Coleman Campaign To Ask That All 12,000 Rejected Absentee Ballots Be Reviewed For Potential Counting

Coleman for Senate ^ | January 19th 2009 | Official Press Release

[flattorney]

- - 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 and inconsistencies we saw during the recount process led us to file an election contest to protect the integrity of Minnesota’s election system and to ensure that no Minnesotan would be disenfranchised in this process.

“We have consistently believed that every valid vote must count, and that Minnesotans will only be confident in the outcome of this election if every valid vote is indeed counted. Everyone is well aware of the problems of double-counting votes of some Minnesotans. This double-counting of votes truly disenfranchises millions of Minnesotans. As is obvious, we intend to vigorously contest this matter and to ensure that Minnesota voters are all afforded equal protection under the Constitution and the concept of ‘one person, one vote’ is not seen as some quaint statement that holds no weight in law.

“I want to draw your attention to another issue that we intend to vigorously address beginning next week, and that’s this: We intend to request that the 3-judge panel allow for the possibility that the roughly 12,000 rejected absentee ballots be opened. “We expect that Minnesotans will share the same stunned disappointment we do to learn that the Franken campaign may actually oppose this fundamental act of fairness. Particularly when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, stated in a press release on November 26, 2008: ‘Today's decision by the Minnesota Canvassing Board not to count certain absentee ballots is cause for great concern. As the process moves forward, Minnesota authorities must ensure that no voter is disenfranchised. A citizen's right to have his or her vote counted is fundamental in our democracy.’ The principle of every valid vote counting was convenient only when it supported their purposes for the Franken campaign, which is a pattern we’ve seen from them throughout this entire process.

“Obviously, not every one of the 12,000 rejected absentee ballots was wrongfully rejected. However, those that were – those that were rejected through no fault of the voter – and conform to the laws of this state as to voting requirements, voter eligibility and voter intent – we believe those ballots must be opened. “In other words: If the absentee voter was alive on Election Day, was either a registered voter or included a registration card with his or her ballot, and did not otherwise vote, then his or her absentee ballot should be counted -- if the voter’s intent can be determined from the ballot. And I’ll say that again: If the absentee voter was alive on Election Day, was either a registered voter or included a registration card with his or her ballot, and did not otherwise vote, then his or her absentee ballot should be counted -- if the voter’s intent can be determined from the ballot.

“This is about equal protection, so voters in every county throughout the state can trust that their ballot was treated the same as a ballot in another county. This is about fairness in the process and for every Minnesotan who cast a ballot on Election Day. We don’t do so with the expectation that every vote will be a Coleman vote. “Instead, we do so because every Minnesotan deserves the right to vote and when they follow all the rules and cast a valid ballot, they deserve to have their ballot counted, and counted equally as every other ballot filed.

“We are now in a different phase in this process. The three judge panel – as clearly stated by the Supreme Court and the Minnesota Canvassing Board – is the exact right body to review this matter. The fact is, we're here and we’ll be before three judges who are empowered to do what the Canvassing Board could not – and what the Supreme Court in its wisdom directed us to do when we filed our contest in this election. This is the right time to be doing this. “And there are an extraordinary number of ballots to count. More than ever before in a Minnesota election. But, this election is not over just because more people than ever before cast their votes in this election. It will be over when each and every one of those individuals who cast a valid vote in this election has that vote counted – and has that vote make a difference.”

[flattorney]

~ Minnesota U.S. Senate Election Fiasco ~
FR Keywords: Norm Coleman(R) | Al Franken(D) | Franken: SorosBoy | Porn-O-Rama! | Endorsed by Al “Globull 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 - Post 2

01.17.09: Why Norm Coleman Will Win (+ GOP Activists to Sue)
01.13.09: Coleman camp: Franken at (MN) Supreme Court like bank robber asking for receipt
01.12.09: Video: The O'Reilly Factor: Hollywood-Soros-Franken, + Can Coleman Still Win?
01.09.09: Why George Soros wants Norm Coleman out of the Senate (“The Dirt”, A Must Read)
01.09.09: GOP Former MN SOS(99-07) Mary Kiffmeyer slams Coleman-Franken U.S. Senate Recount
01.09.09: Send in the Clown (Al “SorosBoy” Franken)
01.08.09: The Stealing the (MN U.S. Senate) Election Project + Latest Coleman News & FlAttorney's Comments

# # # # #

01.19.09 FR: Bush Commutes Sentences of Two Border Agents Convicted of Shooting Drug Dealer
- - Despite the great news today, this matter is not over. First, it will be two months before Ramos and Compean are released from prison for time served. Second, many “GOP Interests” still support attempting to overturn these two border agents convictions before the SCOTUS. Third, there is good support from the majority of U.S. Congress Republicans and a number of Democrats to change the federal firearms discharge law to better protect border patrol agents doing their job in the line of duty. – FlA, SFARI

# # # # #

All The Way!

TAB

[NormsRevenge]

Fair is FaiR. Right?

If they can double count FRanken ballots, Heck, let’s open anything that even looks like a valid ballot..

[Chet 99]

Does anyone know what the court’s options are? Can they order a revote?

Is their review de novo or do the reverse only for abuse of discretion?

[valkyry1]

Good for Coleman

[CapnJack]

Unfortunately Coleman is done.

The ballots will not be reviewed and the judges have their orders to block Coleman and any turn.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

The people who cast the votes do not decide an election,
the people who count the votes do.

Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953)

[BallyBill]

Norm needs to save his time and money. The fix was in and no masked man is coming to the rescue.

[MTMS]

I find your comment interesting. So many conservatives are disappointed and dismayed because the republicans never fight back. One acts like he may have a spine and you suggest he shouldn’t waste his time or money.

[freekitty]

I agree

[LeonardFMason]

My thoughts exactly. Norm Coleman may not be a great Republican, but he seems willing to FIGHT. That’s a START.

[MNnice]

Aint gonna happen. The court consists of a liberal, an “independent” and a rino. Coleman’s toast.

What Coleman’s legal team should have done is sue to have all the votes cast on the same-day registration re-examined for authenticity. There’s considerable speculation that thousands of recent immigants (read, non-citizens) were told they could vote on election day by ACORN by simply waiting to register at the polls. There is no citizen check at that time.

Since Coleman is supposedly behind by 225 votes, I would bet he could uncover thousands of ACORN-registered illegally cast votes.

[tyke]

There is no way to match registration forms with ballots. It’s not called a secret ballot for nothing.

In any case, Minnesota’s had same day registration since 1976. Coleman would have been better off spending his money waging a more effective campaign, then he would not have been in this mess.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Hail Mary pass.

[flattorney]

This is from part of a FlA, SFARI inter-intra internal memo today that can be shared publicly. I think Norm would be a fool not to continue to fight this situation and expose MN SOS Mark “former? Communist and Soros Puppet” Ritchie, Al Franken, and all the rest of the Democrat cockroaches involved. Come on people, what else does the Nat’l GOP have to do right now. They have plenty of time available and are feeling very good after beating down King Bush on the Ramos-Compean travesty. ~ TAB

”The facts are, from GOP Interests heavily involved in this matter, Coleman is on excellent legal footing in this battle, but will probably have to fight it out in the Federal Courts. The fact is, with the Papa Bush Cartel final out of National GOP control, with this being “W’s” finally day in office (thank God), the GOP Interests are now substantially more powerful to fight the Democrats-Soros Shadow Party. And by design, we have the largest cash reserves in over a decade. The current cash situation is part of the “New GOP” plan committed to privately by GOP Interests and certain PAC’s at CPAC 2008. #snip#
While the “New GOP” groundwork has been laid, realistically nothing could be done to start the long process of rebuilding the National GOP until we got rid of the Papa Bush Cartel, “W”, and the repulsive RINO McCain “presidential express”. #snip#
Win or lose, Franken and the D-SSP are not going to steal this U.S. Senate election. At this juncture, the GOP Interests are prepared to fight this battle all the way to the SCOTUS. Three reasons for this position are as follows:” #snip#

[Girlene]

Fight on, Sen. Coleman.

[freekitty]

Anything to get rid of Soros and Company.

[RJL]

Coleman would have been better off spending his money waging a more effective campaign, then he would not have been in this mess.

Norm is moderate rino, exactly what the Republican leadership thinks is the winning ideal. The Dems and independents rallied to reelect Norm... or Not.

Norm's problem is that he played "prevent defense" while, in my opinion, Franken Democrats were busily playing offense and creating found votes. If Franken "found" a thousand votes, Norm should have "found" two thousand votes.

[Mojave]

Waste of time. The fix was in a long time ago.

[Irish Eyes]

I find your comment interesting. So many conservatives are disappointed and dismayed because the republicans never fight back. One acts like he may have a spine and you suggest he shouldn’t waste his time or money.

Very good observation. Every Republican and conservative should be cheering him on. All the whining is getting very tiresome.

[babubabu]

Everytime a vote gets overturned by a recount.. we should all be put on red alert.