Republicans are not giving up in Minnesota

[Guest MonkeySee]

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The judges in Minnesota's Senate trial on Tuesday ordered that 23 previously rejected absentee ballots be opened and added to the race, setting the stage for counting perhaps thousands more such ballots and giving Republican Norm Coleman a shot at erasing Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote lead.

 

The ballots belong to voters who sued to have them counted. They have been identified as Franken supporters, but Coleman's lawyers were encouraged by the order because they want another 4,700 rejected absentee ballots to be counted.

 

"It's basically what we've been asking for all along," Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said of the trial's first judicial order to count previously rejected ballots.

 

Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, also praised the order. "We're obviously pleased, having said all along that these witnesses should have their votes counted," he said.

 

The 23 voters "have provided unrebutted evidence that their absentee ballots were legally cast and should be counted," read the order signed by judges Elizabeth Hayden, Kurt Marben and Denise Reilly. The judges said they would determine later when the 23 absentees should be opened and added to the count.

 

The voters were among a larger group of 61 Franken voters who filed affidavits to get their rejected absentees counted, arguing that they followed all the rules and their ballots were rejected due to mistakes by county officials.

 

Under state law, there are four legal reasons to reject absentee ballots: a misplaced signature on the envelope; the name and address on the envelope don't match voter rolls; the voter isn't properly registered; or the voter also voted on Election Day. But the trial has established that at times, county officials have made mistakes in enforcing those rules.

 

The judges said the secrecy envelope holding a 24th ballot should be opened and checked for registration information, and the ballot should be counted if the registration is there.

 

The judges wrote that they didn't have enough evidence to order the counting of the remaining 37 ballots, but said those voters could present more evidence that their ballots should be counted.

 

Coleman's attorneys are in the process of trying to get about 4,700 rejected absentee ballots opened and counted. Ginsberg said Coleman's lawyers were likely to seek affidavits from voters whose ballots were rejected for reasons similar to those 23 the judges ordered counted.

 

Franken's attorneys have said many of the ballots Coleman wants counted were properly rejected. But later in the trial, Franken's attorneys are also expected to introduce a separate pile of about 700 rejected absentees they'd like to see counted.

 

In the trial itself Tuesday, Coleman's attorney spent the day questioning Kevin Boyle, Dakota County's elections manager, about decisions to reject specific absentee ballots.

 

(This version corrects that judges ordered 23 ballots counted, not 24.)

 

 

[Guest GaySacGuy]

It is too bad that the Republican Senators have chosed to try to block everything with just one vote...and then make Ted Kennedy, suffering from brain cancer, come into the senate and cast his vote.

 

These people stink!! Didn't they look at the results of the election?? McCainn of all people fighting to block a finance plan...well, he did say the fundamentals of out economy are strong, so I guess he figures we don't need any help.

 

I hope the Dems dig out the 60th vote somewhere....and then completely ignore the Republicans for the next two years. With all of the Republicans that are going to retire in two years, Dems must work hard to get elected in those states.

[Guest shebavon]

We will be subject to the Gang of 14, moderate dems and reps, who will be the swing balance for the next two years. They include Snowe, McCain, amongst others. On the good side, they did save us from some of the most egregious republican behaviour when they ran things. Remember the attempt to end filibuster of judges?

 

On the topic of Franken, to be fair, if I was a republican, I would be trying to stall the results and get every vote I can find counted. An old maxim of politics is that if you have the votes you vote, otherwise you stall.

 

This one must work it's way through the courts, as hypocritical as the political postures are.

[Guest MonkeySee]

On the topic of Franken, to be fair, if I was a republican, I would be trying to stall the results and get every vote I can find counted. An old maxim of politics is that if you have the votes you vote, otherwise you stall.

To be fair, the democrats would do the same thing. With an election this close, you have to look at every vote carefully.

[Guest MonkeySee]

I saw today that the Fox channel's, bad boy Billy O has been bad-mouthing Franken for calling himself Senator Franken. Has Franken been sworn in as US Senator from Minnesoata or is it still up in the air?

[Guest shebavon]

It is still up in the air with Franken in command. They are disputing 1500 or 15000 ballots to count, but it is unlikely that counting those will make any difference.

 

Bill Orally and Sean Insannity are just going to have to get used to it. Senator Franken sure has a nice ring to it.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

Fox Noise...er News sure is going to miss Bush...but they are the only ones. His White House provided him with daily talking points, and now they have the mouthpiece himself..Carl Rove. I sure hope they do an investigation and put the asshole in prison!!!