Minnesota elector gives Edwards a vote; Kerry gets other nine

[goobergunch]

December 13, 2004

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP)- One of Minnesota's 10 presidential electors broke from the pack and cast a vote Monday for John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential running mate for John Kerry. The other nine Minnesota members of the Electoral College voted for Kerry, who won the state's popular vote in November.

After the state's Electoral College ceremony concluded, no one stepped foward as the Edwards voter. Most electors chalked the vote up as a mistake rather than a purposeful political statement.
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"I'm sure somebody made a mistake," said elector Michael Meuers of Bemidji. "I'm certainly glad that the Electoral College is not separated by one vote."

Republican George W. Bush is due to receive 286 electoral votes; Kerry was slated to get 252, but the Minnesota vote will reduce that total. It takes 270 votes to win the presidency.

more....http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/12/13_ap_electors/

[madison2000]

1. What a moronic thing to do

Does this person know about the recount?!

[MisterCompletly]

28. Speaking of the recount

How far into the 118,000 vote lead has Kerry worked his way into? Is it getting close yet?

[latteromden]

2. I'm torn between cheering (Edwards was my original favorite) and

personally tracking down the bastard that wasted one of MY state's electoral votes.

I honestly don't know what to say about that.

[catgirl]

3. What an idiot!!!!!!!!! I'm an really pissed off Minnesotan!

[troubleinwinter]

4. And this silly thing WILL get MSM to talking.

They'll probably blow it up into a "rejection of Kery", and have hours of speculation, and what "some people say" about it.

[htuttle]

5. Did they use a butterfly ballot?

:shrug:

[xultar]

6. OK WTF, WHAT A MORAN, GRR with the recount this could be important

ok so Electors are screwing up their votes also.

:nuke:

[Zhade]

7. Is there any GOOD reason to do this?

Show the EC isn't locked up, written in stone? Anything? Just wondering, it seems odd (unless it really is a mistake).

[Yupster]

17. Same thing happened in 88

A Dukakis elector voted for Bentsen for prez and Dukakis for VP.

[daleo]

8. It just shows the electoral college turns the election into a joke

If these guys can do whatever they please (or make mistakes), then it devalues the whole voting process, as if it weren't devalued enough already.

[Straight Shooter]

9. Well, one of Minnesota's electors shows more sense than all of Ohio's

No one fessed up, eh? Oh, well, it's just democracy :eyes:

[BattyDem]

10. One more reason why ...

we need to get rid of the electoral college. :eyes:

[Liberal Grant WI]

13. didn't..

you read the topic and say it was probably a mistake?? and how could you possibly get rid of the electoral college?!?! you can't! the small states would have no pull whatsoever..sure it would be good for the big states of Penn, Ny, texas, florida, ohio, and cali..but that would be it..come on guys! think of an election without it?? better?? i doubt it.

[BattyDem]

14. Yes I read the topic ...

and a mistake is even more disturbing. That's a ridiculous and careless mistake to make on such an important vote. Let's say Ohio is overturned ... a couple of mistakes like this one would make it irrelevant.

The electoral college makes fraud easier because all you have to do is steal a couple of high electoral vote states and you can win. Look what happened to Gore? He won the popular vote - more Americans wanted him to be our President - and it didn't matter because of Florida's stolen electoral votes.

[Liberal Grant WI]

18. Sure its a mistake

yeah it was a mistake and i do agree that it is a tragedy for the EC. but still you can't get rid of it?! so what if Gore won the popular vote..he didn't win his home state and he had a terrible VP canidate that didn't do anything for him..kinda like what Edwards did for Kerry..now don't get me wrong i liked both Kerry and Edwards but Edwards did not help in anyway

[BattyDem]

19. "so what if Gore won the popular vote"

That's right ... so what if the majority of Americans wanted the man to be their President? Tennessee didn't and that's all that matters. :eyes:

[iamjoy]

29. VP Candidate Rarely Does Help

I mean, when was the last time the VP really made a difference?

People liked Lloyd Bensen, thought he was a great choice.
They thought Dan Quayle was a horrible choice, but hey - look who won in 1988.

Jack Kemp, another great choice (when we're not speaking like partisan dems)

*IF* there was no fraud in Florida this year, I do believe a number of the Jewish people in South Florida who voted for Gore because of Lieberman in 2000 voted for Bush this year. If not for the fraud in Florida in 2000, Gore would have carried the state thanks (in part) to Lieberman helping deliver the Jewish vote.

[sweetladybug]

20. Liberal Grant WI, you said we can't get rid of the electoral college

because the small states would have no pull whatsoever, WELL with this bunch of crooks in charge of our country the blue states have no pull whatsoever. What's the difference?

[Spangle]

21. What year do you live in?

Maybe 100 years ago the small state, big state made a difference.

Right now, no one "courts" the small states. Their small amount of votes are not worth it. When making a choice of where to drop nuke trash.. should it be droped in a small EV state or a Large EV state.. Hmmm....

I think the small EV state will get it every time.

One whole state will get more vists and promises because a majority of that state needs to vote for the canidate. Now days that equals a lot of money and a little time to do it in.

Get rid of the EV... Every vote will count equaly.

Right now there are voters who don't vote because their state is so far one way or the other, they KNOW there isn't a choice in that state. Get rid of the EV and that voter knows his vote will count for something. No matter what the majority or minority group is in that area. He knows he has a choice and will listen to the canidates. The Canidates will have to actualy convince that person to come vote for them.

Get rid of the EV and I believe the canidates will spend more time in the smaller states then they do now.

[hopein08]

25. What do you mean?

I think that getting rid of the electoral college would actually help the small states because then every single person could actually say that the way they voted mattered just as much as the next guy. I think it would help with this problem of campaign in only a few states that are swing. In addition, the way it is now basically means that as long as you win three or four of the big states, you've got it locked up without the people in the small states. Without the EC, the results would totally rely on the popular vote where everything would count equally.

Just my opinion:)

[MisterCompletly]

27. That would be bad for the smaller states with no big cities

LA,NYC,etc would determine every president from now on. I see nothing positive coming out of that move. Our founding fathers appear to have thought out the process quite well. America was never intended to follow the lead of the countries it escaped from way back when.

[IndianaGreen]

11. What if Ohio goes to Kerry?

We would have a tie in the Electoral College thanks to some idiot that wanted to vote for Edwards.

[KyndCulture]

12. actually I thought Kerry would have 271 if they reverse Oh... n/t

[Endangered Specie]

22. yes...

but if another one switched (I know there is one in DC who doesnt vote to protest taxation w/o representation). it would be 270-270

[Sparkle]

15. I just heard this on Olbermann. Something is up with that.

Tinfoil hat time. Very suspicious, and also we may never know who cast that vote for Edwards because they weren't signed.

[BattyDem]

16. I just mentioned that to a friend ...

If this kind of "mistake" happens 2 more times in other blue states, Ohio won't matter at all. :grr:

On edit: Another thing ... these electors are responsible for carrying out the will of the people in a particular state. Why the f*ck weren't they signed? Don't the people of Minnesota have the right to know if they have a faithless elector?

[bluestateguy]

23. Somebody is dumber than a box of rocks

AND is too cowardly to come forward.

I mean, these people only have had this assignment for several months now.

"Senior Moment"? That's just no excuse. What if this race had come down to one or two electoral votes?

I want that person found out, so he or she NEVER has this job again.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hopein08]

26. Okay, but...

:hi::hi: Welcome! :hi::hi:

First I have to clarify that if the electorate is tied (or under 269) the Senate picks the Vice-President and the House picks the President. Long story short, same results stand.

Second, I doubt Ohio will change but if it does, K/E still lose by more than three million popular votes. Not much would get done, in my opinion.

Finally, as much as I like blaming stuff on the DLC, I hope (and pray) that there aren't DLC Bush supporters who would try to do that on purpose. What would they gain?

Anyway, just my thoughts!

[Dem2theMax]

30. Second, I doubt Ohio will change but if it does,

K/E still lose by more than three million popular votes. Not much would get done, in my opinion."

Electoral votes are the win/lose standard. The three million popular votes have NOTHING to do with it. Remember this guy named Gore?

Although I'm sure that if the vote in Ohio DID change, the repukes would be screaming like crazy about that popular vote. Didn't matter for Gore, but it sure would for *. In their minds anyway. :puke: