Recount Update - Dec. 4th, 2008
TODAY: WITH 133 MISSING BALLOTS IN MINNEAPOLIS, FRANKEN CAMPAIGN DEMANDS INTENSIVE SEARCH
The Al Franken for Senate campaign today demanded that the Secretary of State oversee an immediate and intensive search for a lost envelope containing 133 ballots from Minneapolis Ward 3, Precinct 1. After initially suggesting that the discrepancy between the number of voters on Election Day and the number of ballots found during the recount could be the result of ballots being accidentally double-counted on Election Day - a suggestion the Franken campaign immediately pointed out was completely implausible - Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert late last night admitted to the Star Tribune that the ballots were missing, saying that her earlier theory "doesn't jibe with the numbers we have" and "wasn't valid speculation." Minneapolis Ward 3, Precinct 1 covers the Dinkytown neighborhood and includes a large population of students at the University of Minnesota.
http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2008/12/04/5027/franken_campaign_calls_for_intensive_search_to_find_missing_minneapolis_ballots
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/35492669.html
http://minnesotaindependent.com/19186/the-ballad-of-the-missing-ballots
RECOUNT UPDATE: FRANKEN HOLDS 10 VOTE LEAD OVER COLEMAN
By our count, Al Franken leads Norm Coleman by 10 votes with roughly 56,000 ballots left to be hand counted. Many media outlets are calculating the margin by a different method, relying on raw data from the Secretary of State's website to conclude that Coleman holds a lead of over 300 votes. However, that calculation assumes that every challenge will be upheld by the state canvassing board, whereas our calculation assumes that the original call by the impartial election judge will stand. So, if the judge calls it for Franken, we say it's a Franken ballot. Likewise, if the judge calls it for Coleman, we treat it as a Coleman ballot - even if we have challenged it.
STATE CANVASSING BOARD TO MEET NEXT FRIDAY TO CONSIDER PREVIOUSLY REJECTED ABSENTEE BALLOTS
The state canvassing board will meet on Friday, December 12 to “discuss possible options for dealing with mistakenly rejected absentee ballots being sorted by county and local election officials.” This comes after the Secretary of State's office this week directed county auditors and county and city election officials to review all previously rejected absentee ballots and determine whether they fall under one of the four legal reasons for rejecting a ballot. The absentee ballot review will begin on December 8. We estimate that up to 1,000 ballots were improperly rejected.
http://blogs.twincities.com/politics/2008/12/canvassing_board_meeting_on_ab.html
KEY POINTS
- Attention will soon shift away from the numbers of this particular recount and toward the fight over whether or not these improperly rejected absentee ballots will be counted -- because those are the votes that will determine the next Senator from Minnesota. The Secretary of State has said there are roughly 12,000 absentee ballots rejected this past election. The Secretary of State has also estimated that 500 of them were wrongly rejected -- a number greater than the likely difference between Coleman and Franken at the end of the hand count. The Franken campaign actually estimates this pile is even larger -- up to 1,000 ballots.
- On top of the improperly rejected absentee ballots, reports of missing ballots in several Minnesota localities must be resolved before any recount is considered accurate or complete. According to the Secretary of State's website, there are numerous instances in which the number of recorded voters does not equal the number of ballots counted in the recount, thus certain ballots were counted on Election Day but not in the recount.
- We are determined to ensure that every Minnesotan who cast a vote -- either in person or via absentee -- ought to have that vote counted. And whether it is at the county level, at the canvass board, in the courts or before the United States Senate, we don't know yet. But because we believe the principle that every vote cast ought to be counted is universal, we remain confident these votes will be counted.
- Members of the State Canvassing Board affirmed our argument that improperly rejecting absentee ballots would amount to disenfranchising Minnesotans. In fact, as the decision to count these ballots emerges as the central discussion in the race, will Norm Coleman be in the extraordinary position of arguing they shouldn't be counted? Will elected judges and state officials want to look Minnesotans in the eye and say their votes shouldn't count?
- No recount should be considered complete or accurate until all the ballots are counted -- that includes the improperly rejected absentee ballots, and any missing ballots from around the state.
