Coleman Edges Franken in Minnesota Senate Race (Recount very likely)

[Wretched Excess]

this one will likely trigger an automatic recount.  the margin is 762 our of over 2.5 million votes cast.  and I am sure the dems will be in court this morning demanding that anything that the rules pertaining to undervotes be changed in franken's favor for the recount.

it's going to be embarrassing if this guy gets into the senate.

Coleman Edges Franken in Minnesota Senate Race
Republican Norm Coleman has won a second term in the U.S. Senate, barely surviving a stiff challenge from ex-comedian Al Franken.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Republican Norm Coleman has won a second term in the U.S. Senate, surviving a stiff challenge from former comedian Al Franken.

Coleman squeaked past Franken by the narrowest of margins: a few hundred votes with nearly 2.9 million cast. The margin appeared certain to trigger an automatic recount.

If the margin holds up, Coleman would be among the fortunate Republicans who survived big gains by Democrats nationwide.

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[EaglesWings]

It is embarrassing that he is even this close to Norm Coleman!!!  What has happened to our country? 

[franksolich]

It is embarrassing that he is even this close to Norm Coleman!!!  What has happened to our country? 

It's just a small speck of icing, but it's icing; that one Republican woman congressman the Democrats, liberals, and primitives wanted out of there won.

[BlueStateSaint]

This morning on Fox & Friends, it was Major Garrett (I think) who said that privately, a lot of Dems in the Senate are embarassed by the prospect of Al Franken becoming one of them.

[Wretched Excess]

this one will drag out for weeks.  I assume the SofS for minnesota is a dem, so I am sure they will refuse to certify the election results until franken has manufactured the votes he needs to win.

With 100 percent of the 4,130  precincts reporting, Coleman had an unofficial margin of  601 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast.  Recounts are required in races with a winning margin of less than one half of 1 percent.

 Franken said this morning that he intends to exercise his right to a recount.

He also said his campaign is investigating alleged voting irregularities at some polling places in Minneapolis, and that “a recount could change the outcome significantly.”

 â€œLet me be clear: Our goal is to ensure that every vote is properly counted,” he said.

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[JohnnyReb]

“Let me be clear: Our goal is to ensure that every vote is properly counted,” he said. .....twice ....or more times if need be.

[franksolich]

Anybody have any news on the Washington gubernatorial race?

I can't find anything.

And I've been looking.

Really.

[Wretched Excess]

Anybody have any news on the Washington gubernatorial race?

I can't find anything.

And I've been looking.

Really.

gregoire seems to have that one in the bag, 54-46.  not sure how much of the vote is reporting, but they have called it for her

[Chris_]

It is embarrassing that he is even this close to Norm Coleman!!!  What has happened to our country? 

The USSR finally succeeded in putting stupid pills in the water, disguised as Flouride.

[Wretched Excess]

It is embarrassing that he is even this close to Norm Coleman!!!  What has happened to our country? 

nothing against minnesotans, but they also elected jesse ventura governor.  in fact, the third party candidate was JV's campaign manager, and quite likely cost coleman more votes than franken.

[miskie]

This morning on Fox & Friends, it was Major Garrett (I think) who said that privately, a lot of Dems in the Senate are embarassed by the prospect of Al Franken becoming one of them.

Unless he is #60, I would LOVE to have Franken in there. We need to help the Congressional and Senatorial Obamites become identified as buffoons. I predict a very short honeymoon period for Obamarx before the pile-on begins.

Remember - there is no more Bush, and no longer a credible Republican power base. The insults will start on the interwebs, then get picked up by late night comedy and editorial comic strips. Then once Obamarx' shine is fully worn, the attacks will begin in earnest. They're the media, they're a bunch of ratings whores - the smell of red-meat will become irresistible to them.

*I can't wait until the DUmmies hate The Daily Show. Rehashed Bush jokes will only go so far before the ratings (read as: 'ad revenue' ) slip.

[Chris]

Franken said this morning that he intends to exercise his right to a recount.

That will be the first exercising Al Franken has done since high school gym class.

[Thor]

Franken said this morning that he intends to exercise his right to a recount.

That will be the first exercising Al Franken has done since high school gym class.

Actually, MN state law gives an automatic recount when an election is that close. Franken isn't "exercising" anything except his jaws..

[SaintLouieWoman]

Unless he is #60, I would LOVE to have Franken in there. We need to help the Congressional and Senatorial Obamites become identified as buffoons. I predict a very short honeymoon period for Obamarx before the pile-on begins.

Remember - there is no more Bush, and no longer a credible Republican power base. The insults will start on the interwebs, then get picked up by late night comedy and editorial comic strips. Then once Obamarx' shine is fully worn, the attacks will begin in earnest. They're the media, they're a bunch of ratings whores - the smell of red-meat will become irresistible to them.

*I can't wait until the DUmmies hate The Daily Show. Rehashed Bush jokes will only go so far before the ratings (read as: 'ad revenue' ) slip.

The problem is that it's almost impossible to insult the dems. Look at guys like Murtha and Barney F. Al Franken will fit right in, sadly.

[Miss Mia]

How long until the recount is done and the results are final?  Hopefully Coleman retains his lead, Franken is a moron.

[Wretched Excess]

That will be the first exercising Al Franken has done since high school gym class.


Actually, MN state law gives an automatic recount when an election is that close. Franken isn't "exercising" anything except his jaws..

he could waive the recount.  but that would be expecting too much.

[Wretched Excess]

How long until the recount is done and the results are final?  Hopefully Coleman retains his lead, Franken is a moron.

they say it will stretch into december.

[Wretched Excess]

coleman is screwed.  it's not so much a recount, which would be just running the ballots back through the counting machines, but a reevaluation of each ballot to magically discern the voter's "intent".  there is an Official 2008 Recount Guide (.pdf) (which is actually very well done) that describes the "do's and don't" of deriving the voter's intent, but the secretary of state is a dem, and I am sure he will torture the process to any degree required to get al franken elected to the senate.

from the recount guide:

Minnesota law requires that every effort be made to accurately count all votes on a ballot. This means that a
ballot or vote must not be rejected for a technicality if it is possible to decide what the voter intended, even
though the voter may have made a mistake or the ballot is damaged. Intent is determined only from the face of
the ballot. Use the following rules to decide what a voter intended:

(several graphical examples are included)

they only have to flip one vote (disqualify a coleman vote, "manufacture" a franken vote & etc) in every 5,000 or so to reverse the results of the election.  the franken campaign will have lawyers present at the recount to examine every ballot.   and before the recount can take place, the allegations of undefined and unspecific "voting irregularities" will have to be resolved, most likely in court.

this is gonna suck.  in a lot of ways, it's probably going to be worse than florida in 2000.  the stakes aren't as high, but this is a whole state, not a few counties.

[Tnafbrat]

*I can't wait until the DUmmies hate The Daily Show. Rehashed Bush jokes will only go so far before the ratings (read as: 'ad revenue' ) slip.

That's already starting,  one of the threads here this morning had a link to DU hating Jon Stewart. (I'd link it but damned if I can remember which one it was)

[Schadenfreude]

Coleman's lead is slipping away. Funny how that happens, I would think the leader would break away with more recounts. 

[Wretched Excess]

Coleman's lead is slipping away. Funny how that happens, I would think the leader would break away with more recounts. 

Just as Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was explaining to reporters the recount process in one of the narrowest elections in Minnesota history, an aide rushed in with news: Pine County's Partridge Township had revised its vote total upward -- another 100 votes for Democratic candidate Al Franken, putting him within .011 percentage points of Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

The reason for the change? Exhausted county officials had accidentally entered 24 for Franken instead of 124 when the county's final votes were tallied at 5:25 Wednesday morning.

Link

and the secretary of state in minnesota is a dem.  coincidental, of course, that all of the "human error" has gone against the republican.  if they manage to reverse the results of the election and put that ridiculous man in the senate, expect the dems to POUR money into the runoff in GA to try to unseat saxby chambliss.

[DumbAss Tanker]

I hope that ridiculous caricature of a man chokes to death on one of the whole deep-fired chickens he obviously eats for snacks.  Minnesota, wasn't Ventura enough of an embarassment for you, WTF?

[Wretched Excess]

good for coleman;  he is at least fighting back.  the minnesota secretary of state is a dem (and a former community organizer, by the way), and is twisting the arm of every county election commissioner in the state to manufacture votes for franken before the recount even takes place.

Coleman Campaign Questions Voting Data as Franken Gains Ahead of Recount
Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman is leading Democratic challenger Al Franken by 239 votes -- down from 590 the day before.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign is using the state's open records law to ask state and all 87 counties for access to voting data and other records.

The Republican's campaign has questions about the gains that Democratic rival Al Franken has made since Election Day.

Coleman led Franken by 239 votes Friday afternoon -- down from 590 the day before, as officials double-checked reports.

Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan complains of "statistically dubious and improbable shifts that are overwhelmingly accruing to the benefit of Al Franken."

The Coleman campaign sent a request to state and county officials seeking data from election night, and records related to ballot security and revisions made since then.

A recount is due to start once results are made official Nov. 18.

Link

[EaglesWings]

Do the Republicans have any hope for EVER winning elections in the future when this crap goes on?  It is very discouraging to me!!!

[Wretched Excess]

I suppose stuff like this happens in every election, and we are only noticing this time because the margin is so small.

but this is just getting ridiculous.

In Pine County, an election official accidentally entered 24 votes for Franken on Tuesday night instead of the 124 he actually received. The mistake was caught on Thursday and the numbers changed, said Jim Gelbmann from the Secretary of State's office.

KARE 11 News has also learned Ramsey County found 55 absentee ballots which arrived on time to be counted on election day, but which were not. Those results have now been included in the new totals.

In northeastern Minnesota, the town of Buhl's ballots had been cast but not counted in statewide totals. It turns out election officials there counted the votes but never called them in.
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Coleman received 152 votes in Buhl and Franken got 343, for a difference of 191 in the Democratic candidate's favor.

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