Posted on 10/31/2002 7:22:07 AM PST by TonyInOhio
There isn't a damn thing neededing correction about this Minnesota law. It is perfectly fine, unambiguous, and quite liberal in the options it allows for voters to change or ammend their votes. The only "problem" is that it doesn't provide the outcome the Dems want, so they want it changed by the courts.
Exactly.
[Sigh] BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE LAW SAYS. The course of action you recommend would be ILLEGAL:
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.
Get that? "Shall be counted" You can't "invalidate" them just because it seems "fair". It isn't "fair," it's illegal.
Now, take two aspirin and stay away from fuzzy thinking 'Rats.
A possible solution, 'fair to all', would be to throw out the same number of absentee Coleman votes for Senate as there are votes for Headstone amongst the absentees.
How is that any different than counting all Headstone votes for Mondale? Whether you add 1000 votes to each candidate, or subtract 1000 votes from each candidate, the result is the same. So, dropping Coleman votes gives the same result as changing a Wellstone vote to Mondale and then dropping both votes because they cancel eachother out. So, I hope you didn't mean to support the Rat plan, because that is at least part of what they want.
What is fair about that? A voter for Coleman is disenfranchised because Wellstone died?
I fully understand why the Democraps are upset, since votes for Coleman are counted, but Wellstone votes are rejected.
Wellstone votes don't count because the guy is dead. Minnesota law actually provides as good a remedy as you can get for those who already voted absentee for Wellstone: Go get another ballot or show up on election day.
However, rejecting valid votes does cause an equal protection problem.
So don't do it.
I just thank God that I am not one of those Judges. Darn if I know of a solution!
Simple as pie. Follow the law. (But I know that's expecting a lot from many of today's judges.)
Then again, they may take their jobs seriously, and are actually reviewing state and federal law before legislating from the bench.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published Nov. 1, 2002
|
VOTE01
|
Acting just hours after hearing arguments in the case, the court's seven justices didn't detail their reasoning. But the order requires election officials to fulfill requests for new ballots and count the most recent one they receive.
Democratic Party lawyer Alan Weinblatt had urged the court to either invalidate all Senate votes on absentee ballots, deliver new ballots to anyone who previously applied for one or make a new one available at a voter's request.
Even with the court's quick ruling, there's no guarantee voters will get a new ballot in time to return it before polls close on Tuesday. There are only five days left to Tuesday's election, in which former Vice President Walter Mondale has replaced Wellstone as the Democrats' candidate against Republican Norm Coleman.
Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer said after the hearing that county auditors would be ready to quickly process requests for new ballots. The order, handed down by the court as a whole, requires county auditors to include instructions that state clearly that the second ballot would replace the first one they mailed in. Voters who sent in their ballots and don't want to make a change can do nothing and their vote will count, the order states.
Republicans opposed a blanket re-mailing, but their lawyer told the court the party was willing to accept an order that new ballots be sent to anyone who requests them, which was the Democrats' second choice.
Weinblatt wanted justices to rule that existing absentee ballots should be considered ``spoiled'' if voters who cast them want to change their vote.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of DFL Party Chairman Mike Erlandson and two voters who will be out of the state on Election Day. It alleges that a process outlined by Kiffmeyer, a Republican, and Attorney General Mike Hatch, a Democrat, could disenfranchise people who voted absentee for Wellstone.
Their guidelines had left people with unreturned absentee ballots to either write in Mondale's name or vote in person at their local election office on or before Election Day. People who had already submitted theirs were told to go their election office and request a new ballot.
Click below to read the MN Supreme Court Order, issued Oct. 31, 2002, regarding election petition, Mike Erlandson, et al., vs. Mary Kiffmeyer, Minnesota Secretary of State and Patrick H. O'Connor, Hennepin County Auditor/Treasurer, individually and on behalf of all County and Local Election Officers.
Order in: Word format, in Rich Text format
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.