Professor: Residual Votes in the 2008 Minnesota Senate Race likely favor Franken over Coleman

dartmouth.edu ^ | 11-15-08 | Michael C. Herron

[GraniteStateConservative]

The 2008 United States Senate race in Minnesota is one of the closest electoral contests in recent history: as of this writing, out of over 2.9 million ballots cast only 206 votes separate incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken. The Minnesota Senate race is slated to be recounted starting on November 19, 2008, and a key issue in the recount will be the approximately 34 thousand residual votes associated with it.

A Senate residual vote is, roughly speaking, the product of a ballot that lacks a recorded Senate vote, and in the Minnesota Senate race there is no doubt that the number of residual votes dwarfs the margin that separates Coleman from Franken. We show using a combination of precinct voting returns from the 2006 and 2008 General Elections that patterns in Senate race residual votes are consistent with, one, the presence of a large number of Democratic-leaning voters, in particular African-American voters, who appear to have deliberately skipped voting in the Coleman-Franken Senate contest and, two, the presence of a smaller number of Democraticleaning voters who almost certainly intended to cast a vote in the Senate race but for some reason did not do so. Ultimately, the anticipated recount may clarify the relative proportions of intentional versus unintentional residual votes. At present, though, the data available suggest that the recount will uncover many of the former and that, of the latter, a majority will likely prove to be supportive of Franken.

[unspun]

They are now finding that any ballot, whether votes are cast or not, means a vote for Franken.

[TypeZoNegative]

I can contest the vote of at least one of those Obama/Franken voters. She has the mental age of 11. How can I talk to the state election board?

[TheBattman]

I have posted on this subject before -—

How is it that “residual votes”, like hanging chads and provisional ballots seem to ALWAYS favor democrats?

As far as I know, no-one has been able to answer that...

So I think we know the REAL answer.

[aruanan]

How is it that “residual votes”, like hanging chads and provisional ballots seem to ALWAYS favor democrats?

Sort of like the residual smell in an outhouse.

[TheBattman]

Ding ding ding!!! You hit the nail on the head. If you are mentally unable to correctly fill out (or read) a ballot, then you have no business voting. Period.

[Beowulf9]

“WTF is the spineless republican party doing about this? “

yes, why is it that the election can be stolen in these unfair ways?

[TheBattman]

[duckln]

Coleman voted against his party and with McCain on no drilling in ANWAR. I won’t miss him.

[Auntie Dem]

They are attempting to again prove that Democrat voters are stupider than Republican voters.

That should be more stupider. Sheesh!

[montag813]

African-American voters, who appear to have deliberately skipped voting in the Coleman-Franken Senate contest and, two, the presence of a smaller number of Democraticleaning voters who almost certainly intended to cast a vote in the Senate race but for some reason did not do so

So the recount board is to read their minds and determine who they might have voted for, had they voted? Insanity.

[montag813]

In the land of morals, we without them will win. You with them are suckers.

That will be commonplace in Obamanation, where the real suckers will be those who pay their mortgages and credit cards each month.

[CommerceComet]

i can’t get a feel for what this report is saying, but I AM getting bad vibes.

Don't speak professor, huh? Let me translate: "Franken wins."

Why pay this bozo his consulting fees to steal the election? Wouldn't it be so much more cost effective to just ask Franken how big of a margin of victory does he want?