Another great day Wednesday, filled with challenged ballots, the new duplicate ballots, and the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Franken is doing OK on several fronts. Is today the day, FINALLY, when some semi-official numbers start to swing hard to Al and he finally takes a lead? Maybe....or it may be Friday (or even slop into the weekend, even though a whole lot of tired people don't want it to go there; but it might.)
The Colemaniks have senate recount lawyers tripping over their FBI investigation defense lawyers, (even though Norm "welcomes" the investigation) who are running into the federal election lawyers who are asking if Norm can use campaign funds for legal defense expenses.
Oh yeah, and there's a Recount winding to a close, just below the fold of Orange ballots that stretch to infinity.......and beyond.
Canvassing Board Recount Links
Live Streaming (begins 9:00am CT)
The UpTake:http://www.theuptake.com/
Star Tribune:http://www.startribune.com/...
Minnesota Public Radio:http://minnesota.publicradio.org/
Pioneer Press:http://www.twincities.com/...
MN Legislative Channel: (First item, click State Canvassing Board, live event): http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/...
Recounted Ballots
Still NO Change at the Sec. of State's website (none since Dec. 12.) There have been little stories running around Ritchie isn't going to try to update things as they go along this week (too dizzying) but wait till the dust settles and then make a big post all at once. Seems to be what he's doing.
Challenged Ballots
The Canvassing Board had a better (and longer) day than Tuesday. They have just about finished the Franken challenges (those Franken challenged vs. Coleman, other, or vs. no-vote.)
Now the "Frankenmath" (salt shaker close by) has been that after every ballot gets counted (challenged, absentee, duplicate, etc.) that Franken would be +4 (thats 4 votes, not 4% or something like that.) Its even more pessimistic that the Holy Odin of Numbers, Nate Silver, who early in the recount took a shot and said (with a fairly broad margin for error) that Franken could win by +27.
One of the working assumptions (and it IS a pessimistic one, but also realistic) has been that ALL the challenges from both sides would be rejected and those ballots returned to their "original piles" as it were and simply counted for C, F or Barkley. And on THIS basis the Franken side has been saying +4.
So after the 415 challenges addressed so far (just a few dozen Franken challenged ballots left to go) the Franken working assumption has been that these would sort out something like:
Coleman XXX
Barkely YY
Franken 0 with this "O" being the key. (Naturally, when the Board goes through the Coleman challenges, the reverse would be true, and this scoreboard would have Coleman=0 on those ballots.)
Instead we get the following report from TheUpTake:
% DONE FRANKEN CHALLENGES 93.3%
COLEMAN 238
FRANKEN 63
OTHER 114
See that Franken line? Thats a +63 that Franken had not figured into their calculations. Sooo.....nothing solid yet, but a slowly growing reason for hope.
(And remember (unless even the Colemaniks have sense enough to withdraw them and just put them on the Franken pile) the Board might be looking at some of those idiotic challenged ballots that were challenged because they listed McCain for President and Franken for Senate.)
Rejected Absentee Ballots
All on hold pending the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing, recounted below in Legal Moves (today with CLEATS!)
NEW! Duplicate Ballots!
Eric Black at the MinnPost has a nice write-up on the latest type of ballot: duplicate ballots. Link:http://www.minnpost.com/... On the surface its not that big a deal and perfectly legitimate: an overseas voter fulfills all righteousness with an absentee ballot form and e-mails it to their home county election board. The county prints out the e-mail on 8 1/2 by 11 paper just like you would. But you can't run that through the optical scanner: no ovals and the paper is too lightweight and would likely jam the machine. So in the presence of witness the county election judges create a "duplicate ballot" using a blank "in-person" ballot of heavier (almost card stock) paper and carefully filling in the ovals. Keep the original and run the "duplicate" through the reader on election day.
The Colemaniks are asking loudly if some of these duplicate ballots a) still have their originals around (they are supposed to be kept but apparently there is some slop in the system) for comparison and b) were any of these duplicates run through the scanners more than once (producing duplicate votes, which would be a serious matter).
This is once again feeding the Reich-wing frenzy about "Franken people making up new votes/new ballots ie stealing the election." The Frankenites are answering this was all agreed to before the election (like under the law) and that this is a hell of time to be bringing it up.
The Canvassing Board has said they will discuss and rule on this matter TODAY as the challenge session gets started in the morning.
I can see the issue in theory but it does seem like trying to throw more dust in the air and working the refs. And I agree with the Franken side the timing really seems forced.....and maybe a bit desperate? This seems like a reach for Team Norm, and does seem to play for more "delay, delay".
The risk to the Colemaniks are: a) they lose the ruling by the CB. b) Then they appeal to a court--dragging out the thing even longer and appearing more and more obstructionist than they already are.
The risk to the Canvassing Board is that they get so hacked off at all this they react emotionally and let Norm have it.....and give him grounds to appeal to a federal court on grounds of bias and prejudice. I don't think thats all that likely: 4 of the 5 on the Board are judges after all and they know how to express displeasure ("This Court finds it unlikely/ no basis/ considers without merit..." and other fine legal ways of saying, "That is such a crock.....get outta here!") and I think they'll do something like this here.
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Both sides put their Light Sabers and Light Saber Quarterstaffs (LSQs) in the shop for tune-ups and repairs, forcing them to play a different game today:
Legal Moves and Lawyers in Shoulder Pads
Video of the Entire 70 minute hearing in the MN Supreme Court here:http://www.tpt.org/...
Some new names at the Supreme Court hearing this afternoon: Roger Magnuson for Coleman (NOT Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, Canvassing Board member and who has recused himself from this matter). William Pentelovitch (sounds like an Intel processor from Eastern Europe) for Franken.
At issue: (Star Tribune)
Coleman's campaign does not want the Canvassing Board to count any improperly rejected absentee ballots, saying it is not the proper body to settle that issue. Instead, it wants those ballots set aside and preserved in the event either campaign goes to court after the recount to try to get a judge to include them in the tally. The Franken campaign wants the recount before the Canvassing Board to include the ballots.
(Crowd noises from 75000 spiked up political nerds fill the stadium. Brooding, thumping background music. The baritone, gravelled voice of NFL films, John Facenda:)
"Teams Coleman and Franken want to make it to the Senate Bowl but their road runs through the frozen tundra of Justice Alan Page and teammates, whose home field is the legendary "Court Room." Many an opponent has swallowed hard as they look up over the main entrance; there in the marble are carved words of immortal fame that are defended here: "Where law ends, tyranny begins."
"In a great display of focus Justice Page's Team insisted both visiting Teams focus on Rolvaag vs. Anderson, the 1962 governor's race that ended with less than a 100 vote difference and led directly to the creation of the current recount machinery. But one Team kept trying to bring in a more recent thriller from out of town, Bush v. Gore, which did not sit well with the Page-ers.
"The Colemaniks bring in a fresh-faced starter with Florida Recount experience, Roger Magnuson, acquired from the Bush v. Gore legal team of the year 2000. Magnuson wasted no time in opening with his Sunshine State experience from the year when he was part of Legal Team Bush in the Supreme Bowl epic 5-4 thriller. (From the MN Independent)
Magnuson argued that the state canvassing board’s actions of December 12, when it recommended that all 87 counties count wrongly rejected absentee ballots, were an "an invitation to go to Florida."
"All eyes turned to All-American, All-Pro Alan Page, the heart of the Minnesota team so respected in the state they are simply called, "Supremes." But while the wily veteran drew the attention, it let Paul Anderson from little Macalster College spring a blitz and he clothes-lined Magnuson for a back field loss in the opening moments:
But before Magnuson could begin to back up this assertion, he was interrupted by a clearly irritated Justice Paul Anderson. "This is not Florida," he stated. "I’m just not terribly receptive to you telling us this is Florida."
(Crowd shots of waving purple pennants, icy breath rising from thousands, a married couple holding up the letter D and a picket fence, and seven bare-chested, goose-bumped college guys with N-O C-H-A-D-S in body paint above the waist.)
(Facenda continues in his deliberate style:) "Anderson was a surprise star in the Supremes' lineup. Magnuson was left reeling later on when Anderson continued his relentless play in a move called, "Election Integrity."
Justice Paul Anderson, who appeared to reserve his most pointed questions for the Coleman campaign, said he worried about the rights of an absentee voter who cast a ballot that was improperly rejected. "Why should a voter who does cast a ballot that's valid have to bring a [legal] contest [to get it counted]?" he asked. "That just doesn't seem right."
"Magnuson was also hemmed in by local University of Minnesota star Helen Meyer. The former Gopher evoked the glory of mid-century, powerhouse Minnesota teams:
"What did the canvassing board do that’s objectionable?" she asked, noting that they merely recommended that local election officials sort rejected absentee ballots into five piles. "As I understand that’s the complete sum of what they’ve asked them to do."
"As they say in France, "evidement!"
(Fans howling as Teams change line-ups on the field. Shot of skin-head fan holding sign, "Norm's Normal and so am I." His friend holds a purple and white one: "Morans for Norm." On the other side of the field some pretty girls wave to the cameras and point to their sign: HI ABC spelled vertically with ABC the first letters each of "All Ballots Count!")
"Pentelovitch for Team Franken faced his own trail by fire. Justice Page came straight at him by asking
"why the disputed absentee ballots could not be counted afterward should a court challenge be mounted. "What's the difference?" he asked.
Pentelovitch replied that once the Canvassing Board finishes the recount and issues a certificate of election to the winner in the race, "the presumption [is] the person who has the certificate is the winner."
(Crowd shot, fans standing & cheering. Facenda: "Even these fans respected Pentelovitch fending off Page to a draw on this play.")
"But this was Paul Anderson's day as even Pentelovitch felt his force:
Justice Paul Anderson wondered if they were facing a deadline for adjudicating the matter. "Is there a date beyond which this court cannot act?" he asked. Pentelovitch’s response: "I don’t think so."
"After 70 minutes Justice Page signaled halftime and all teams left the field. On the way to the locker room (known locally as "Judges' Chambers") Justice Page was both gracious and typically determined with reporters. "Thank you all. A decision will be forthcoming."
"Fairness, justice and the opportunity of the Senate Bowl all now rest in the hands of Justices Page, Meyer, & Anderson, and also in the hands of unsung and unquoted Dietzen and Gildea. Millions await their return to the field....(fade to crowd noise.)
(Attorney Magnuson for Coleman reverted to type and continued to display his obsession. He
expressed optimism that the Coleman campaign will prevail. "I think they’re very concerned about the issues we raised," he said of the Supreme Court justices, "and we’re very hopeful that they’ll come up with a solution that doesn’t walk us into the slew of Florida.")
Thursday morning with the Media
Richard Meryhew (a new name that one) gets the A1 byline on the Recount Blessings, continuing the series of the week. Article shines a nice light on what has gone well and how to make elections in MN even better. (Switching to Orange ballots is unfortunately NOT mentioned. :-))
2 proposals push for true early voting, both in reducing reasons for an absentee ballots and to cut down the crush of humanity that shows up on election day. If the load gets spread out there are fewer chances for human error because everything is under less pressure. The 3rd idea is to take a serious look at Instant Runoff Voting.
Joe Mansky (Joe POWER) will be lobbying for changes, as well as putting polling places in malls, even stores, to improve voter access. ("Honey, can you pick up a loaf of bread, a quart of milk, and vote in aisle 3?") Other ideas include voting by e-mail (with online tracking to make sure votes are counted), and consolidating driver's license & voter databases.
Doyle, Duchschere & von Sterberg (Attorneys at writing? Why is it always "attorneys at law?" Can't you be an "attorney at--something else"?) get the recount write up on B1. The Board is going to rule on the "duplicate ballots" issue. Colmaniks are "concerned" this may have happened in 137 precincts. Frankites say its "yust a theory" and also a sign of panic or desperation on the Coleman side....I have to say the Frankenites sound kinda calm about this and there is a whiff of Aqua Velva...err, nervousness from Norm's team. Ditto yesterday's Supreme court hearing. Could be getting close.
Ritchie closed Tuesday by again calling on the Colamaniks to cut their challenge pile to 500 or so......still hope to finish this phase Friday.....Frankites hinted strongly if the Board decides to let in the 137-150 claimed "duplicate ballots" they will add "339 challenges dealing with potential election night irregularities....." (fighting fire with fire)......
No LTEs today.
Hunker down folks, it could be the last 48 hours except for the court cases. (And we might expect a ruling from the MN Supremes at ANY time....between now and Christmas...of 2010! "We will NOT be rushed!")
So for the moment thats the latest from yust southeast of Lake Wobegon.