Free Republic

Hope Baker is one determined young lady. She won't take no for an answer, even though it looks like her Don Quixote-type quest has run smack into a legislative windmill up at the state Capitol. Along with Jayne Jones, her Concordia University political science professor, and six like-minded classmates, the 22-year-old Alexandria native and law school aspirant wants to add impaired driving as a specified exclusion to a state law that grants lawmakers immunity from arrest in certain cases while the session is underway. But the push to clarify a centuries-old state Constitution provision has not gone over well with...

So who did cast the critical 60th vote for the Affordable Care Act, a k a “Obamacare”? Facing a new election year, the GOP has an answer ready to go: U.S. Sen. Al Franken, the Minnesota Democrat whose 2008 recount victory over Republican Norm Coleman helped alter the balance of power in national politics. With the rocky rollout of healthcare.gov, Minnesotans can expect to hear a lot about the symbolic 60th vote; for example, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann recently penned an opinion piece calling Franken “a leading cheerleader and the 60th vote for Obamacare.” But in a body of 100 senators, Franken...

Almost no elected Republicans support giving gays the right to marry. The party’s influential social-conservative wing sees “traditional marriage” as a defining issue. And while most major Democrats are rushing to embrace same-sex marriage, none of the most prominent potential Republican presidential candidates have taken that step.But a powerful group of Republican donors, who see the GOP’s staunch opposition to gay rights as a major problem, is trying to push the party toward a more welcoming middle ground — where candidates who oppose marriage rights can do so without seeming hateful.The behind-the-scenes effort is being led largely by GOP mega-donor...

Former Sen. Norm Coleman is advising Mitt Romney. He has also advised us not to get our hopes up about Obamacare repeal. "You will not repeal the act in its entirety, but you will see major changes, particularly if there is a Republican president," Coleman told BioCentury This Week television in an interview that aired on Sunday. "You can't whole-cloth throw it out. But you can substantially change what's been done."

A collection of former high-ranking Republicans will launch a group that will raise and spend unlimited amounts of money in a bid to retain the party’s majority in the House, they announced Thursday. The formation of the Congressional Leadership Fund solidifies the movement of the new type of loosely regulated committee from outside operators to establishment tools. A former director of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Brian O. Walsh, will head the group, which will be chaired by former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota. It will be organized as an independent expenditure committee, or “super-PAC,” meaning it may run...

While former Sen. Norm Coleman has said publicly that he may return to public service, today he ruled out challenging Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2012.“I’m not going to run against Amy Klobuchar,� Coleman, R-Minn., said on ABC’s “Top Line� today. “I’ve said in other forums that I haven’t ruled out public service -- my heart’s in public service. At some point, but not in 2012. I love what I do now, and that is developing center-right policy.�More at ABC's The Note While I'm never one to discourage challenging any Democrat, I have to say I can't blame Norm...

A Republican group that includes former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday will kick off its efforts to improve the party's outreach to Hispanic voters, many of whom have been critical of some GOP candidates' harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration. The new Hispanic Action Network is part of a growing number of Republican organizations reaching out to Hispanics in advance of next year's presidential election — and it has powerful support. The group is backed by former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, whose American Action Network funneled more than $30 million in campaign funds to Republicans in about 30 congressional races...

At 9am Tuesday November 30, 2010, New Zeal will post documentary evidence linking Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, to the Communist Party USA. Why is this important? A key part of Mark Ritchie's job is to oversee electoral recounts in Minnesota. In early 2009 Mark Ritchie judged that his Wellstone Action Advisory Committee and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party colleague Al Franken had won a Minnesota U.S. Senate seat, even though Republican opponent Norm Coleman was ahead on election night. The recount was dogged with controversy, with allegations that felon's votes were illegally counted. Currently, Mark Ritchie is overseeing another election recount....

Iran's Oil Mafia April 16, 2007 Frontpagemagazine.com Hassan Daioleslam Robert William (Bob) Ney is a current federal prisoner and a former Ohio Congressman from 1995 until November 3, 2006. Ney pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff lobbying and bribery scandal. Ney reportedly received bribes from Abramoff, other lobbyists, and two foreign businessmen - a felon and an arms dealer - in exchange for using his position to advance their interests. Conspicuously missing from this dossier of disservice to the country was Ney’s assistance in the creation of a Washington-based lobbying...

WASHINGTON — Let’s clear two things up at the start of this article that will be helpful going through the rest of it. One: Former Sen. Norm Coleman finds himself once again in the conversation for a run as the next chair of the Republican National Committee. POLITICO reported late Thursday that he was considering it, and has told aides it would be an “intriguing” opportunity. Two: I have no idea how much of that is coming from Coleman, and how much is coming from people who flatly don’t like current Chairman Michael Steele and want to see him forced...

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds July 12, 2010 FoxNews.com The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities. That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman. The final recount vote...

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds By Ed Barnes July 12, 2010 The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities. That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman. The final...

Former Senator Norm Coleman told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Chief Political Reporter Tom Hauser Sunday he will not be running for governor in 2010. He made the official announcement on his Facebook page late Sunday night. He released the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS ahead of the announcement. "I love Minnesota and I love public service, but this is not the right time for me and my family to conduct a campaign for Governor. Timing is everything. The timing on this race is both a bit too soon and a bit too late. It is too soon after my last...

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...

Tony Trimble couldn't catch a break. As one of the lead attorneys for Sen. Norm Coleman following Election Day, he hadn't stopped working in months. And as he watched the Republican's lead over Democrat Al Franken slip steadily and then finally vanish in the largest recount in American history, he marveled at how everything seemed to be breaking Franken's way. Clerical corrections, countless one- and two-vote shifts from sloppily filled-out ballots, major judicial rulings. They all added to Franken's vote quarry. In the closing days of the recount, Trimble watched, dumbstruck, as 933 rejected absentee ballots — once the domain...

Politics: The mantra from 2000's presidential recount doesn't seem to apply to the 2008 Minnesota Senate race. As the GOP incumbent pursues his court challenge, Democrats want the game called due to leading.This week in St. Paul, Minn., Republican Sen. Norm Coleman got to present his case of a stolen election before a three-judge panel, the last step in a very long and winding contest. The Democrats get to conduct an exercise in hypocrisy in this "election contest," as it's called, that may last three to four weeks. "Let every vote count" was the rallying cry after Al Gore lost...

Politics: Should the election law in Massachusetts be changed to keep Ted Kennedy's seat filled and get ObamaCare passed? As in Minnesota and Illinois, the voters might lose again.Recognizing his own mortality and waging a valiant battle against brain cancer, Kennedy has written a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, state Senate President Theresa Murray and state House Speaker Robert DeLeo asking them to change the law so his seat might be filled immediately until a special election could be held. His letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Boston Globe, does not specially mention his illness or...

Stimulus: The group that pushed banks into the risky loans that brought the economy down is now eligible for a huge chunk of stimulus cash. The stimulus plan does create jobs — for community activists.As in any agreement, contract or piece of legislation, the devil is in the details. So it is with the stimulus package percolating in Congress. Analysts are beginning to figure out that only a small percentage of the money will actually trickle down into the economy in the first two years, not enough to do much stimulating. Yet in this package is a $4 billion pot...

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 when Democrat Mark Ritchie defeated two-term incumbent Republican Mary Kiffmeyer to become Minnesota secretary of state. It was Ritchie who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Franken a lead some...

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...

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...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to become a Democrat significantly raises the stakes in a contested Senate race in Minnesota, with the outcome of that fight now set to determine whether Democrats gain procedural control of the Senate. The Minnesota Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on June 1 in the election dispute between Democrat Al Franken and Norm Coleman, who was the Republican incumbent until January. Mr. Franken currently leads the race by 312 votes, and many analysts say the state supreme court could reaffirm his victory within weeks. The Minnesota contest is now pivotal because,...

Norm Coleman’s legal team has filed a notice of appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, contesting his resounding defeat last week at the hands of a lower court in the seemingly endless Minnesota Senate race recount. Coleman’s appeal to the state supreme court was expected, but it comes after a week of pressure from Democrats, Minnesota media and even some Gopher State Republicans for him to concede. Coleman and his attorneys have dismissed these calls for his concession, and he has the full backing of Washington Republicans, who continue to raise money for his legal fees in the ongoing fight....

Republican Norm Coleman used a quick George Bush -esque move to dodge an egg thrown at him outside his Minnesota home. Coleman told police that he heard a thumping on his door Tuesday night and walked outside to investigate. Upon seeing Coleman, a man yelled “I [expletive] can't stand what you represent” and threw an egg at him. “He said something, some little obscenity, and then he threw another one,” Coleman told the St. Paul Pioneer Press . “I kind of ducked. A George Bush move.” “I ran after him, but I didn't get him.”

Norm Coleman doesn’t have much support back home for contesting the results of the Minnesota Senate race, according to a new poll of Minnesota voters conducted by Public Policy Polling. The poll showed that 63 percent of Minnesota voters said they believe Coleman should concede the race to Democrat Al Franken, with just 37 percent supporting further appeals. And 59 percent said they want Gov. Tim Pawlenty to sign the certificate declaring Franken the winner. “With the ruling of the three judge panel it appears that most Minnesota voters are now ready for this election be over,” said Public Policy...

A group of several dozen of the most influential business lobbyists in Washington is vowing to raise and spend whatever it takes to bankroll Norm Coleman’s upcoming appeal fight, in the wake of a three-judge ruling declaring that Al Franken defeated Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race. The group of lobbyists, which calls itself “Team Coleman,” is made up of some of the biggest players in D.C.’s permanent lobbying establishment, and includes executives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association and others. “We will raise as much as is necessary,” Dirk...

Norm Coleman’s campaign hasn’t yet filed its expected appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, but partisans are already gearing up for what could be the next flashpoint in the Coleman-Al Franken Senate contest — the backgrounds of Minnesota’s high court justices. The Coleman and Franken camps have not expressed any sign of public concern about any of the five jurists who would hear their case. And neither side has requested any recusals. But as Coleman prepares to take his argument to Minnesota’s top court in a bid to keep his slim election hopes alive, and as Democrats implore him to...

~ EXCERPT ~ Democrat Al Franken has started using the title “Senator-elect,” despite the fact that his contest with Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has not yet been decided. A Minnesota court is currently hearing Coleman’s challenge to the recount. A press release sent out by his staff Monday announcing a series of town halls with local mayors reads: “Sen.-elect Franken held the first in a series of roundtable discussions with Minnesota Mayors today in St. Paul. Franken and metro-area mayors discussed the economic realities facing their cities, budget cuts, President Obama's measures for economic stimulus, and how to grow Minnesota’s...

ST. PAUL -- The trial on Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount stalled on its first day Monday when the judges said photocopies of 5,000 excluded absentee ballots couldn't be used as evidence because Republican Norm Coleman's campaign workers had marked on them. Coleman's lawsuit argues in part that local election officials wrongly rejected many absentee ballots. Democrat Al Franken has a 225-vote lead and says any flaws are not substantial enough that they resulted in the wrong man winning. The marks the campaign workers made included, in some cases, numbering or redaction of private information. After a Coleman witness admitted to...

George Soros is the biggest sugar daddy of the Democratic Party, and naturally wants to ensure that the Democrats have a monopoly of power in America. Recently, I wrote an article for American Thinker on the role that George Soros has played in helping the Democrat Al Franken in his race against the Republican incumbent Norm Coleman for a Senate seat in Minnesota. However, there may be one other reason that Soros was determined that Norm Coleman in particular lose his seat. This was personal. Norm Coleman was the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as...

ST. PAUL, Minn. | The campaigns of Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken wrangled Monday over hundreds of unopened absentee ballots that could still tip Minnesota's Senate race. Lawyers ended a testy public negotiation session convened by the Secretary of State's Office without agreement on which ballots to open or how many should be under consideration. That leaves the heavy lifting to a series of regional meetings that begin Tuesday. The ballots that make the cut at those meetings will be opened in St. Paul by Monday. Those ballots are important because Mr. Franken leads Mr....

ST. PAUL, MN – Minnesotans have turned to schoolyard protocol in a last ditch effort to solve their Senate conundrum. Following a 2-month recount that has still not determined a winner in the Minnesota Senate race between incumbent Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken, officials have decided on an age-old method to settle the matter – Rock Paper Scissors!

While Al “Globull Fraud” Gore continues to make the following public statement: "Washington needs a breath of fresh air. Al Franken is a great man, a great activist, and will be a great leader in the U.S. Senate" … it is important to remember the real Al Franken. The fact is Franken has been an unsuccessful hack his entire life. His only “accomplishment” in life was video taping sex with Arianna “The Greek Leona Helmsley” Huffington. Now Franken, and the Democrats-Soros Shadow Party, wants America to believe that “the new Al” is fit to be a U.S. Senator of...

MINNESOTA BALLOTS: LAND OF TEN THOUSAND FAKESDecember 10, 2008 What is the point of having a hand recount of ballots in the Minnesota Senate race if the Democratic secretary of state is going to use the election night totals in precincts where it will benefit Democrat Al Franken? Either the hand recount produces a better, more accurate count, or there was no point to the state spending roughly $100,000 to conduct the hand recount in the first place. But that is exactly what the George Soros-supported secretary of state has agreed to do in the case of a Dinkytown precinct...

This is just too perfect. Earlier today, noting that none of the network morning shows explicitly identified Rod Blagojevich as a Democrat, I wondered out loud how a Republican would be treated in like circumstances. It's taken less than three hours to get our answer. Let's preface this by saying that Norm Coleman is not, repeat not, the target of an investigation. To mention him anywhere within a million miles of Blago is unfair. I'm citing the MSNBC coverage just for purposes of illustrating the double standard. At about 11:20 AM ET, here's how Contessa Brewer threw it to Norah...

As we noted last night, Minnesota's Senate recount is over, with just one precinct outstanding. That precinct is Minneapolis's Ward 3, Precinct 1, where election officials found that 133 more votes were recorded on a voting machine than there were ballots inside the machine. That discrepancy has triggered a hunt for the 133 "missing" ballots. Several journalists from other states have asked us about the discrepancy between the vote totals as reported by the Minnesota Secretary of State and by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Currently, the Secretary of State shows Norm Coleman leading by 687 votes with a single precinct...

It has been over a month since the democrats swept the election and in true demo fashion, some are still refusing to let go of the battles this simply did not win.... Considering the gains they've made in the 2006 election as well as the 2008 election, you think their need for world domination would be satiated...but in keeping with the tradition of being a whiny liberal, it is not. In the still "undecided" Minnesota Senate race, comedian turned politician Al Fraken is still holding on to some hope that he can take this race from incumbent Senator Norm Coleman....

In every recount of the senate election from Minnesota, incumbent senator Norm Coleman has consistently been ahead of challenger Al Franken by hundreds of votes. At this point it looks like it will be impossible for Franken to exceed Coleman's total in the recount of the few ballots remaining. So what is the solution of New York Times guest columnist and associate professor of journalism at New York University, Charles Seife? Why just declare the election a "statistical tie" and flip a coin to determine the winner. Seife explains how he has come up with his laughable resolution for the...

Coleman Expands Lead Over Franken in Minn. Senate Recount Tuesday, December 2, 2008 1:19 PM By: David A. Patten With more than 92 percent of the recount now complete, Sen. Norm Coleman’s lead over Democratic rival Al Franken has stretched to 340 votes, an increase of about 70 votes in the past 24 hours. While 70 votes is a fraction of the nearly 3 million votes cast in the election, every vote could be critical to Coleman’s hopes of heading off a U.S. Senate investigation into Minnesota election procedures. Such a review could take months to resolve. “Size matters,” Larry...

With 91 percent of ballots recounted, Norm Coleman leads by 344 votes in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. Coleman held a 215-vote lead over Franken after Election Day. Between now and Nov. 4, Coleman has lost 2,369 votes, and Al Franken has lost 2,498 votes. By Friday, all of the state's 87 counties should be done with their collective review of 2.9 million ballots. Dec. 16, the canvassing board will gather to rule on 2,876 ballots challenged by Franken and 3,067 ballots challenged by Coleman. While it looks like Coleman is leading, it's hard to say how secure his spot is....

The setback at the Canvassing Board has forced Al Franken to face the fact that he didn’t get enough valid votes to beat Norm Coleman in Minnesota’s Senate Race. With the rejection of his bid to get the panel to add in thousands of rejected absentee ballots, there seems little chance that the remaining 15% of ballots left in the recount will produce the kind of change that 85% has not. What’s a surly, self-absorbed DFL candidate to do? Sue. Minnesota’s U.S. Senate showdown is veering down a path toward the courts and possibly the Senate itself after a panel’s...

The State Canvassing Board, a panel of five arbiters charged with determining the winner in the overtime election tussle between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Al Franken, unanimously voted this morning to deny the Franken campaign's request that rejected absentee ballots be included in the recount. During the discussion, the board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the merits of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys. They also made it clear they expect the issue to be litigated separately from the recount procedure. Also this morning, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who chairs the Canvassing Board, said that...

On Dec. 8, 2000, supporters of Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush burst into cheers in the rotunda of the Leon County Courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla. They had just learned of a judge's ruling that absentee ballots cast in pro-Bush counties would not be thrown out. They taunted supporters of Democrat Al Gore with the song that baseball fans sing when an opposing pitcher is knocked out of the game. "Na-na-na-nah, hey hey, good-bye!" they chanted. Bush was pronounced the winner of the state of Florida, and the presidency, four days later, and the preservation of those "absentees" was a...

Things may not be going as well as Al Franken hoped in the recount, but don't tell that to Nate Silver. The numbers junkie behind FiveThirtyEight.com predicts that Franken will win the recount — once all challenges are resolved — by 27 votes. (Related: Franken losing ground to Coleman on DFL turf How'd he come up with that number? It's little complex — OK, that's an understatement — but Silver basically did a regression analysis using recounted precincts where there were few or no challenged ballots (Franken has done well there) and projected it across the rest of the state....

A correspondent writes: Just returned [from Crystal]. We counted the last three precincts without incident. Then the City Clerk made the announcement that she had found some absentee ballots that had not been processed yet from another previously closed precinct, Ward 4 Precinct 2. Apparently Friday afternoon she was given the order by SOS [the Secretary of State] to release the names of voters who had their ballots rejected. While canvassing the absentee ballots she found 8 ballots bound together that had not been processed on election night. She claimed they were valid ballots that had been filled out by...

Some national media types are trying to make it sound like the Coleman-Franken recount sound like Florida 2000. It’s time to deflate that myth. The minute that public hears that someone has to determine voter intent, they first flash back to Florida’s butterfly ballots, then think of the punch cards ballots. While it’s natural to do that, that isn’t the case. In Florida 2000, people were debating voter intent based on the chad family (dimpled, pregnant or hanging.) Minnesota’s ballots are extremely straightforward. When determining voter intent, here’s some things to look for: 1) Did the voter fill in the...

President Bush has been "briefed," as they say, about the extraordinary spate of Somali piracy that culminated this week in the seizure of the Sirius Star. Incredibly, this Saudi supertanker loaded with crude oil destined for the United States now joins a commandeered fleet of about a dozen ships and 200 crew being held by Somali pirates who, according to Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor, may well have links to jihadists. I'm wondering whether President Bush, at any point in his briefing, ever thought to ask his experts: "What is up with Somalia?" I say this given the disjointed but...

Day two of the recount is wrapping up and we here at the Coleman campaign are very pleased with the results so far, with only a few unexplained discrepancies that our team is keeping a close eye on. The Coleman Campaign is very pleased that on a day when Al Franken’s advantage in the recount process should have been two or three times what it was, they fell far short of what their clear expectations for success were going to be. In the northern part of the state, where old “Eagle” ballot machines are located, the Franken Campaign must be...

Good morning all, Now that Day Two of the Great Minnesota Recount is underway, here are a couple of points that are worth reviewing.... 1.) The swing, swung -- and may again: As we indicated before the recount began, the number of 215 was going to change...it has. By varying degrees it shows our current 215 vote lead as being south of that number by anywhere from 25 to 45 votes. The bulk of those changes came from St. Louis County where older "Eagle" machines do not pick up lightly pressed voter marks. Eleven of the eighteen precincts that use...

With news that Democratic candidate Mark Begich has taken the lead from incumbent GOP Senator Ted Stevens in Alaska's Senate race, Republicans are beginning to visualize a nightmare scenario in which Democrats actually reach the goal of 60 Senate seats that would allow them to stop any GOP filibuster. The scenario runs like this: First, Republicans lose the Alaska seat. At least 15,000 provisional ballots and an estimated 20,000 mailed absentee ballots remain to be counted. Ominously for Republicans, Mr. Begich now holds an 814-vote lead after some 50,000 absentee ballots were counted this week. The race could remain undecided...