Free Republic

Dear Friends, Today, Tuesday, November 24, 2009, it is with a heavy heart that we declare this election over. We will formally end this election and not ask for a recount. This was a difficult choice to make because so many people have put their faith, hope and aspirations into our campaign. Yes, there seem to have been many vote counting problems, missed vote counts and, as was recently reported by the Gouvernour Times, software problems in the computerized voting machines. Despite these incidents, I do not believe the voters of NY-23, or New Yorkers in general, would be well-served...

EVEN the Democrats in Minnesota now realize their new US Sen. Al Franken was elected with the help of ACORN chicanery. The disgraced, pimp-friendly community organizing group claims it registered 43,000 new Minnesota voters. If just 1 percent were fraudulent but survived the recount process, that's 430 votes, almost all cast for Franken, who won by just 312 votes. Asks Katherine Kersten in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "Did ACORN folks pull some fast ones to help get their favorite son Franken elected -- a win that handed Democrats the 60-vote, veto-proof majority that they needed to enact their liberal agenda?"

(Washington, D.C. - 10/2/09) In a very short statement, an un-named community organizing organization insists it has located ballot boxes in Copenhagen that held a large amount of votes for the City of Chicago and will formally protest the "flawed" voting that has taken place. "We detest the flawed voting that has taken place in Copenhagen and have proof not all votes were counted, and millions of people in Chicago have been disenfranshised by this obvious injustice. We plan on presenting this proof to the IOC, in conjuction with our SEIU brothers and sisters, and volunteer to personally oversee the...

After a banner bounce-back year for Democrats in 2006, many believed the 2008 Senate race was theirs to lose. In 2002, when Coleman was elected with Bush's blessing, 70 percent of Minnesotans approved of the president's performance. By 2008, 70 percent disapproved. A hurricane had flooded New Orleans in 2005, and two years later at the other end of the Mississippi River, an interstate bridge in Minneapolis had collapsed into those waters. Polls showed the state of Minnesota, like the rest of the country, wanted change. The campaign got personal early. Already being knocked around for his jokes and writings,...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006 when Democrat Mark Ritchie defeated two-term incumbent Republican Mary Kiffmeyer to become Minnesota secretary of state. It was Ritchie who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Franken a lead some...

Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged?Politics: The former Stuart Smalley becomes the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate, thanks to the community organizers at Acorn and the little-known Secretary of State Project. Is the system being rigged? Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman conceded defeat in the mother of all recounts in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race after the state's Supreme Court unanimously rejected his lawsuit. Arguably, his seat may have been lost the day in 2006...

The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year's disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman's gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat. The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact. Mr. Franken trailed Mr. Coleman by 725 votes after the initial count on election night, and 215 after the first canvass. The Democrat's strategy from the start was to manipulate the recount in...

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's powerful Guardian Council is ready to recount specific ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential elections, a council spokesman said Tuesday, another twist in an election that has touched off widespread protests. State television quoted Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei as saying that the recount would be limited to voting sites where candidates claim irregularities took place. It was not clear which or how many voting sites would be affected.

And now, again, we wait. This wait, though, is different. This time, Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is in the hands of five state Supreme Court justices. The state has grown uncomfortably accustomed to waiting in the nearly seven months since voters went to the polls. And voters, who have been represented by just one senator since January, still don't know for sure if Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman will walk those hallowed Senate halls. But in a race that has lasted weeks past its expected expiration date, Monday was a big day.

Republican Norm Coleman called on the Minnesota Supreme Court today to reverse a victory for Democrat Al Franken, and several justices sharply challenged Coleman's argument for counting more ballots. Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg said thousands of additional absentee ballots should be tallied under looser standards adopted by many local officials on Election Day. He said local customs led to counting ballots in Democratic areas that were similar to those rejected by officials in Republican areas applying a stricter standard. But several justices said he failed to provide proof that such practices were widespread or affected the outcome. "You're offering little...

Minnesota's U.S. Senate showdown will center on the state Supreme Court today. In Courtroom 300 in St. Paul's Judicial Center, an attorney for Republican Norm Coleman will tell five justices why he believes the case must be sent back to the trial court. An attorney for Democrat Al Franken will tell the justices why he thinks the trial court's April 13 decision that Franken won the race was correct. For Coleman, there can be no outright win at this stage. His best hope is that the court's decision — which may be weeks away — will send the case back...

Democrat Scott Murphy has lengthened a narrow lead over Republican Jim Tedisco in New York's special House election that now appears headed toward further legal challenges, even though a top Republican predicts the race is lost. "We lost the special election in New York. It's gone," said former Virginia Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, a veteran election vote-counter and former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.....

Meanwhile, back in the Minnesota Senate recount, the three-judge panel reviewing the race has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner. Republican Norm Coleman intends to appeal to the state's Supreme Court, while Democrats and the press corps pressure him to surrender. We hope Mr. Coleman keeps fighting, because the outcome so far hangs on the fact that some votes have been counted differently from others. APEven after the recount and panel-findings, the 312-vote margin separating the two men equals about .01% of the 2.9 million votes cast. Even without any irregularities, this is as close to a "tie" as it...

Democrat Scott Murphy’s lead is now up to 178 votes over Republican Jim Tedisco, after a small number of additional absentee and overseas military ballots were counted in Dutchess and Rensselaer Counties. More notably, as the count begins to wind down, it seems like the GOP is prepared for a protracted court battle, at least by the sound of this internal memo sent this afternoon by a National Republican Congressional Committee staffer: From: ********** [mailto:********@nrcc.org] Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 12:04 PM To: Subject: NY-20 Update Hi there, I wanted to give you an update on NY-20. As of last...

Minnesota court declares Al Franken

Over five months after the election, a three-judge panel has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race. The judges issued their final ruling late Monday, stating "Franken received the highest number of lawfully cast ballots in the Nov. 4, 2008 general election." They also have determined that Franken is entitled to receive the certificate of election. Last week, Republican Norm Coleman suffered a blow after a few hundred previously rejected absentee ballots were opened and counted at the tail end of Coleman's lawsuit contesting his loss in a statewide recount. They broke almost 2-to-1 for...

. . . During the recount Senator Coleman lost his narrow lead to Franken, coming out on the short end of a 225-vote margin. Senator Coleman has challenged the result of the recount in the election contest. The election-contest trial took place over seven weeks. The case is pending before the election-contest panel of three judges, but the result appears foreordained, based on rulings made to date by the panel. In all likelihood, the election-contest panel will declare Al Franken the winner, and Senator Coleman has already vowed to appeal the result to the Minnesota Supreme Court. What happened? The...

The Democrat made a net gain today in a count of formerly rejected absentee ballots that pushed his advantage to more than 300 votes in the U.S. Senate race. Democrat Al Franken today extended his lead over Republican Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate election, following the counting of about 350 formerly rejected absentee ballots this morning by a three-judge panel. Unofficially, Franken took 198 of the ballots, while Coleman added 111. The ballots added about 87 to Franken’s recount lead, enlarging his margin over Coleman to more than 312. The result makes it even more likely that, barring an...

First Murphy seemed to have won the election,then Tedisco took the lead, now they’re tied. The news coming from New York’s district 20 is becoming stranger and stranger as days go by. The voting machines are recanvassed, which led Republican Jim Tedisco to take the lead (by as few as 12 votes at a certain moment). As it is now, Tedisco and his Democratic opponent Scotty Murphy are tied, however. Jim Geraghty reports: “The recanvass of the ballots in the NY-20 race has yielded, so far, a 77,225 to 77,225 tie. Saratoga County still has to be recanvassed, and absentee...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - An already close race in New York's 20th Congressional District just got as close as it can possibly get: The state Board of Elections says the candidates are separated by zero votes. Republican Jim Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy are tied with 77,225 votes each on Friday. They're running to replace Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate. The race will come down to absentee votes, with the elections board reporting 3,000 ballots returned so far from Republicans and about 2,200 from Democrats. Party registration doesn't guarantee a vote. Most absentee ballots won't be...

- - Absentee ballots to be counted will be far fewer than Coleman sought in effort to close the U.S. Senate gap. Abstract: Norm Coleman's lawyers all but conceded defeat Tuesday and promised to appeal after a panel of three judges ordered no more than 400 new absentee ballots opened and counted, far fewer than the Republican had sought to overcome the lead held by DFLer Al Franken. The ballots include many that Franken had identified as wrongly rejected as well as ballots that Coleman wanted opened in his quest to overcome the 225-vote lead that Franken gained after a...

The race in the 20th Congressional district between Republican Jim Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy is too close to call. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Murphy leads Tedisco by only 59 votes, 77,344 to 77,285. With nearly 6,000 absentee ballots that will essentially decide the race as of Monday, the election will not be decided at least until April 13. As of Monday, 5,907 absentee ballots were received by the state Board of Elections out of around 10,000 mailed, according to spokesman Bob Brehm. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by March 30 and received within seven days for...

Judges ordered inspection of 1,500 envelopes for rejected absentee ballots, which could lead to more votes being counted. Norm Coleman's luck improved a bit Thursday, as judges in the U.S. Senate recount trial ordered an inspection of about 1,500 rejected absentee ballot envelopes and changed their minds about letting a Coleman witness testify. The ballot inspection could lead to counting more votes, something Coleman needs, if local officials discover voter registration cards in the ballot secrecy envelopes of voters whose ballots were rejected for lack of registration. But there's no assurance how the votes would divide between the candidates. [Snip]...

Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken has told a Minnesota court he would agree to the opening and possible counting of almost 1,600 still-sealed absentee ballots. In a Saturday filing, Franken's lawyers submitted a list of absentee voters whose rejected ballots they want to give another look. About half the voter names also appear on a longer list compiled by Republican Norm Coleman. The rest are distinct from the Coleman roster.

A lawyer for Republican Norm Coleman said Wednesday that Minnesota's Senate trial could go faster thanks to a judicial order likely to cut the absentee ballots that have to be reconsidered. The three-judge panel set out 19 different reasons that uncounted absentee ballots were rejected in the race between Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. They've ordered both candidates to submit arguments by the end of the trial day Wednesday on whether those ballots could be ruled in or out by category — rather than considered one by one. "If they pull out certain categories, those are categories we won't be...

The three judges presiding over the U.S. Senate recount trial took a break this morning to consider an objection from Al Franken's legal team that the lawyers for Norm Coleman are keeping them in the dark on the rejected absentee ballots they're presenting in court. Franken attorney David Lillehaug said that the Coleman camp has failed to adequately answer interrogatories -- the questions and answers between sides in a legal dispute -- and shouldn't be permitted to introduce more exhibits until they give a factual basis for each one.

Democrat Al Franken says he's frustrated at not being able to join the U.S. Senate, but accepts that it's beyond his control for now. Franken tells The Associated Press that he has no doubt he's the winner of Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. A recount ended with him leading Republican Norm Coleman by 225 votes, but Coleman is challenging that in a lawsuit.....

Perry Mason, meet Rachel Smith. Smith, the top elections official in Anoka County, dropped a minor bombshell Thursday in the courtroom where a lawsuit over Minnesota's U.S. Senate race was being heard. She testified that the county has found — within the prior 24 hours — a dozen or more ballots that were never counted in the statewide recount that ended last month. While the number is not enough to overcome Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote lead over former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, it suggests there might be other uncounted ballots in other counties. Only a handful of elections officials have...

As both sides hurled taunts and accusations Wednesday, lawyers for DFLer Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman braced for a showdown today in the state's highest court on whether Franken should be seated in the Senate while their courtroom election fight continues. Franken attorney Marc Elias called the recount trial -- Coleman's legal challenge of Franken's 225-vote lead in the certified recount results -- "a shrinking case" and said the law demands that the Democrat be seated in the meantime to give Minnesota the two senators it deserves. At 9 this morning, the Minnesota Supreme Court will hear Franken's motion...

In a ruling that keeps alive Republican Norm Coleman's chances of overturning Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount, a three-judge panel on Tuesday allowed him to bring evidence to trial that as many as 4,800 absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and should now be counted. The decision expands the evidence that can be considered in the recount trial

The decision expands the evidence that can be considered in the recount trial, giving Coleman the opportunity to put more ballots into play in his effort to erase a 225-vote lead for Franken. In a ruling that keeps alive Republican Norm Coleman's chances of overturning Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount, a three-judge panel on Tuesday allowed him to bring evidence to trial that as many as 4,800 absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and should now be counted. The decision expands the evidence that can be considered in the recount trial, giving Coleman the opportunity to put more ballots into play in...

A trio of judges rejected Republican Norm Coleman's request to investigate alleged vote-counting irregularities in precincts around the state over the weekend, just days before they begin hearing Coleman's lawsuit over the Minnesota Senate recount. Coleman's lawyers identified 86 precincts where they said problems may have contributed to Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote lead after the recount. Coleman is suing to overturn the result. The judges said Coleman didn't prove that the inspections were necessary to prepare for the trial, which starts Monday and is expected to last weeks.

ST. PAUL – Ben Ginsberg, legal counsel to the Coleman for Senate campaign, tonight made the following statement: “Tonight’s decision from the court is a stinging defeat for Al Franken. It underscores that the Coleman contest will proceed, that there will be a trial, and that every valid vote will be counted and counted only once. This victory for the voters of Minnesota should serve as another strong reminder to Harry Reid and Al Franken that they can’t just dismiss for their convenience the legal process in Minnesota. This will allow Minnesota voters whose votes have not yet been counted,...

Last session's senior senator from Minnesota Norm Coleman, still battling Al Franken to be seated in the Senate, has taken a paid job as a consultant to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which harshly attacked Obama last fall, its executive director, Matt Brooks, said....

Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman on Wednesday revealed that former President George W. Bush, who´s familiar with recounts, had contacted him to commiserate about his ongoing battle with Democratic challenger Al Franken. And Mr. Coleman said Minnesotans, not Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, will determine the outcome of the last undecided congressional race of the 2008 election, which Mr. Franken leads by 225 votes. "It's been surreal," Mr. Coleman said. "I tell people I'm a Jewish kid who has come to understand the concept of purgatory." He acknowledged that the extended contest has taken a toll on constituents,...

The three-judge panel assigned to oversee the upcoming recount trial between Norm Coleman and Al Franken heard arguments this afternoon on Franken's motion to dismiss the case. After lawyers for Republican Coleman and DFLer Franken made their cases, the judges said they would take the case under advisement. They gave no sign of when a decision would come. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday. Franken attorney David Burman argued today that both state law and the Constitutions of Minnesota and the United States limit what state courts may do in reviewing the recount, and that remaining issues should be...

A single sentence in Minnesota law allows Democrat Al Franken to at least temporarily join the U.S. Senate while Republican Norm Coleman's election lawsuit is pending, Franken's lawyers said Tuesday. Franken is up by 225 votes over Coleman after a statewide recount. Franken has asked the state Supreme Court to overrule decisions by Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie denying him an election certificate until Coleman's lawsuit is settled.... Coleman's lawyers have until next week to reply to Franken's brief arguing that he be seated. The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Feb. 5. The...

In another twist in Minnesota's prolonged U.S. Senate race, Republican Norm Coleman's campaign has subpoenaed Secretary of State elections manager Gary Poser, claiming discrepancies between recount figures reported by local officials and those posted on the Secretary of State's website. Campaign attorney Tony Trimble said Coleman could have lost 10 to 15 votes because of changes the Secretary of State's office made to local recount figures. "It's a minor issue in the scheme of things," Trimble said. Still, in an election where final recount figures left Coleman trailing by only 225 votes, the subpoena underscores how he is leaving no...

Al Franken's legal team is arguing that Minnesota law allows the Democrat to get an election certificate to join the U.S. Senate. In a brief Tuesday, Franken's lawyers say that's because state law specifically mentions such a certificate could be revoked if a lawsuit overturns the results of a recount. Republican Norm Coleman is pursuing such a lawsuit.

I don't know about you, but the more I read about the Senate recount battle between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, the more upset I am with the slipshod way the election was conducted. Now, I want to make clear that I am not referring here to Morrison County Auditor Russ Nygren, his staff or this county's many election judges. This county was involved in six recounts (two city council, three legislative and the Coleman-Franken race) and except for a few counting errors, and perhaps one improperly rejected absentee ballot, no other mistakes were uncovered. The recounts of the council...

- - Will Ask Three Judge Panel To Determine Which Ballots Were Wrongly Rejected ST. PAUL – Fritz Knaak, lead recount attorney for the Coleman for Senate campaign today made the following statement: “Next week begins an important step in getting to an accurate and valid number, and to determine who really won the 2008 United States Senate election. As we indicated at the end of the canvassing board proceedings, we believe the process was broken. And, one area where it clearly broke and has yet to be fixed is in the area of rejected absentee ballots. The discrepancies, problems...

In town for the inaugural, Al Franken met party officials and held a fundraiser to beef up his coffers for court actions. A smiling Al Franken hosted an "inaugural brunch" fundraiser at the Willard Hotel on Sunday, a $1,000-a-plate event on his first trip to the capital since he was certified as the leader in the U.S. Senate race with Norm Coleman. Franken, accompanied by his wife, Franni, also met with wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for two hours Saturday, his second USO visit to the hospital. The Minnesota DFLer and former "Saturday Night Live" star...

Anyone following the recount has no doubt heard the bluster and bravado regularly coming from the Al Franken campaign. However, in recent days, Franken and his Washington legal team have seemed awfully desperate for a campaign that is trying to convince people they are winning. They have now tried to shove Al Franken onto the Senate floor through three separate venues – only be to be rebuffed and delayed because their effort clearly violates Minnesota law. Why, if they claim to have a lead, are they so desperately anxious to put Al Franken in a Senate seat? Simple: They know...

A special judges panel held its first meeting with campaign lawyers today, a day after DFLer Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman dueled over how broad Coleman's legal challenge to the U.S. Senate recount should be and how long it should take. After the closed-door meeting in St. Paul, attorneys for both campaigns said the three-judge panel is likely to issue an order later today saying when the trial will begin and what the schedule will be. They also said a hearing will be held Wednesday at which the panel will consider Franken's motion to dismiss Coleman's lawsuit. One of...

The Minnesota Supreme Court said Wednesday it would consider Democrat Al Franken's request for an election certificate that could propel him to the Senate before a legal challenge by his opponent runs its course. The court said it would hear arguments on Franken's petition Feb. 5. The court order also granted Republican Norm Coleman's request to intervene in the case, which names Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie as defendants. The development extends an already lengthy fight over the last undecided Senate seat from the 2008 election.

Al Franken filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court … that’s a bit like a bank robber stopping on his way out the door to ask the teller for a receipt.” That’s how an e-mail appeal for funds from the campaign of former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman described today’s legal move by the Al Franken campaign that asked the state’s high court to order the governor to issue an election certificate. In another response, Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak told reporters that Franken has gone beyond the “epitome of arrogance … [by] asking to go above the laws of our...

Three judges put on the bench by governors of three political parties will hear the highly charged election lawsuit that stands between Minnesota and its second U.S. senator. The panel named Monday by the state's highest court will preside over a Republican Norm Coleman's court case that seeks to overturn Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote advantage following a long recount. The case is expected to take months to resolve. The three district judges are:

FOX "The O'Reilly Factor"Video: "Minnesota Madness" Segment Aired Friday, January 9, 2008       Bill and two Republican guests(1) discuss Hollywood’s and George Soros massive donations to elected “Porn-o-Rama” Franken. This includes, a rare and calculated move(2), by George Soros who personally held a large post-election Franken fundraiser at his residence in New York City to support Al in the ballot recount/contest(3). I wrote about and published the list of Hollywood/high profile Franken donors three days before this news piece, not that this was new Soros Shadow Party news for anyone that has closely followed/been involved in this Coleman-Franken fiasco....

"Minnesota law is very clear on when a certificate of election can be issued. Neither the governor nor I may sign a certificate of election in the U.S. Senate race until all election contests have reached a final determination," Ritchie's statement read. "Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it." Pawlenty echoed Ritchie, saying it is clear the law won't allow him to issue a certificate while the race is being contested in court.

The Al Franken campaign sent a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sec. of State Mark Ritchie on Monday asking the state to issue an election certificate so he could take office in the U.S. Senate. In letters, Franken’s lawyers argue a seven-day waiting period has passed and he should get the signed certificate. Franken led Norm Coleman by 225 votes after a statewide recount. After a Canvassing Board certified the recount, Coleman filed a lawsuit challenging the results. Minnesota law prevents the issuance of a certificate until that case is resolved. Franken attorney Marc Elias says the campaign...