed Senate halls. But in a race that has lasted weeks past its expected expiration date, Monday was a big day.

Republican Norm Coleman's legal team on Monday faced a skeptical audience of five Minnesota Supreme Court justices, who could be his last lifeline to prevent Democrat Al Franken from being seated as the state's junior senator. During the one-hour proceeding, the five justices peppered Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg with pointed questions on whether the campaign had provided enough evidence to prove that Coleman would have won the election if additional absentee ballots were included. Justice Christopher Dietzen, an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty who is considered to be the court's most conservative judge, said during the hearing that Coleman's...

Republican Norm Coleman called on the Minnesota Supreme Court today to reverse a victory for Democrat Al Franken, and several justices sharply challenged Coleman's argument for counting more ballots. Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg said thousands of additional absentee ballots should be tallied under looser standards adopted by many local officials on Election Day. He said local customs led to counting ballots in Democratic areas that were similar to those rejected by officials in Republican areas applying a stricter standard. But several justices said he failed to provide proof that such practices were widespread or affected the outcome. "You're offering little...

Put William Mitchell Professor Raleigh Levine in the list of Minnesota legal and political experts who think Al Franken will prevail in the Minnesota Supreme Court and that Norm Coleman has little chance of getting his case heard in federal court. Professor David Schultz of Hamline University, Professor Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey Institute and Professor Steven Schier of Carleton College also say they believe the Supreme Court will uphold the three-judge panel's ruling in favor of Al Franken. And all think this matter won’t go anywhere in federal court. Furthermore, I have been unable to find any independent expert...

Minnesota's U.S. Senate showdown will center on the state Supreme Court today. In Courtroom 300 in St. Paul's Judicial Center, an attorney for Republican Norm Coleman will tell five justices why he believes the case must be sent back to the trial court. An attorney for Democrat Al Franken will tell the justices why he thinks the trial court's April 13 decision that Franken won the race was correct. For Coleman, there can be no outright win at this stage. His best hope is that the court's decision — which may be weeks away — will send the case back...

ST. PAUL, Minn.—A group of conservatives sued Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and 25 county election officials Thursday over allegedly incomplete voter records. Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis said the counties failed to post voter history updates as required within six weeks of the November 2008 election. His lawsuit also alleges that Ritchie's office has yet to update voter records to reflect all those who voted. Davis said the lawsuit was filed Thursday with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Ritchie, a Democrat, said the attorney general's office will respond to the lawsuit.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has this piece of advice for Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine: Butt out of Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. In a letter, Pawlenty has pointedly rebuffed Kaine's request this week that he prod fellow Republican Norm Coleman to abandon his fight to regain the state's vacant Senate seat. For either Coleman or Democrat Al Franken to be seated, Pawlenty must sign an election certificate. In his letter, Pawlenty replied: "Some of your Democratic colleagues and members of the media have inaccurately stated that an election certification is being withheld," Pawlenty wrote. "That is not the case."

Continuing his book promotion media tour, former Gov. Jesse Ventura today resumed his blunt criticism of the Bush administration's interrogation policies and took another shot at former Sen. Norm Coleman. Appearing on ABC's "The View" talk show this morning, Ventura called the waterboarding of suspected terrorists "torture." "If this country follows the rule of law -- which we do -- torture is against the law," he said, adding, "I'm ashamed of my country."... He was less harsh about Minnesota's still-unresolved Senate race than he was last week when he called Coleman "a hypocrite." "It appears [Al] Franken won," he said,...

Al Franken asked the Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday to affirm his victory in the 2008 Senate race and hand down a ruling that would direct Gov. Tim Pawlenty to certify him the winner. “We think the law is clear,” said Franken's lead attorney, Marc Elias, pointing to a state Supreme Court ruling on the matter in February that he said indicated “that the certification would issue after the state court process ended.” The Minnesota “Supreme Court is the end of the state court process,” Elias noted. The request came as part of Franken’s reply brief to Republican Norm Coleman’s...

Ex-Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura appeared on CNN's Larry King Live last night for a thoroughly entertaining 20-minute interview. In it, Ventura said he'd been waterboarded, called for the legalization of drugs, threw his hat in the ring for ambassador to Cuba and called Norm Coleman a hypocrite. Some excerpts: Ventura said he was waterboarded as part of his Navy SEAL training. He was (typically) not shy about his views. "It's a good thing I'm not president," Ventura said. "I would prosecute every person involved in that torture. I would prosecute the people that did it. I would prosecute the people...

Here is video from yesterday of a speechless Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid being pressed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer about why newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter said recently that Norm Coleman ought to be declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race over Democrat Al Franken. At first, Reid hemmed and hawed about how to respond, and then came forth with this: REID: "Last night I came to him and I said 'Arlen what's all this about?' And he said 'I forgot what team I was on.'" This should make some great campaign ad fodder for whoever runs against Specter...

It seems as if Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) will have to earn the trust of his new Democratic allies -- and he is starting by backing away from his apparent show of support for Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman. Meanwhile, in an unexpected move, the Senate on Tuesday night stripped Specter of much of his congressional influence by revoking his seniority on the committees on which he serves. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) read on the Senate floor yesterday a resolution making Specter the most junior Democrat on four of his five committee assignments. It stood in stark contrast to Reid's...

The political whirlwind that surrounded Sen. Arlen Specter ’s switch from the Republican to Democratic party had him forgetting which team he is rooting for in 2010. But after voicing support for Republican Norm Coleman in his contested Minnesota Senate race, Specter said he misspoke in a New York Times magazine interview and is supporting Democrats. Specter switched parties April 30 in an effort to hold his Pennsylvania seat for a sixth term in the 2010 election. The move upset fellow Republicans and elated Democrats who edged to a 59-seat majority with two independents in a Senate where 60 senators...

Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-Pa.) shocking decision last week to become a Democrat has upped the ante in the never-ending Minnesota Senate race, providing a strong incentive for Republicans to hold out until every last appeal is exhausted. With former Sen. Norm Coleman now standing between Democrats and their 60-seat supermajority, the GOP is prepared to back the Republican's appeal to the federal level if even a shred of doubt emerges in the case currently before the Minnesota Supreme Court. "This makes it pretty darn important," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of the race...

A COMEDIAN who had a walk-on part in the Rutles film spoof of the Beatles is poised to deliver a 60-seat super-majority to the Democrats in the Senate as President Barack Obama consolidates his grip on the levers of power. Al Franken, 57, a satirist turned Democrat politician, is expected to be proclaimed the winner of the protracted race for the US Senate in Minnesota, in time to give Obama a free hand to appoint a Supreme Court replacement for retiring Justice David Souter without fear of Republican blocking tactics. If Franken wins, Obama will hold an unassailable majority after...

Six months after Election Day, Al Franken is a man in limbo, preparing for an office he's not entirely sure he's going to get, chained to a fundraising treadmill for a legal battle that goes on and on, and champing to get to work while precious committee assignments and pitched policy battles pass him by. He has hired a Minnesota state director -- Alana Peterson -- but she's working for free because he can't draw on any money budgeted for a Senate seat that has no winner. His office? Most days it's his Minneapolis townhouse. On Friday, it was the...