Posted on 10/26/2002 7:32:05 AM PDT by Valin
It's unclear whether voters will see Sen. Paul Wellstone's name on the ballot Nov. 5. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has until Fridayto choose a successor whose name will appear with the names of all other candidates for the U.S. Senate on a separate ballot.
A similar situation happened in 1990, when Republican John Grunseth dropped out of the governor's race in late October. Arne Carlson succeeded him on the ballot, the courts upheld it and Carlson was elected and went on to serve two terms.
But if the DFL does not nominate a candidate, Wellstone's name will remain on the ballot and Gov. Jesse Ventura could then choose a successor who will serve until 2004. Ventura can also appoint a short-term successor, but that person will not serve past January, when the new senator is sworn in. Such an appointee would take office after the state ratified the election results in the second week of November. Ventura said at a news conference Friday that he would not appoint himself, nor would he discuss a successor.
Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer said that absentee ballots that have already been mailed won't be changed, and absentee votes cast in the Senate race will not count — unless the voter casts a ballot in person on Election Day.
However, Minnesota law states, "Absentee ballots that have been mailed prior to the preparation of official supplemental ballots shall be counted in the same manner as if the vacancy had not occurred." That means an absentee vote cast for any Senate candidate would still be counted. If that vote were for Wellstone, it would be counted for the senator even though he is dead.
Attorney General Mike Hatch said Friday he believed state law is such that DFL leaders have to choose within the next seven days whether they will name a new candidate or go through the election without a Democrat on the ballot.
Other lawyers — notably Peter Wattson, counsel to the state Senate — said they read the same law to mean that if DFL leaders could not agree on a successor, or chose not to name one, Wellstone's name would remain on the ballot. Then, if Wellstone won, Ventura would name a successor, who would serve until a special election in 2003 or perhaps '04. Hatch strongly rejected that interpretation.
Kiffmeyer said more than 90,000 absentee ballots were cast four years ago.
Hank Shaw covers elections and money in politics. He can be reached at hshaw@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-5257.
If the Dems don't change the ballot it is because they don't believe Mondale will win. Mondale isn't a household name here like it used to be. When Fritz ran for prez, this frost-bitten state was the only one to carry him. We were rightly embarrassed.
Whether it's true or not a seminar caller to C-SPIN this morning commented that the folks on FNC were also remarking that the market surged upon the news.
The caller was so viciously critical of all things republican in general and FNC in particular that I don't know if her comment was truthful.
Post hoc ergo procter hoc
Correlation does not equal causation.
There's nothing in Wellstone's death that should provide any impetus for the stock market, therefore it's foolish, absent some compelling evidence, to assume that there's any correlation between those two events.
Whether it's true or not a seminar caller to C-SPIN this morning commented that the folks on FNC were also remarking that the market surged upon the news.
Bob Pisani, on CNBC, made a big thing of this yesterday afternoon, even mentioning a number of stocks that might benefit from a Republican takeover of the Senate - defense, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, etc..
Section 204B.13 on elections indicates that for a vacancy in nomination that occurs after 16 days but before 4 days before the election, that name shall be struck out from the ballot. However, it also states that section 204B.41 applies to vacancies due to death or catastrophic illness. That section states that the officer in charge shall (my emphasis) prepare and distribute a supplemental ballot for the office in question. There is no specific mention of striking out the name of the deceased.
My take on this is that section 204B.41 is an add-on for the previous section to allow a little extra time for death and illness and that the strike out provision would still apply, especially since 204B.41 states shall prepare. Why prepare a supplemental ballot if there are no changes. My understanding that in law the word shall is a compulsory type of word.
Therefore, Wellstone's name must be replaced or stricken.
Does anyone remember that the Senate killed the stimulus package because Daschound was the leader? One less dem and one more Republican would have kept him from killing the stimulus package that may have turned the economy around months ago.
Dude what is his age? I've not been able to find it listed anywhere.... But Wellstone was born July, 1944, married in 1963 and had three children with David being the oldest. Depending upon how long after he was married that David was born it's very possible for him to be in his mid 30s or more.
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