Minnesota's recount goes south

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/12/022308.php ^

[tomymind]

Tomorrow the Canvassing Board presiding over the recount convenes to consider challenged ballots that were excluded because of their disputed status from the recount. At the urging of the Canvassing Board, both the Coleman and Franken campaigns are reducing the number of ballots they have challenged.

The Canvassing Board consists of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie -- the Man from ACORN and George Soros -- and four judges (including Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson). Last week the Canvassing Board unanimously adopted Al Franken's playbook for the recount, taking action that threatens to sow chaos in the process. Below I take the liberty of reiterating my interpretation of events I originally reviewed on Saturday morning as a preview to events unfolding this week.

This past Monday the city of Minneapolis announced that it was giving up the search for the 133 ballots that are allegedly missing from a heavily Democratic precinct. The 133 ballots netted Al Franken 46 votes. Up to that point the Franken campaign had been in an unusal state of agitation, demanding the use of forensic techniques to scour for the missing ballots. Upon the announcement of the suspension of the search, however, the Franken campaign was remarkably placid:

"While we are disappointed that the envelope containing 133 missing paper ballots have not been found, we take solace in the fact that the voters of this precinct will still have their votes counted, as the secretary of state has said that the canvassed and audited election night results may stand in the absence of these ballots," Franken attorney Marc Elias said in a statement.

Why the sudden complacency about those "missing" ballots? The Franken campaign appeared to have arrived at an understanding with Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritichie about their treatment by the Canvassing Board that is presiding over the recount: "A spokesman for the secretary of state's office said the state Canvassing Board will listen to the city's explanation for the loss and decide whether to include the votes."

What do you know? Franken's confidence was not misplaced. As the Star Tribune reports, yesterday the Canvassing Board approved the use of Election Day results for 133 Minneapolis ballots. How did Franken get a bead on that decision? What kind of discussions are going on behind the scenes between Franken's campaign and Ritchie, the Man from ACORN? So far as I know, no one has even raised the question.

Including the 133 ballots seems wrong on its face. The statutory mandate of the recount is to recount the ballots cast on election day to arrive at a final result. Whence the Canvassing Board's authority to include nonexistent ballots in the recount? They can't be reounted, though they might be subject to inclusion in a subsequent judicial proceeding.

Thus we begin to wonder what is going on here. The Canvassing Board's treatment of the "missing" 133 ballots was not the board's worst decision. That was reserved for its adoption of the Franken campaign's approach to certain absentee ballots that were rejected on election day and excluded from the recount -- the "fifth pile" absentee ballots. The board has now "recommended that counties sort and count absentee ballots that were mistakenly rejected."

But the treatment of rejected absentee ballots has varied from county to county among Minnesota's 87 counties. Some counties -- including some strongly Republican counties -- have declined to sort rejected absentee ballots in the "recommended" manner. Other strongly Democratic counties such as St. Louis counties, the source of many late-arriving and mysteriously appearing Franken votes after election day, have relatively whopping numbers of "fifth pile" rejeceted absentee ballots.

The board's action again conflicts with the statutory recount scheme. Minnesota (Democratic) Attorney General Lori Swanson appeared at the board meeting yesterday. Her office had previously been represented before the board by election law expert Ken Raschke, who provided the board an opinion inconsistent with a position urged by Franken at the outset of the process. Swanson is now promoting the improvisations desired by Franken, but told the board "that they have no authority to order counties to reopen their canvasses and go back through the rejected absentee votes."

There is no lawful basis for the action "recommended" by the board. And there is no basis for confidence in the process triggered by the board's "recommendation." Listen, for example, to Ramsey County's Joe Mansky:

Joe Mansky, Ramsey County's elections director, said he will be consulting with county attorneys on Monday to seek more direction about the Canvassing Board's request. The county has determined it has 156 improperly rejected ballots, 34 of them from St. Paul.

"If we get an order from some place or if the county attorney advises us to open them up and count them, we'll open them up and count them," Mansky said.

So the board now brings Minnesota to the verge of a Florida-style fiasco. The treatment of rejected absentee ballots may vary throughout the state, subject to no uniform standard. Many counties have refused to sort rejected absentee ballots in the "recommended" manner. No standard for including previously rejected absentee ballots has ever been provided. It is not part of the recount process contemplated by the statute.

Going back to the board's treatment of the "missing" 133 Minneapolis ballots, I am struck by the confidence exhibited on Monday by the Franken campaign regarding the board's disposition of the issue. The confidence can only have derived from the Franken campaign's communications with Secretary of State Ritichie out of public view. Franken's placidity in the face of the city's decision to abandon the search for the ballots is otherwise inexplicable.

In the words of the song, there's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear. And I do hope everbody will look at what's going down.

[tomymind]

Do not let it be said that the Democrats will not be bold in stealing elections. Just look to the Franken-Coleman race to see just how corrupt our system has become! The Canvassing Board' rules (without any lawful basis) are favouring Franken's (and Acorn's) manoeuvres, and I'm sure they will help him to find "additional" ballots from heavily Democratic precincts. We need to take action now!

[knarf]

Fifth pile = fifth column.

[pabianice]

Republicans are gutless pants-wetters. They deserve to lose.

[silverleaf]

What is in the air and water of Minnesoota that leads
those people to vote for crazy fools anyway? Are they amused or impressed by failed shock “comedians” and studio wrestlers as goevrnment leaders?

[knarf]

Don’t they eat fish that has been marinaded in kerosene or some such $h!t like that?

[shadowgovernment]

“those people to vote for crazy fools anyway?”
>>>>>>>>>>>>.................
It’s not how many votes you get - it’s who counts the votes that matter..Carl Marx.

[Dead Corpse]

If Franken manages to fraud his way into Office, then it's pitchforks and torches time. Star Tribune had a number of "ballots" online that both Campaigns were kicking to the side. From the looks of it, they were still breaking 2:1 for Coleman.

If they re-write the rules to allow a Franken win, then game over for the whole "rule of law" thing. If they can only win by changing the rules after the fact, then we HAVE NO REPRESENTATION and the whole shebang is illegitimate.

[ScottinVA]

“What kind of discussions are going on behind the scenes between Franken’s campaign and Ritchie, the Man from ACORN?”

Just what I have suspected. Of COURSE Ritchie is working with fecAl’s people behind the scenes. Yet another creative scheme for stealing elections is unfolding. Brilliant — diabolically brilliant, but brilliant nonetheless.

[ScottinVA]

The “missing” 133 ballots can’t be accounted for, but they’re going to count anyway. Incredible.

[ScottinVA]

“If Franken manages to fraud his way into Office, then it’s pitchforks and torches time”

Very slick on their part to time all this to take place while headlines are focused on Blago in IL. My prediction is Franken is selected (not elected) as the “winner” by about +200.

[Dead Corpse]

Floriduh template. Repub wins the election. The First recount. The Second Recount. Wins the canvassing and the challenged ballots.

Nope... not good enough. Get the Courts involved, re-write the rules after the fact, then nab a dirty win.

The SCOTUS slapped 'em down in the General in '04. I'm not betting on the MN Courts being anything other than partisan.

[flattorney]

This blog post is more of the same worthless parroting from the Franken campaign mouthpieces and the liberal MN MSN rags. The facts are:

1. A Minnesota GOP group has already filing a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice over voting irregularities and commie Soros puppet SOS Mark Ritchie’s conduct.

2. Today, the Coleman campaign attorneys are filing a petition with the MN Supreme Court, to put a stop to Franken’s and Ritchie’s BS. They sent the advance legal letters last Friday.

3. There is another GOP lawsuit, in behalf of the Coleman campaign, that will be filed in Federal Court in the very near term, if........

4. Tomorrow, the Coleman campaign will present twice the number of ballot challenges as the Franken campaign.

In short, let us remember that this is an election for a Federal congressional Senate seat. The GOP has won 3 out of 4 post-Nov 4th, U.S. Congress recounts and special or delayed elections. The GOP et. al. is not going to allow the Soros Shadow Party, a corrupt commie bastard MN SOS, and some local power grab highly misinformed fools, to steal this very critical election. Further, since being elected in 2006, Mark Ritchie’s conduct is ripe for Federal prosecution. And, don’t think it has gone unnoticed by “certain individuals” with the ability to do something about it. ~ FlA

~ Minnesota U.S. Senate Election Fiasco ~
FR Keywords: Norm Coleman(R) | Al Franken(D) | Franken: SorosBoy | Porn-O-Rama! | Endorsed by Al “Fraud” Gore
Coleman-GOP Election Recount Legal Action(s) | MN Sec. of State Mark "Commie Soros Puppet" Ritchie
"The Dirt": Arianna Huffington was Franken's Secret Video Sex 'Ho

TAB

[Cyclone59]

sounds like it is time for us to start signing our ballots and only accepting ballots that match up to the registered voter listing that is printed on those old 11x17 greenbar printouts ( i didn’t even know they made that stuff anymore). This is getting way out of hand.

[gocats5]

This is criminal behavior.

Joe Mansky is actually refusing to count legal votes. His job is to make sure his counties results are as accurate as possible. Yet he decides to try to alter the elections outcome by not counting votes.

[MosesKnows]

Republicans are gutless pants-wetters

In this instance, the instance discussed, Al Franken appears to be the sole pants-wetter. The candidate who deserves to lose is the candidate who received the least votes.