Tuesday the 16th. 4 days left. The State Canvassing Board begins ruling on challenged ballots. The MN Supreme Court chooses from 3 options on Norm Coleman's suit (the legal one, not one of the ones Nasser bought him.)
Lots of numbers. Lots of tedium. Different classes of ballots (esp. challenged, and absentees). I invite you to use this diary as an OPEN THREAD for updates, news items, developments and comments for all things unfolding today.
Oh, and December 15th and 16th have a personal dimension for me. I hope you'll allow me a moment at the end to explain how.
To the Orange ballots of (recount) infinity.....and beyond.
Recounted Ballots
Much to my surprise, no changes as of Monday night at the SoS website, with Norm's lead unchanged at 188. BUT these numbers will change, perhaps as soon as today for 3 reasons: a)UN-challenged ballots from both camps (numbering about 5000) will be going back into the Franken and Coleman piles. b)Challenged ballots will also be added. c) Perhaps some of the previously rejected absentee ballots will be counted and posted.
WARNING: ANY numbers you read about "who's ahead" or "who's gaining" should be taken with doses of salt large enough to feed a herd of cattle. This includes MY numbers. To take just one example: Franken has UNchallenged about 2800 ballots. Assume for a moment they ALL end up on Coleman's pile. "Coleman increases lead to 2988!" RedState will scream (188 current lead+ 2800).
Of course Coleman has UNchallenged about 2400 ballots. If they ALL go onto Franken's pile even Faux Noise would run a crawler: "Franken surges from almost 3000 back to only down 588" (2988-2400=588). But the Canvassing Board is still ruling on 1500 challenges.....and there are the absentees.
So those of you on blood pressure medication and with certain heart conditions---WARNING! LOTS of salt in use in MN-Sen race this week.
Challenged Ballots
Marc Elias for Franken at Monday's presser summed it up nicely: "This is a dead even race heading into the challenges".
And the Coleman side is rather quiet on this point---their silence is telling.
Live Stream Links for Board Meeting (NOW SCHEDULED FOR NOON, CT):
TheUpTake:http://www.theuptake.com/
Star Tribune:http://www.startribune.com/...
What will you be seeing at the Canvassing Board Meeting today?
You know hwow folks around here say reading DailyKos is like gatting the newspaper a few days early? How about almost a MONTH early??Back on Nov. 21 Kossack Anarchofascist explained what will happen with the challenged ballots and their effect on the vote totals:
Challenges can be either to move a vote from the other side to the discard (or other) pile, or to move a vote from the discard (or other) pile to your candidate.
Assuming most challenges get tossed and a higher proportion of Coleman challenges are to strike Franken votes, then Franken is going to pick up big when the canvassing board meets.
In Hennepin (county) in particular, looking city by city, it seems to me almost all of Coleman's challenges are to strike Franken votes, and a fair portion of Franken's are to add Franken votes.
(Note that if a challenge to strike a vote for your opponent fails, they net a vote. If a challenge to add a vote for your candidate fails, there is no net change in votes. So once again, if Coleman's challenges are disproportionately to strike Franken votes compared to Franken's challenges, then Franken stands to pick up a lot at the Canvassing Board.)
Yes, Santa Claus, there is a Virginia. And it went Democratic.
by Anarchofascist on Fri Nov 21, 2008 at 09:35:05 AM CST
The People Speak (and agree with YOU)
You know all those 6000 challenged ballots? You can view ALL of them for yourself at the Star Trib website like Kossack Federalist did over the weekend.
Well about 26000 people did likewise (acc. to Star Trib) and left their opinions (empH. added): "There appeared to be widespread consensus that Franken won slightly more disputes than Coleman, enough to theoretically erase the incumbent's narrow lead by late Monday."
26,000 sets of eyeballs! Whoo-HOoooo for your dedication...and for (ahem) seeing it the right way!
A bit more hope folks! But now all eyes on the Canvassing Board.
Funny Pages Reprint from 11/22 Pioneer Press:
If things get a little tedious at the Canvassing Board the next few days, just have a smile as you think how this could be done:
AMERICAN IDOL STYLE!!
SCENE: Minnesota Canvassing Board, Dec. 16.
(A ballot is held up for examination.)
Randy: "I don't know, dog. A little scribbly for me. I kind of see what you were trying to do, but you just missed the lines sometimes with your marks. A little scribbly. But it was all right...."
Paula: "I loved it. I think you knew what you wanted to do going into the voting booth, and you did it. I think you're going to be a voting superstar one day."
Simon: "I've got be honest with you. I just thought that was a horrible effort. If you want to get your candidate elected, you're going to have to do much, much better than that. That was atrocious. There are marks all over the ballot. I don't even know what you were trying to do there. You could be in jeopardy of being rejected, but we'll have to see. It's really too bad, because I know you could be a good voter. But this ballot was just terrible. Truly awful."
Late Monday Franken side has submitted to Sec. of State Ritchie their list of 436 ballots that they are challenging and would like Board to settle.
Coleman side has not submitted list, so UpTake notes this could make for messy start Tuesday morning. As a result of lack of Coleman list the Sec. of State did NOT pull the withdrawn challenges Monday as planned. (Thats why no changes in the SoS recount numbers!) Now set for Tuesday morning, starting at 8:00am, across the hall from Canvassing Board Meetng, which has been reset for NOON Tuesday.
Rejected Absentee Ballots/ Legal Maneuvers
Coleman's filing with the Supreme Court is for a Temporary Restraining Order to halt counting of rejected absentee ballots that have been UNrejected.
Franken side has filed "Motion to Intervene" so they have an interest (ya think?) in the Coleman petition.
Coleman side filed suit Monday with the MN Supreme Court. The Court's options? From TheUpTake,
Noah Kunin: What we were told is that EITHER (the Court) will:
- Reject the request outright.
- Issue a ruling without a hearing.
- Have a hearing.
Late Monday: Court has opted: They will hold hearing Wednesday, 1:00pm. Wants oral arguments from both sides.
.....Star Trib: 2 Justices ordered the hearing. "The order does NOT (WR emphasis) block county officials from sorting or counting absentee ballots before the hearing"......As if in confirmation:
Hennepin County (largest in state) is not waiting for Court moves and is going ahead and sorting absentee ballots and opening and counting "5th pile" ballots as valid and sending Sec. of State their adjusted totals. Hope to finish Wednesday. Whoa! Could be a big finish!
The Al Franken for Senate campaign today commended Hennepin County for its decision to correct errors related to the improper rejection of absentee ballots. The county today instructed localities within its jurisdiction to immediately sort rejected absentee ballots and report the results to the county canvassing board so that so-called "fifth pile" ballots may be included in a revised count. Hennepin County set a deadline of tomorrow (Tuesday) for the sorting to be completed.
Funny Pages
For sheer comic relief the Minnesota Independent reports Franken staffer Dusty Trice's mom has a great sense of baking humor. And they have a winner in the Name that Caption contest for when Norm was on a campaign swing at a certain factory in Red Wing, MN (where they make Bush Throwers, if you're an Iraqi journalist), at this link:http://minnesotaindependent.com/...
Sorry this is a bit of a mess today, but things are happening fast and I wanted to get it to you just as fast as I could.
Well thats the latest (and it may be out of date; things are moving THAT fast) for now from yust southeast of Lake Wobegon.
Shalom.
(If you'd like to scroll down to comments and stay on the political please do so. What follows is something I want to say to this virtual community that has taken on some very real dimensions for me. It is not political and so, in theater terms, is simply an aside, but its felt important to get it out. Many thanks.)
Personal Moment
Its a hard few days right now. Today was Dad's birthday, the 15th. He would have been 85 today, but he passed away last year on the 23rd, making for a very dark Christmas. Ludwig von Beethoven's birthday was the 16th. Dad always liked having his day right next to Ludwig's and Ludwig's music was 1 of only 3 things he was passionate about.
He told of when he was a refugee in the Displaced Persons' camp near Munich. Somehow a bunch of musicians in the spring of 1945 found each other, found instruments, sheet music, a conductor and time and place to practice. They went to the American Military Governor to get permission to hold a public concert. After a thorough check of all the musicians and the pieces permission was granted. They drew a good crowd, mostly locals, but my Dad also managed to trade some Lucky Strike cigarettes (currency of the day) for a ticket.
The last piece was Beethoven's 5th, the one that opens with three quick eighth notes and down in a minor sound to a dotted half: "Fate knocking on the Door" is the nickname. Now a symphony is in 4 movements, with a break between each, tied together with common musical elements. Ludwig's 5th is a famous exception: he runs the 3rd movement right into the 4th without a break, with a big key change. (Hey, he's Beethoven. He can do that.)
The 3rd movement features a plaintive oboe above sad but moving strings. Then the low strings and low winds set up a brooding, insistent lamentation, and soon the middle voiced reeds and strings join the building sorrow and hurt. But the oboe and first violins scurry nervously and negotiate furiously with the high brass and percussion until the trumpets ignite the 4th movement with with three rising notes in MAJOR that covert the whole movement into what somebody called, "fierce rejoicing."
When the concert ended not only was there applause and a standing O, but the audience wept, then stormed the stage (Germans performing anarchy!) , mobbed the musicians and carried the conductor around the hall on their shoulders. Later in the year the "orchestra" held other concerts, massively attended, but regardless of what was played, at the end of each program the chant went up, "The Fifth, the Fifth!" People blocked the doors and would not let the musicians leave until once again they would play "The Fifth." They had survived the War.....and that was worth noting.
Well Dad, I'm still in my 3rd movement. You know Mrs. WineRev is no longer Mrs. and I'm not a Rev. anymore. But grand-daughter WineRevette loves college and the WineRever grandson could look you in the eye now, he's that tall. Its hard this season, but not as hard as last year. And if I can get that book of mine published this coming year, the one we talked through and even cried over once in awhile, well, Dad, then I think I'll see the trumpeters blowing out their spit-valves and the tympanist stepping back slightly to give herself more room to swing her arms down for the fortissimo. Hope so. Miss you.
PS. Dad? Now that Ludwig has his hearing back, what do you think of his Tenth Symphony?