Number of uncounted ballots in Minn. still unclear

[cyclezealot]

Source: Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The campaigns of Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken wrangled Monday over hundreds of unopened absentee ballots that could still tip Minnesota's Senate race. Lawyers ended a testy public negotiation session convened by the secretary of state's office without agreement on which ballots to open or how many should be under consideration.
...The absentee ballots in question were incorrectly rejected by poll judges on or before Election Day, mostly because of clerical errors outside the four legal reasons for rejection.
..
A large share of the ballots already identified come from counties where Franken ran up big margins over Coleman. Minneapolis alone accounts for almost 10 percent of the ballots. Coleman's proposed additions skew heavily toward suburban and rural counties where he did best in the election.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMpTm...

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMpTm...

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The 08 election cycle is not over until Mn Senate is completed... Franken says Coleman is cherry picking.. Reminds one of Fla 2000. Gore only wanted selected counties recounted. Our mistake.. Now, Coleman seems to want only red counties selected... ?.
Reversal of fortunes.?.. Reversal of strategy.?.. How about a simple dictate. Count them all. Don't count on Mn fairness standards to hold. The Minnesota Supreme Court is mostly GOP. Gov. Pawlenty holdovers..
If the Mn Supreme Court offers a questionable verdict, will Franken take it to the US Senate Rules committee. That is the last arbitrator.. We should start demanding Sen Feinstein, the Senate Rules chair, to keep up with what is going on in Minnesota.. Senator Reid is also a member of the Senate Rules Committee. I suggest contact that committee and demand they keep up with what is going on in Minnesota. I expect Democrats will roll over, if the Minnesota Supreme Court takes on a partisan position.

[tclambert]

1. How long is this going to take?

A Senator's term is only six years.

[Phred42]

10. at least half a dozen lawsuits yet to go.......

[creeksneakers2]

2. Al wants all the votes counted

Norm only wants the votes for himself to be counted. That alone shows which one would make a good Senator.

[cyclezealot]

3. Mn's Dem. US Sen. Amy Klobuchar

is saying it will take so long; the senator who is declared the winner by the elections board should be sworn in as an interim senator. This happened in NH once; and that state was without a senator for 10 months.

[timmymoff]

4. timmymoff's views on this

I think the coleman campaign is more interested in stalling the election so Obama has a harder time passing his agenda. This is really a last gasp effort of coleman who really should concede he lost, but they, the gop bastards, want to tarnish Obama as a president who isn't getting anything done. For lack of a better word, i call the gop treasonous to our country.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Welcome to DU, timmymoff.

I expect you're right. When it comes to Republicans, Lilly Tomlin said it all: "No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up."

[Pavulon]

5. What a joke, just have a drink off

who ever is left standing wins. Seems reasonable at this point.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

7. Al Gore wanted selected counties recounted ONLY because

it was less disruptive than requesting a recount of the whole state. He was getting trashed by the thugs & media for causing delays, creating extra work and problems, being a "sore loser" etc. He chose counties that had high levels of registered Dems and the most apparant irregularities.

[cyclezealot]

9. I understand his strategy.

I just suggest the Supreme Court awarded Gore vs Bush to Bush; because they viewed the argument unfair... Their argument. then. count all the votes in a timely manner. Now, Coleman would agree with Al Gore. Consistency in Politics. Sure.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

11. I didn't mean to imply I was taking issue with you - just wanted to set the record straight

for those reading who may not remember...

[KansDem]

12. Actually it was "Bush vs Gore"

Bush brought the lawsuit to the Supreme Court in an effort to stop Gore from winning.

Just for the record

[NHDEMFORLIFE]

8. Senate could order a new election

It happened in NH when the 1974 election went through a similiar series of in-state procedures. The second election took place in Sept., 1975. So this could take awhile.