Will we have a Junior Senator from Minnesota?

[Guest shebavon]

I wonder how long this mess will take to sort itself out. Any guesses?

[Guest MonkeySee]

I wonder how long this mess will take to sort itself out. Any guesses?

Depends when Coleman and the Republicans want to concede. It may be a long time.

 

[Guest shebavon]

Franken in an Air America interview says he is going to win soon. Also posted on Huffington Post.

 

Let's hope.

 

FRANKEN: Well, Frannie and I Iook at each other at night, usually right before we go to bed, and go like: "How long is this gonna go on?" But, it really looks now that it's going to get resolved in my favor, and soon, and so I'm actually excited to get there. So that sort of overcomes the frustration of: "How long can this go on?"

 

GREEN: What's the hold-up? Haven't you been certified the winner by the secretary of state of Minnesota?

 

FRANKEN: Well, I've been certified as the winner of the recount. So I just want to be fair to everybody. When I was certified by the state canvassing board as the winner of the recount, Coleman, as is his right, filed a legal contest contesting the outcome of the recount. And that was January 6th, the day that I could've been seated as the winner of the recount. Then we went to trial January 26th, and this is the fourth week. At the end of this past week, the judges issued a ruling, which we think is a great ruling, which narrowed the standards and scope of the absentee ballots that have been previously rejected...then the Coleman people kind of did a 180. They had not wanted these ballots included at all, but now that they're behind, they wanted them all included. The narrowing of the universe of these absentee ballots that could be counted is such that we really believe we're going to win, and we're going to win soon.

[Guest MonkeySee]

Looks like this issue will not be resolved by Friday, as first thought. Here is an article by Brian Bakst of the Associated Press.

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. – An argument that Republican Norm Coleman hoped would draw him closer to Democrat Al Franken suffered a hard blow Wednesday in the Minnesota Senate trial when the judges threw out the testimony of the only witness to claim seeing errors that may have given some people two votes.

 

The testimony of Minneapolis election judge Pamela Howell was thrown out because she had supplied materials to Coleman's legal team that weren't given to Franken's lawyers. The judges deemed that a violation of civil trial procedures.

 

The double-counting argument is an important element of Coleman's case. He said Franken benefited from more than 100 votes from people who had two ballots counted. Coleman's lawyers want the court to subtract the votes from Franken's tally and reduce the 225-vote lead he had after the recount.

 

Coleman also is looking to gain votes by arguing that hundreds of rejected absentee ballots should be counted.

 

Howell, a Republican, is the only Coleman witness who said she was present when duplicated ballots without proper markings were fed through counting machines.

 

Ballots that are torn, smudged, crumpled or contain votes for only federal offices are sometimes spit out by vote-counting machines, prompting local elections officials to fill out an identical ballot that can be fed through. They're supposed to be marked with corresponding tags, such as "Original 7" and "Duplicate 7," with the original versions placed in a sealed envelope.

 

The statewide recount gave preference to original ballots because they were a truer reflection of a voter's intent. But the number of duplicates and originals for some precincts didn't match up. By counting originals without lining them up with corresponding duplicates, Coleman alleges some voters got two votes.

 

Howell told the court of problems in the south Minneapolis precinct she oversaw as a head election judge. She testified that colleagues were feeding duplicated ballots through tabulating machines when one gasped. "'Oh no! We forgot to label the ballots.'"

 

"We looked at each other and the thoughts ran through my head about what can we do to retrieve and label them or whatever. And at that point they were mixed up with the other ballots."

 

In cross-examination by Franken lawyer David Lillehaug, Howell said she collected her thoughts in writing and gave copies to Coleman's lawyers. But the Coleman team didn't share her writings with Franken's lawyers, who learned about them during Howell's testimony.

 

After a recess, Judge Elizabeth Hayden ruled on behalf of the three-judge panel that Coleman's lawyers didn't abide by civil trial rules. That, she said, was enough to exclude Howell's testimony entirely.

 

Coleman's attorneys said Howell's writings were benign and that the court's response was harsh, but that they would use other evidence to make their point.

 

The stir over Howell upstaged the start of testimony by Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert. She is a key figure because her city was a flashpoint in the recount.

 

Reichert was asked about efforts to locate a packet of ballots declared missing during the recount. To compensate for the 133 ballots said to be lost, the state went with Election Night numbers for the precinct. That decision kept Franken from losing 46 net votes.

 

She will resume her place on the stand Thursday.

 

Another witness, state elections director Gary Poser, was kept off the stand as attorneys argued behind closed doors over the admissibility of documents he could be asked about. He caught an afternoon flight to Orlando for an election officers conference and won't be available to finish his testimony until next week.

 

Coleman's lawyers said it will be impossible to meet a Friday goal of finishing presentation of their evidence. It delays the timetable for Franken's team to argue its case that the recount result showing him on top was valid.

 

 

[Guest shebavon]

Looks like Coleman's lawyers got caught withholding evidence.

 

They must be running out of delaying tactics.

[Guest MonkeySee]

They must be running out of delaying tactics.

I hope they are running out of delaying tactics. Knowing the Republican party and their lawyers, I am sure they have more things up their sleeve.

 

[Guest shebavon]

I wonder how much only one Senator is costing the state of Minnesota, since such important financial packages are being approved now. Oh well, more for the rest of the country.

[Guest shebavon]

Now Coleman wants a do-over. He is asking the courts to set aside the election since they could not select a winner beyond a reasonable doubt. Minneapolis Star Tribune.

 

This will cost the state another $50 million. Not to mention the cost of the new campaigns.

 

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minnesota court has confirmed that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman.

 

Monday's ruling isn't expected to be the final word because Coleman previously announced plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court. He has 10 days to do so. That appeal could mean weeks more delay in seating Minnesota's second senator.

 

After a statewide recount and seven-week trial, Franken stands 312 votes ahead. Franken gained more votes from the election challenge than Coleman, the candidate who brought it.

 

The state law Coleman sued under merely required three judges to determine who got the most votes and is therefore entitled to an election certificate. That critical certificate is on hold pending appeal.

 

 

[Guest shebavon]

Hypocritical Republicans, led by Coleman and Ginsberg think nothing of letting this circus play on for years, if they can get away with it.

 

It's time to bring this mess to a close.

 

And they called Gore, Sore loserman!

[Guest MonkeySee]

Hypocritical Republicans, led by Coleman and Ginsberg think nothing of letting this circus play on for years, if they can get away with it.

I don't think they will get away with it. Hopefully, Minnesota Supreme Court will put this issue to bed and Frankin will be seated as the junior senator from Minnesota.

 

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I don't think they will get away with it. Hopefully, Minnesota Supreme Court will put this issue to bed and Frankin will be seated as the junior senator from Minnesota.

 

I hope that you are right!! However, with some of the assholes that are involved in trying to prevent another democrat in the Senate have their way, this will go on much longer.