Franken sees boost in nail-biter election

[gauguin57]

Source: CNN

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Franken sees boost in nail-biter election
Posted: 08:30 PM ET

From CNN All Platform Journalist Chris Welch

Former President Clinton campaigned with Al Franken a week before Election Day.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) — In a move that could be seen as a benefit to Democrat Al Franken, a Minnesota judge Saturday denied a request from incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign to block certain uncounted absentee ballots from being counted in a race separated by–at latest tally–just over 200 votes, in Coleman's favor. That margin has narrowed since the first tallies earlier in the week. Almost 3 million ballots were cast.

According to the court request, the Coleman campaign sought an "emergency temporary injunction" preventing election officials from unsealing, opening, or tallying any absentee ballots that were not inside an official ballot box by midnight election night. Specifically, the campaign was looking to block 32 uncounted ballots from the city of Minneapolis that, according to the campaign in the request, they were notified of late Friday night and that were to be counted the next day. ...


Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

[That Is Quite Enough]

1. I hope this is a signal that Coleman is not too optimistic about the results.

[Mz Pip]

2. Coleman would be screaming his ass off

if he thought those ballots might go for him. what an ass.

[madaboutharry]

3. Coleman is a jerk.

What is the problem with republicans and vote counting anyway?

[merwin]

4. They know the outcome if all of the votes are counted.

This exact same scenario played out here in WA in 2004 with Gregoire/Rossi.

[truthisfreedom]

5. Republicans know that counting the votes means the Democrats win.

[MNReformer]

9. They don't care if every vote counts, just theirs and the ones they steal

Pretty obvious by now, isn't it?

[ElboRuum]

7. Simple.

Republicans can't win fair elections.

[MNReformer]

10. We need to get to the bottom of these elections.

America needs to know who really "won".

[defendandprotect]

6. High Anxiety --!!! Hang on, Al --- Best Wishes--!!

[4lbs]

8. With the hand recount and counting of remaining absentee ballots, Franken's chances are pretty good.

By the way, how many absentees are left to be counted?

[Thegonagle]

49. Just those 32, I hope. Absentee ballots are supposed to be counted on election day.

[AllyCat]

11. why can't we just count the damn ballots?

Anywhere? What is the problem with counting everyone's vote? Who cares if the outcome is 90%/10%...if people cast a ballot, it should be counted. Period.

[FlaGranny]

12. I hope with all my heart that Al comes out ahead

in this race, but I can't help but think that Al is learning his lesson about Republican dirty election tricks and maybe will take this problem more seriously.

[Auggie]

13. I really want Al to win too

Besides knowing he'd really fight for us, I just like the guy.

[Buns_of_Fire]

45. Because he's good enough, he's smart enough, and doggone it, people like him!

...and that's...okay...

(I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.:spank:)

[scarface2004]

14. republicans hate voting!

bastards!

[Dj13Francis]

15. Such beautiful irony

Franken has completely and consistantly denied that there is any issue in America with election integrity. He's heard the evidence of stolen elections from 2000, 02, 04, 06, and still very publicly stated there was nothing to it. Oh sweet irony that now, his votes were counted on hackable voting machines... He won't win, and it will be because of election fraud. Don't get me wrong - I'd love to see another blue senator in Washington. I just think he's going down, and will get to spend a lot of free time mulling over how incredibly wrong he was.

[myrna minx]

16. Al Franken is running in Minnesota. Also, we in Minnesota use paper ballots

with optical scanner tabulating machines, not the hackable touch screen voting machines. We, in Minnesota pride ourselves with our transparent and clean elections, and our Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, has worked very hard to maintain the integrity of our elections. Our election judges take their charge very seriously, regardless of what political party they are *personally* aligned with, so this election has not been stolen. We have paper ballots to be hand counted and most, if not all Minnesota Duers have confidence in our system (we are the fortunate minority in the country). This election is not over by a long shot.

While I disagree with Franken about his position about election fraud, it does not apply to his own election.

[Laelth]

29. I think the poster meant ...

... that he'd like to see another Blue Senator in Washington DC. I don't think he was referring to Washington, the state. And the tabulators for optical scan ballots are very hackable. Hand counted paper ballots are the safest way to vote.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[myrna minx]

33. I just have to say that it's been exhausting correcting the misinformation about Minnesota

and our election to some folks here, but I think you're correct about the the intent of the poster regarding their desire for another Senator to go to DC, so I apologize to the poster for my misunderstanding about that.

BUT

People have posted so much incorrect information and speculation about us, our method of voting and our auditing. We Minnesotans are looking at this recount as a good audit of our optical scan system. If it's horribly wrong, you can rest assure we will demand answers and it will be fixed. Minnesota is one of the most consistently high voter turn out states, and one of the reasons why we feel so confident about our system, is because we expect and demand clean and tranparent elections. We now (We booted out Kiffmeyer, our former sleezy SOS, because we demand clean elections) have a great SOS and open, transparent elections. We are one of the few states in this union who can feel confident.

The Senate recount is a hand count of PAPER ballots. There are NO provisional ballots, because we have same day election registration.

Let me, yet again, dispel Minnesota election rumors:

1) We vote with paper ballots and not touch screen hackable voting machines.
2) Our paper ballots are counted by optical scanner tabulations, so the hand count of our PAPER ballots will be the most accurate accounting of our vote.
3) We have election day registration, so no, we do not have provisional ballots. If you can provide the following information on election day you can vote:
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp?page=204

Again, people have been talking from the hip about us, and it's extremely annoying, nearly a week later, to have to correct the "experts" of Minnesota elections: people who don't know a thing about Minnesota elections.

I wholly disagree with Al Franken regarding election fraud. I have NO doubt that the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen via un-auditable, no paper trail voting machines. I was just correcting the poster about our voting methodology. While there is evidence of the Coleman camp violating election law:
http://wcco.com/local/voter.irregularities.allegations.2.857437.html
we do NOT have rampant *election* fraud. WE Minnesotans are confident that the truth will come out via the hand count.

[Laelth]

48. Thanks for all of that.

Hand counting those ballots should be the safest possible way to count. I don't trust the optical tabulators, but I do trust a hand count of paper ballots. I am glad that's what's happening in Minnesota.

Didn't mean to exhaust you. Thanks for being a champion of the truth.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[myrna minx]

51. Oh, *you* didn't exhaust me at all.

I'm sorry for how that came out. What I meant was that there is so much misinformation out there, that I've been trying to set the record straight. Thanks for helping us all get to the truth. :hi:

[Dj13Francis]

52. paper ballots...

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6641

Paper ballots are counted on machines. Those scanners can be hacked. Paper ballots are great because they can be recounted by hand. Unless they are recounted by hand, Franken will lose.

And I know Franken was running in Minnesota, not Washington. I'm not a Republican for god's sake...

[Ecumenist]

28. Umm, Al Franken is runing for a seat in MINNESOTA...

not Washington.

[Laelth]

30. I hope he does mull over his position on election theft.

That said, he ran a miserable campaign. While I think he'd make an excellent Senator, and while I think Coleman is reprehensible, I also fear that Franken will lose this time. I hope I'm wrong about that, of course.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Eric J in MN]

31. How was it a "miserable campaign"? NT

NT

[Laelth]

50. Try googling "Al Franken" "miserable campaign" and see what you get.

Here are a couple:

http://crewt.blogspot.com/2008/09/al-frankens-snl-mccain-sketch.html
http://mnpublius.com/2008/07/miles-lords-daughter-running-against-al/

I'm not the first to make this observation. Franken has enormous name recognition, it was a Democratic year, and Minnesota is a fairly liberal state. Franken should have won handily this year.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Doctor_J]

17. Downside - if Al wins, Coleman will have nothing to do all day but sue people

The man is a lawsuit freak. The MN courts will be brought to a halt

[Danascot]

18. Please donate to help Franken pay for the recount

Link to contribute at right.

http://www.alfranken.com/

[Doctor_J]

19. wtf? Candidates have to pay for the recount?

Is this a gag?

[Eric J in MN]

32. The state pays the election officials, but...

...both sides need to hire lawyers.

[kpete]

20. Franken sees boost in nail-biter election

Source: CNN

November 9, 2008
Franken sees boost in nail-biter election
Posted: 10:00 AM ET


MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) — In a move that could be seen as a benefit to Democrat Al Franken, a Minnesota judge Saturday denied a request from incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign to block certain uncounted absentee ballots from being counted in a race separated by–at latest tally–just over 200 votes in Coleman's favor.

That slim margin has narrowed since the first tallies earlier in the week. In total, almost 3 million ballots were cast.

According to the court request, the Coleman campaign sought an "emergency temporary injunction" preventing election officials from unsealing, opening, or tallying any absentee ballots that were not inside an official ballot box by midnight election night.

Specifically, the Coleman team was looking to block 32 uncounted ballots from the city of Minneapolis, according to the campaign in the request. They say they were notified late Friday night that these ballots were to be counted the next day.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/09/ruling-helps-franken-in-tight-minnesota-senate-race/

[xchrom]

21. recommend -- how lovely it would be to say 'Senator Al Franken.' nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. kick

[NYC Liberal]

23. I wanna see O'Reilly say it even more!

[bluedeminredstate]

27. Oh yeah!

Can you imagine O'Reilly calling him SENATOR Franken? He'd have to stop calling him Smalley; that alone would be worth the wait of counting every ballot by hand!

:)

[Eric J in MN]

24. If you want to help Al Franken to hire lawyers...

...then donate at his website:

http://www.alfranken.com

[gratuitous]

25. Anybody have a current count?

I don't think the result has been certified yet, but the last I saw Franken was trailing by about 226 votes with a number of unexamined "undercount" ballots (that is, while the ballot showed a vote for Obama, it had no indication of a vote in the Senate race) in some heavily Democratic areas.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

[zehnkatzen]

26. Just like a Republican. Expect the other guy to play nice ...

... it appalled me when I heard that Coleman essentially said that Al should just 'do the gentlemanly thing' and concede the election because it just wasn't sporting to wait for the recount.

To sane people, the Stuart Smalley act was just that ... act.

When Al gets in the thick of it, he's just as fierce as you want him to be.

[primavera]

53. Yep, hypocrisy is the GOP's middle name

Given how many times they've claimed that the voices of the voters should be heard, but then sued to block ballots or stop votes from being counted or engaged in voter fraud or intimidation, it makes one wonder how anyone can listen to Republicans with a straight face anymore.

[brooklynite]

34. From tight to tighter: Franken now just 204 votes behind

Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Al Franken's deficit just keeps on shrinking as the state adjusts the unofficial tally in the U.S. Senate election last week.

Today's latest results show the DFL challenger is now trailing Republican incumbent Norm Coleman by 204 votes. That's down from 221 over the weekend.

As of 9:40 a.m., Coleman has 1,211,554 votes to Franken's 1,211,350.

The difference between Coleman and Franken, which stood at 725 votes in Coleman's favor Wednesday morning, has changed several times since then as county officials have checked results and sent the adjusted figures to the state. For the most part, the margin between the two has narrowed with each change.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/34200229.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUs

[cobalt1999]

35. Republicans will be screaming fraud and stolen election soon. n/t

[amdezurik]

36. how many more until Norm's head explodes?

LOL! he is whining so loud now it is just hilarious :)

[scytherius]

43. 205 n/t

nt

[dysfunctional press]

37. so- if al pulls ahead, will normy keep his word and drop the recount...?

that would be TOO fucking sweet.

[Demeter]

38. Why Couldn't They Do a Proper Counting?

Why is it taking so long? By law, Michigan's absentee votes must be processed on election day and counted with those votes cast in person.....

[Randomthought]

41. not absentee ballots

What we are seeing now is corrections of data entry errors made on election day.
there are always minor corrections after an election.
The hand recount has not started yet. I think it's scheduled to start in about two weeks.

[struggle4progress]

47. They will do a recount

[yellowcanine]

39. Coleman needs to bring in James Baker right now to say that "the votes have been counted and

recounted." Otherwise he might lose this thing.:rofl:

[onehandle]

40. Liberals who voted for Dean Barkley, take note.

A tiny fraction of the 437389 votes cast for the "Independence Party" candidate would have outright prevented Coleman from returning to the Senate.

[InternalDialogue]

42. Is that headline reflective of the vote count or Norm Coleman's sphincter?

[struggle4progress]

46. "Today is the last day for county canvass boards to meet, so the figure may shift quite a bit today"

Franken keeps gaining: Norm margin now 204
By David Brauer | Published Mon, Nov 10 2008 9:49 am
http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2008/11/10/4491/franken_keeps_gaining_norm_margin_now_204

[Doctor_J]

44. It's sounding more and more like a complete recount is going to add Al to the US Senate

No wonder Norm wants him to concede

[AllHereTruth]

54. A pre-count for the Coleman-Franken recount

Source: Star Tribune

The postelection audit isn't a recount - but it looks like one. And it may serve as a dress rehearsal for the biggest recount ever in Minnesota. Call it a sneak preview of the recount.

"You take the ballots out, you count them by hand and you report the results -- exactly what we'll be doing with the ," said Joe Mansky, the county elections director in the midst of overseeing what is known as a "postelection audit," currently underway in all 87 Minnesota counties.

...

Every vote is counted, by hand, with only election judges and elections staffers touching them. The whole process is open to the public, so it occurs under the watchful eyes of good-government volunteers and operatives for the campaigns.

...

After the 2006 election, the first time the audit was conducted, it reviewed votes in about 5 percent of the state's 4,123 precincts. Among 94,073 votes cast in the U.S. Senate race in those precincts, the audit found 53 discrepancies, an error rate of .00056.

Read more: www.tinyurl.com/5dkwmn

---

All this means: "if the discrepancy rate found in 2006 occurred statewide in the 2008 Senate race, it could change more than 1,600 Franken-Coleman votes"

[FreakinDJ]

55. Would love to see Franken get in

Give the Freepers 1 more thing to Freak Out about

[SpiralHawk]

56. Give America one more thing to cheer about

eom

[AllHereTruth]

57. A pre-count for the Coleman-Franken recount

This thread has been combined with another thread.

Click here to read this message in its new location.

[AllHereTruth]

58. Franken now just 206 votes behind

Source: Star Tribune

On deadline day for counties to certify totals, difference is 206 votes. Six days after the election, unofficial results showed Republican Sen. Norm Coleman leading Democratic challenger Al Franken by 206 votes, a difference of about 1/100th of 1 percent that sets the stage for the automatic hand recount that will begin next week.

Monday was the deadline for counties to certify their results. Depending on the unknown number that may not have yet reported them to the state, that 206 figure could still change before the state Canvassing Board meets next week to certify the official total. Only then will the recount begin.

...Adjustments in the vote tallies because of misplaced figures and other errors have been limited to 22 of the state's 87 counties, according to an analysis of the fluctuations from Wednesday to Monday.

...Meanwhile, both campaigns spent much of the day fencing over exactly how to secure the ballots that will be recounted and possibly laying the groundwork for further legal challenges.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/6ar5x3

---

Doin by best to keep DU updated

[Missie56]

59. Thanks

I'll be watching for your updates.

:patriot:

[Phred42]

60. Haven't heard about the Absentee and Provisional ballots

They being included in the recount?