Coleman's lead over Franken shrivels

  • Article by: KEVIN DUCHSCHERE , Star Tribune
  • Updated: December 18, 2008 - 9:59 PM

Canvassing Board rejects more Coleman challenges, leaving the U.S. Senate race in a virtual tie. The board aims to end its work today.

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elwher2Dec. 18, 08 8:59 AM

I am a democrat so my position is biased. However, dont you feel uncomfortable electing Coleman when he is trying to stop peoples votes from being counted? An elected official is suppose to be "for the people". ....coming back to the real world --> i do recognize that neither democrat or republican officials are "for the people". They are only for their party (their free ride actually).

andyk47Dec. 18, 08 9:31 AM

He's not trying to stop people's vote from being counted, so quit carrying that torch because it's not true. He wants uniform, codified rules for the handling of rejected absentee ballots, so that it doesn't turn into some kind of free-for-all. Every election process has rules, deadlines, cut-offs out of necessity. Coleman is trying to make sure that they abide by them.

koskie4lifeDec. 18, 08 9:37 AM

Franken is doing the exact same thing by challenging ballots--the goal of both candidates is to reduce the number of votes for their opponent. I agree with everything else you say about the free ride though.

getaclueDec. 18, 08 9:42 AM

have you seen some of the ballots that are being challenged? One person partially filled in both circles for Franken and Coleman (the circle for Franken was filled in a little more completely) then proceeded to vote for Larry, Moe, and Curly. How can you definitively say that person "intended" for their vote to be cast for Franken?

ajtheprofDec. 18, 08 9:54 AM

The Coleman camp may *claim* that they want just want a uniform standard, but that is not what their court filing says. It petitions that the wrongly rejected absentee ballots be left uncounted. The Coleman lawyers claim that the only way to have them counted is with a lawsuit.

ajtheprofDec. 18, 0810:01 AM

I think the ballots that elwher2 was talking about were the wrongly-rejected absentee ballots that the Coleman camp wants to remain uncounted. The voters in these cases did everything right but because some county clerk was confused about the rules, the vote went uncounted. We can identify the ballots, we know the votes are legit, we can count the votes, but the Coleman lawyers went to court to try and stop the counting. It just seems desperate.

sodablueDec. 18, 0810:07 AM

If Coleman wins and then is indicted on bribery charges, does Pawlenty appoint a replacement or do we go for a special election?

tomtrishDec. 18, 0810:32 AM

Some people are hopeless. No matter how clearly and logically you explain something to them, they just can't reason it out. It's pathetic really. The canvassing board is conducting a RE-count. That is, re-counting ballots actually cast in the election in order to assure that they were accurately tallied. The board is not authorized to search for additional ballots to count that were not actually cast. Some absentee ballots were rejected and therefore not cast in the election. That is not to say that some of the rejected absentee ballots can't or won't, eventually, be counted, merely that it isn't within the pervue of the canvassing board to do so. Once the board has finished its recount and certified a winner, it will be up to one of the candidates, presumably the loser, to petition the court to have the rejected absentee ballots reexamined. If the court orders this to be done, and it's likely that it will, then all counties will, simultaneously and according to, yes, a uniform standard, determine if some of those rejected absentee ballots were rejected by error and should be cast and included in the cerified vote tally.

suawiypDec. 18, 0810:35 AM

It looks like Franken is going to win, and Minnesota will once again be a laughingstock. So sad. The consolation prize is that this appears to be an extremely fair and unbiased contest, and that he really did win. That makes it embarrassing for the voters, but good for the system.

lenzy1000Dec. 18, 0810:37 AM

Coleman should have withdrawn at least 400 more.


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