Posted on 01/05/2009 4:12:21 PM PST by MplsSteve
Dear Supporter,
As you may have read or heard by now, today the Minnesota State Canvassing Board met and made their determination in the U.S. Senate Recount, effectively proving that the only declaration coming today is one of an inaccurate count.
There are a number of problems with the total certified today, including double counted votes, over 650 potentially wrongly rejected absentee votes, resulting in the disenfranchising of Minnesota voters and jeopardizing the integrity of Minnesota's election system.
Harry Reid and national Democrats have now publicly said they will try to seat Al Franken tomorrow when the 111th Congress convenes and new members are sworn in. This action, the very first action of the 111th Congress and the new Democrat leadership that campaigned on a theme of bipartisanship, will result in an historic political power play done at the behest of Al Franken. Minnesotans have the right to elect their own elected officials, just like every other state in the country, and this stunning move by Al Franken and Harry Reid strips Minnesotans of that right.
Please click here to help us continue to fight to ensure that every valid vote counts.
Coleman for Senate counsel Tony Trimble made the following statement this afternoon, raising the serious concerns our campaign has raised consistently during the recount process, and signaling our intent to file an election contest within the next 24 hours:
The actions today by the Canvassing Board are but the first step in what, unfortunately, will now have to be a longer process. This process isn't at the end; it is now just at the beginning.
We will contest the results of the Canvassing Board -- otherwise, literally millions of Minnesotans will be disenfranchised.
While we appreciate the effort of this board to do the work, the reality is that any certification of vote totals at this point is only preliminary. As this Canvassing Board has recognized, there still exist serious problems with inconsistencies in the administrative recount, and therefore in the validity and reliability of the numbers certified today.
There can be no count that is accurate or valid when 654 potentially valid absentee votes remain disenfranchised and when some votes are counted twice - leading to a violation of one of the most sacred principles of our constitution - "One person, One vote."
And, there can be no justification to report out a total when 133 votes were included in a count where there are not ballots to support them. Or when a batch of votes were not counted on Election Night, but were miraculously "found" during the recount and included.
If the Canvassing Board had resolved all these issues, then the process might be completed. But the Board has deferred the resolution of those issues for the contest phase provided for in Minnesota law.
Since the process is far from complete, there can be no confidence in the current results of the United States Senate Recount, and we will file a contest within the next 24 hours to promptly correct those problems and inaccuracies. The Supreme Court ruling today also emphasizes that that's what we must do to provide an accurate count for this election.
Senator Coleman is adamant that we not wait a moment longer than necessary to ensure that the election be completed with accuracy and validity - and most importantly, without disenfranchising Minnesota voters or having a cloud remain over the results.
The utter lack of uniformity in the treatment of rejected absentee ballots, resulting in the disenfranchising of voters, is perhaps the most troublesome aspect of the recount.
Similar ballots were treated differently by different counties. This creates an Equal Protection violation that fatally taints any result that includes these ballots.
This was precisely what the Minnesota Supreme Court order said to avoid.
Unfortunately, with this announcement today, numerous Minnesotans will be wrongly disenfranchised because their votes are not counted. Mr. Franken and his campaign for purely political reasons no longer want to "count all the votes".
And, it is with great disappointment that we've seen senior members of the Secretary of State's Office contributing to the process being broken.
When senior members of the Secretary of State's office, charged with ensuring a fair and balanced process, engage in acts which undermine that neutrality, all of us must be concerned.
The fact is the Canvassing Board's current totals are invalid and unreliable because:
· Original and duplicate ballots have been double counted - even members of the Canvassing Board acknowledge this is a serious issue, yet nothing was resolved - instead, double counted votes were simply added to their recount totals.
· Newly discovered ballots, which appeared for the first time during the recount and are included in the Canvassing Board totals without proper reconciliation to the number of voters signed into the precincts on Election Day.
· Missing ballots supposedly tallied on election night that could not be found during the recount process are included in the Canvassing Board count contrary to Minnesota precedent.
· And again, an inconsistent treatment of challenged ballots - an inconsistent treatment of wrongfully rejected absentee ballots - and an inconsistent treatment of the campaign by the very office charged with coordinating this recount simply results in a process that is broken.
The recount was supposed to be a recount - fair and reasoned - and one that would retain the credibility of the outcome of this election.
However, it ceased being that the day that duplicate ballots and "missing ballots" were included in the count, and simply became more and more broken each and every day.
We had hoped that the board would refrain from reporting out with unanimity a recount total today. Since that did not happen, we will file an election contest within the next 24 hours.
It will be based upon the issues I have outlined, as well as the lack of inclusion of 654 additional ballots that we believe should be a part of this recount and the very serious issue of included double counted votes that disenfranchises Minnesotans.
Our goal and obligation should be to get an accurate and valid vote as quickly as possible, and that is our reason for acting with urgency. Minnesotans ought to be able to expect that an accurate and valid recount would have ensured two United States Senators from Minnesota tomorrow. However, because the process is broken that will not happen.
We strongly believe that every valid vote must be counted. We have called for that principle to be the basis of this entire recount process, and we will not stop now. We firmly believe that once that happens, just like on election night, Norm Coleman will have the most votes in this close race, and be re-elected to the United States Senate. We know- all too well- that it has been a long road, and we value your friendship, advice and support throughout the campaign and recount.
We need your continued help as we move forward with an election contest to ensure the sanctity of Minnesota's election process. Please click here to continue supporting our efforts, and to help us maintain a strong, knowledgeable and skilled team carrying this effort forward.
One of the troubles is that there seems to be less and less true conservatives throwing their hats into the ring these days. And the ones that do end up getting a “Duncan who?” sort of reaction from the masses.
Last time I looked, unlike what you suggest, the senate votes are public and not behind ones back.
Where did I suggest that Senate votes are held in private? I didn't say much in my earlier posts, and certainly didn't say that. More "creative reading", I guess.
What I meant, and what I thought it was easy enough to understand, is that it's better to have an enemy in front of you, so you know what he's going to do (vote), than an enemy behind you that pretends to be a friend (a Pubbie), but really votes against you (a RINO). By the time the vote takes place, it's too late. The knife is already in your back.
Refer again to Coleman's low C to D grades from the ACU and his C rating from Numbers USA to get an idea of what I consider voting against me/us/the future of the nation.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
The first count is always more accurate than the second count. Opinions of the counters are based on known need.
Toujours Pret brother.
“No. Defeat RINOs in the primaries. In general elections RINOs always preferable to Dems and particularly preferable in this case to Al Franken. Politics is about comparative choices. Always.”
Indeed. Right on FRiend, right on.
Marshall the lawyers and full steam ahead. This election has more red flags than a national day of bull fighting in Spain.
Exactly!!
Given the choice between a RINO and a...whatever the hell that other thing is...I’ll take the RINO any day.
...and you'll get the exact results you've gotten since 2006! Are you rino enabler's really this stupid?
I don't want Franken to take this seat, but I sure won't help a party who in effect wants to destroy conservatism from within! This is worse, much worse than getting a loser like Franken and then reestablishing the based to pound the crap out of the liberals in the next election, starting with the primaries. You would think after this last election republicans would learn, but it's constituents like you two that give the party the moniker, The Stupid Party!
Get out if you want to keep voting for rino's and go form your own idiotic, wishy-washy, pansy-ass, party!
Here is the deal, at least according to Dick Morris. Disputed ballots had Xeroxed copies made of them....only problem is that they forgot to mark them as copies...*snicker. har har*. So....they counted all of them so no voter would be disenfranchised. *snicker*
Supposedly thats how they had more votes than voters. The whole thing is a joke, what makes it worse is that people act like there is nothing too odd about that. Makes me wonder if Obama really won via fraud.
I believe ACORN could have committed that much fraud.
ping
REID = liberal-fascist in chief!
This man and alii are a disgrace for US democracy and BTW bipartisanship is an hoax launched to weaken and divide “Republicans”.
McCAIN and hese kinds are free to change political side
I don’t recall the names but, IIRC, they were part of the Hollywood crowd and said he should not be elected.
Exactly the attitude of the 4 million "Republican" no-shows who judged McCain as a RINO and handed the Presidency to one Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.
P.S. McCain is an outrageous RINO, and ran a very dumb campaign ... but Americans are supposed to be smart enough to figure out the Two-Party System and deal with it by voting for the "lesser of two evils." Perhaps the punitive stay-at-home "Republicans" will admit the error of their ways when our Magic Marxist Mulatto announces his first Supreme Court nomination, or builds a minaret on the WH lawn.
this didn’t help Normy ,either:
Coleman supports auto bailout with protections
MINNEAPOLIS—As members of Congress gear up for a discussion this week on whether to bailout Detroit automakers, Sen. Norm Coleman says he would support a plan if it included certain protections for taxpayers.
Coleman says in a written statement that Congress should insist that Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC work on developing new vehicles that function on new energy resources.
He says the automakers need to change their business models and ensure that labor unions are part of the solution.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_10999745?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com
Reid to Coleman: Don’t pursue it...
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman_to_speak_today_what_will_he_do.php
I can’t believe that nutcase Franken could have won. But I guess NY is no better.....
All I was saying was that -- given that the only choice is between a semi-RINO (Coleman isn't really all that much of one) and a complete idiot leftist RAT, I'll bite the bullet and vote for Coleman.
Same thing with McCain. I bit the bullet and voted for him (the addition of Palin to the ticket made that decision easier). The goal was to stop Obama from getting the post, and any other vote would have been a throwaway. Alas, the outcome was not what I wanted, but at least it was through no fault of mine.
Finally, I think you might have the wrong idea as to who needs to go form their own party. Rather than the RINO supporters (of which I am not one) forming their own party, the conservatives need to form their own party because the Republican Party has strayed way too far and shows no real signs (outside of maybe a few hopefuls) of getting back to its traditional roots.
After Jesse Ventura anything's possible by them.
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