Posted on 12/02/2008 4:56:42 PM PST by Chet 99
The final day of recounting in Ramsey County in the U.S. Senate race kicked up controversy today when 171 uncounted ballots from Maplewood turned up. The ballots apparently had been uncounted because of a ballot-counting-machine malfunction on Election Day.
Democrat Al Franken made a net gain of 37 votes from the ballots, as he got 91 of the total, to 54 for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and 26 for other candidates, including Dean Barkley of the Independence Party.
Once those were counted, election officials found that there appeared to be 31 more ballots cast than the number of voters who signed in or voted by absentee ballot at Maplewood's Sixth Precinct, at the Hazelwood Fire Station.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Some of those Mickey Mouse and Nemo voter registrations that Shepard Smith told me I didn't need to worry about .. after all, how could they cast votes?
Beats me? Small government is dead. Perhaps they only way it will come back is a total economic collapse.
**Once those were counted, election officials found that there appeared to be 31 more ballots cast than the number of voters who signed in or voted by absentee ballot at Maplewood’s Sixth Precinct, at the Hazelwood Fire Station.**
ACORN at work?
Ballots are not counted until they are turned in to the poll workers. In Minnestota, it is illegal to put a mark on a ballot that distinguishes it from other ballots. It’s not like they have serial numbers or anything. At sites where they use paper ballots, you can request a new one if you mark the wrong spot or whatever.
Where did you get the idea that they counted how many blank ballots were consumed? It’s like people just make stuff up here.
It most certainly doesn’t look good, but I would say that it doesn’t look good for the poll officials who screwed up.
Is the Franken campaign trying anything illegal? Maybe, but where’s the evidence that they are? Remember that Coleman also has people on the ground watching everything. If shady ballots turn up, you can be assured that they will be challenged. Then substantiating documentation needs to be found.
This election may come down to one vote; it’s that close. The Coleman campaign isn’t asleep! They won’t let Franken get a single questionable vote without a fight. As it is, both campaigns are demanding scrutiny of some obviously valid votes for their opponent.
FWIW, Coleman is a slight favorite right now. If Franken loses, he will lose by a small number of votes, and the disqualified absentee ballots will become an issue. That’s when Franken will escalate — but it’s his right to do so. But trust Coleman and the RNC to fight whatever Franken does next. He hasn’t won until he’s run out of options or decides to concede.
A lot of comments here seem to be based on the idea that Franken is just running roughshod over the recount process and nobody is there trying to stop him. Believe me, Coleman is doing everything he can.
Actually, it's what happens when a political party(GOP) decides to let the opposition control the field.
There isn't a set of balls to be found with the exception of Gingrich, and he had enough sense to desert a sinking ship.
Go jump off a bridge.
Gingrich didn’t abandon a sinking ship. As a result of actions by the Clinton machine, his past caught up with him and ended his political career.
All hell is breaking loose, communists are taking over the Federal Government.
Gingrich's "past" pales in comparison.
My recollection of having been a poll-worker in Kalifornia is that the ballots DO have serial numbers. And they come from labelled stacks that are fully accounted for before and after the election.
The voter REMOVES the serial number from his ballot at the instant that he drops it into the ballot box.
But the poll-workers ARE obligated to account for ALL the ballots, those used and those not used. There should be no way that 171 ballots can somehow get separated from all the others at a given precinct and show up later.
Here’s the process we use: All ballots are a given number as they are handed to the voter & that number is placed on a tally sheet. A check mark in then placed next to the voter’s name to show they received a ballot. There is NO mark on the ballot. There is NO indication which voter was issued which numbered ballot.
Without going into detail, when the poll closes all totals must match: the number of ballots handed to voters, the number of ballots placed in the tallying machines, the number of ballots rejected as spoiled. The vote is certified only when we account for every ballot.
All these numbers MUST match. If we deliver 1,000 ballots to voters, the machines must tally 1,000 minus spoiled ballots.
If you do not use this process (or another similar), how would you ever know that fraudulent ballots were not being carried into the polling place? And how would you ever know that ballots had not been counted? I cannot think of a way that you can “not count” 171 ballots & certify a vote count.
My God, we’re in the 3rd World.
If you do not use this process (or another similar), how would you ever know that fraudulent ballots were not being carried into the polling place? And how would you ever know that ballots had not been counted? I cannot think of a way that you can “not count” 171 ballots & certify a vote count.The simple method we used here in Texas was that each voter put one ballot in the scanner on their way out (my precinct uses electronic machines now, which I don't really trust, but assuming they haven't been hacked, they do avoid this problem). We did have a record of everyone who showed up to vote, however, if X people showed up, and X-171 ballots were tallied, that would be a red flag.
Obviously, there are several solutions. If the process you describe is what's used in Minnesota, then it is odd that the ballots weren't counted. That still doesn't prove that they are fraudulent votes. "Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity." Occam's razor would suggest that this was an honest mistake made by election workers. Again, it could be the Franken campaign trying to commit fraud, but under the current circumstances, it's very unlikely.
If nobody made mistakes on election night, there wouldn't be any point in having recounts at all.
Just when I thought there was hope for electoral integrity in Minnesota, we have this. We are becoming a third-world banana republic with nukes.
Surprise, surprise.
Not so fast. If birth certificates can be messed with so can this. The pubbies have no interest because thety are part of the problem in the corrupt CONgress. Ya'll just can't come to the realization that the country is lost to the libs/elites/NWO/CFR group.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.