Canvassing Board rejects Franken move on rejected absentee ballots

Source: Minneapolis Tribune

The State Canvassing Board, a panel of five arbiters charged with determining the winner in the overtime election tussle between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Al Franken, unanimously voted this morning to deny the Franken campaign's request that rejected absentee ballots be included in the recount.

During the discussion, the board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the merits of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys. They also made it clear they expect the issue to be litigated separately from the recount procedure.

Also this morning, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who chairs the Canvassing Board, said that attorneys from each campaign have said they can find a way to trim the pile of ballots being challenged in counties across the state. Combined, the two sides are so far contesting more than 3,600 ballots.

"This would be a very great benefit to the Canvassing Board and the citizens of the state," Ritchie said early on at the board's meeting this morning.



Read more: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/35126884.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUs

The fact that Obama won the state by a wide percentage, yet coleman, who voted with bush most of the time is very much in contention, is beyond me

I certainly hope Minnesota finds their Democratic roots again

We went Blue for Obama, but almost every other office went to the GOP.

I just want to go door-to-door and scream in my neighbor's faces: "Why elect Obama and then elect people who are going to spend the next four years doing everything they can to stop him from doing any good?"

Fucking IDIOTS in this bigoted, moronic state.

and I have to give it to a state that in current times is red. However, Minnesota was the state of Humphrey and Wellstone, and used to be a reliable blue state

Still mostly is, but some of the local office are very strange indeed

Franken & Coleman each got about 42% of the vote and Dean Barkely of the Indpendence Party (and who Ventura appointed to serve a month or so of Wellstone's term) took about 16% of the vote. The whole thing has become an argument for Instant Runoff Voting.

Also, please remember that Ventura was elected in a 3-way race and only got 37% of the vote. We haven't had a governor elected with a majority since 1994.

Franken if Barkely wasn't running? I am not so sure

and it showed Barkley hurt Franken more than Barkley.

Dang, this is way too close!

By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director

(CNN) -- ... The board, which oversees the recount, said it was not rejecting the merit of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys, but it said the matter fell outside its jurisdiction, as Coleman's lawyers had argued.

Board members acknowledged that the issue likely will end up in court.

Some 12,000 absentee ballots were rejected from the initial vote count because of technicalities and errors ...

Franken's campaign said some 6,400 of the rejected absentee ballots were thrown out for invalid reasons. Coleman's team argued the board didn't have the authority to include the disputed ballots in the recount ...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/26/minnesota.recount/?iref=nextin

Last update: November 26, 2008 - 7:50 PM
<D.J. TICE>

... Chief Justice Eric Magnuson: Like the other members, Magnuson said a court challenge over absentee ballots is almost certain, and he supported the idea of having local officials sort rejected ballots into five categories, if only to assist the courts later on. But he expressed doubts that the Canvassing Board has the authority to decide to count any of the rejected ballots.

Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson: Anderson took the same view as Magnuson, emphasizing the limited administrative powers of the Canvassing Board (as opposed to a court). He urged the board to seek advice from the state attorney general on whether it has the power to order the inclusion in its recount of any ballots not already counted. The board agreed to reconvene after receiving the AG's counsel.

Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin: Gearin argued that the board should go further and advise local officials to count "fifth pile" ballots, or at least those clearly rejected in error. She said such ballots should be considered "uncounted," not rejected.

Ramsey County Assistant Chief Judge Edward Cleary: Cleary agreed with Gearin and argued that the board has more authority to correct errors than Magnuson and Anderson suggested ...

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/35166454.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Don Davis, State Capitol Bureau, Grand Forks Herald
Published Wednesday, November 26, 2008

... A potential legal argument in the absentee arena would be that a voter was denied his constitutional right to vote, said Robert Hentges, a longtime Minnesota election law attorney. For instance, if a signature is not in exactly the right place or some other technical law violation occurred, a campaign could argue the vote should be counted.

It is possible that a judge or jury would have to look at hundreds of individual ballots to decide the case — and, thus, the election.

Neither campaign shows any signs of ending the fight, keeping almost all of their staffs employed through the recount while adding attorneys. They even are raising money for their recount work.

There is no indication about when Minnesotans will know who they elected. A 1962 governor-race recount stretched into March. An Indiana congressional recount lasted more than a year, including court action ...

http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=94801