"Mischief in Minnesota? "WSJ op/ed weighs in, citing John Lott

[underpants]

FLipping around to Fox News last night I saw that is big shakes over there. emphasis added by me (comment added by me)
------

You'd think Democrats would be content with last week's electoral rout (we would?). But judging from the odd doings in Minnesota, some in their party wouldn't mind adding to their jackpot by stealing a Senate seat (Sununu in 2002?)for left-wing joker Al Franken.

When Minnesotans woke up last Wednesday, Republican Senator Norm Coleman led Mr. Franken by 725 votes. By that evening, he was ahead by only 477. As of yesterday, Mr. Coleman's margin stood at 206. This lopsided bleeding of Republican votes is passing strange considering that the official recount hasn't even begun.


For example, there was Friday night's announcement by Minneapolis's director of elections that she'd forgotten to count 32 absentee ballots in her car. The Coleman campaign scrambled to get a county judge to halt the counting of these absentees, since it was impossible to prove their integrity 72 hours after the polls closed. The judge refused on grounds that she lacked jurisdiction.


According to conservative statistician John Lott(what is a "conservative statistician"?), Mr. Franken's gains so far are 2.5 times the corrections made for Barack Obama in the state, and nearly three times the gains for Democrats across Minnesota Congressional races. Mr. Lott notes that Mr. Franken's "new" votes equal more than all the changes for all the precincts in the entire state for the Presidential, Congressional and statehouse races combined (482 votes).

This entire process is being overseen by Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who isn't exactly a nonpartisan observer (Like Fla in 2000 or Ohio in 2004?). One of Mr. Ritchie's financial supporters during his 2006 run for office was a 527 group called the Secretary of State Project, which was co-founded by James Rucker, who came from MoveOn.org(oh no!). The group says it is devoted to putting Democrats in jobs where they can "protect elections."

Mr. Ritchie is also an ally of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, of fraudulent voter-registration fame(OOOHH NOO!!!). That relationship might explain why prior to the election Mr. Ritchie waved off evidence of thousands of irregularities on Minnesota voter rolls, claiming that accusations of fraud were nothing more than "desperateness" from Republicans.

With their party only three Senate seats from the 60 needed to break a filibuster (and two still not decided), Democrats have a political incentive to cut corners to steal a seat (does anyone else?)if they can get away with it. Mr. Franken and his left-wing allies also know that if Mr. Franken couldn't win election in this fabulous Democratic year, then the not-so-funnyman never will. If Minnesota wants to retain its reputation as a state with clean elections, it needs to run an honest recount.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122644940271419147.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop

[Wickerman]

1. Lovely to see Mr. Lott shooting off (pun intended if you know who Lott is) his mouth

without all the facts, the partisan hack. :grr:

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/34242129.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsr

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.

"I'm just watching like everyone else," said John Stiles, a DFL spokesman who had staked out one corner of the conference room. "It all seems pretty straightforward to me."

Coleman volunteer John Nygaard agreed. "It's very transparent -- I'm impressed," he said midway through the morning. "I didn't realize how much work went into this."

[snappyturtle]

2. This dialog was playing on my mother's teevee when I called her last night.

She's 92 and VERY republican. She said she needed to wash her hands before continuing with the phone call. She didn't come back and didn't come back so I got an earful which I think was her hand washing's purpose! Like I wouldn't be up to date on the republican whining over the vote count in MN. Having lived in MN for 15 years she knows I'm very interested in anything there. I never mentioned it. I DID tell her I was about to hang up and call again because I couldn't hear anything! I'm bad; I know.

I loved the last sentence: "If Minnesota wants to retain its reputation as a state with clean elections, it needs to run an honest recount." You know that there was no mention that the official recount starts November 18th or that the recount is mandated by MN law.

[underpants]

3. Why didn't they refile the lawsuit?

It would appear that they filed with a judge knowing full well she didn't have jurisdiction so they could have this talking point

[snappyturtle]

7. Yes. They knew. nt

[yellowcanine]

4. Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who isn't exactly a nonpartisan observer

Of shoes and feet. Remember the Florida 2000 "Recount"!

[qb]

5. Those who see shenanigans in Franken's recent gains have it backwards.

I am sure the corrections that have been sent in since the election can be verified. What I think is curious is how the "errors" that occurred during the initial count predominantly favored Coleman. I'm not suggesting widespread fraud, but I wouldn't be surprised if a conservative poll worker here & there made a "mistake".

[underpants]

6. Good point

:thumbsup:

[lparsons]

8. My question

And granted, its been a while since I lived in MN - and I was only there long enough to vote in 4 elections - so the answer might be obvious to someone else.


Why not just re-vote? Is there a reason why a special election can't be held between now and inauguration for just the senate seat?


If Coleman is so certain that he deserves another term (I voted for Mondale in '02 (Paul Wellstone RIP)) then he shouldn't be opposed to another election. I don't see why there isn't enough time to just redo the election and let everyone come out and vote again.

[underpants]

9. Welcome to DU

:hi:

The answer is probably pretty simple-this is the law. In Georgia there is a revote if no one gets over 50% but that is not the law in Minnesota.

Plus the vote is as of the election day. Things have changed since then so a revote won't accurately reflect the environment of THAT day.

[groovedaddy]

10. I've wondered about how other "election irregularities" might be uncovered through

recounts. And not that I'm saying this is being done for Al. Someone posted before the election that the g.o.p. cheat machine was focused on Senate races and not the Presidential, which they had already conceded.
I WANT A VERIFIABLE, AUDITABLE PAPER TRAIL IN ALL AMERICAN ELECTIONS.
Anything else is too easy to screw with.

[acmavm]

11. It's the WSJ. It's a rag directed at thugs and thieves. What the hell

would you expect?