Minnesota Recount Ends - But is it Over?
12:46 AM
If you ever catch yourself wondering why people are so turned off from politics, look to Minnesota. If you ever catch yourself wondering why people regard political systems - even ours - as a joke, look to Minnesota.
On election day 2008, Norm Coleman had beaten Al Franken by 215 votes in the state. That was, of course, noninclusive of disputed ballots and absentee ballots. For the record, absentee ballots tend to favor Republicans - in some states by as much as 2 to 1. Florida, my state, is an excellent example of a state which heavily favors Republican candidates.
The two candidates' teams came up with lists of disputed ballots by their camps. Disputes ranged from any random concern on the ballot - from the Senate choice not aligning with the party of the presidential choice, to the ballot choice being crossed out instead of marked through. Some were obvious challenge victories, some obvious losers, most unclear.
After the inital recount, Coleman's lead was reduced to 192. Then, after considering disputed ballots (and remember they were about 50/50 between the candidates), Franken meteored to a 46 vote lead. Now Franken is leading by 225 with the recount 'complete' as of January 4th.
According to Bloomberg.com (as in, NOT some wacko Right-wing conspiracy croney site), we should be concerned about the outcome unfolding in Minnesota. Why? Well, consider the following:
Since election day, we've known that the Democrats have been praying for a 60 seat majority in the Senate at all costs. They've actually said as much - we don't have to guess. Add to that the uphill climb that they knew they were up against to get to 60 seats. On election day, Coleman had his slim lead with many disputes ahead of him, and systematically since election day, almost all rulings have gone heavily in his opponents favor - despite all mathematical odds against him. Unclear ballots for Coleman were often rejected as undervotes while unclear Franken votes were counted as such. A trunk-full of late absentee votes appeared mysteriously after election day which heavily favored Franken. They were counted. To put it in context, yesterday's WSJ article on the subject is titled "Funny Business in Minnesota".
This is no joke.
Yet, the canvassing board did declare Al Franken the winner of the election today. Franken is expected in Washington, and is already referring to himself on television as "the next Senator from Minnesota." And in truth, he's probably right.
No matter who was declared winner, it would have been by an astonishingly close margin, and the other side would probably be crying foul. But the fact remains that since election day, no votes have been cast for Senator of Minnesota. Yet, Al Franken has gained 440 votes' advantage over Norm Coleman. No single ruling went in favor of Norm Coleman in a state with a heavily Democratic political machine, and almost every day the Democrat picked up votes against the Republican after the election!
So, let this be a clear message about democracy in America, and those at the helm. If you still think it's the voters in charge, you're either crazy or you aren't paying attention.
On election day 2008, Norm Coleman had beaten Al Franken by 215 votes in the state. That was, of course, noninclusive of disputed ballots and absentee ballots. For the record, absentee ballots tend to favor Republicans - in some states by as much as 2 to 1. Florida, my state, is an excellent example of a state which heavily favors Republican candidates.
The two candidates' teams came up with lists of disputed ballots by their camps. Disputes ranged from any random concern on the ballot - from the Senate choice not aligning with the party of the presidential choice, to the ballot choice being crossed out instead of marked through. Some were obvious challenge victories, some obvious losers, most unclear.
After the inital recount, Coleman's lead was reduced to 192. Then, after considering disputed ballots (and remember they were about 50/50 between the candidates), Franken meteored to a 46 vote lead. Now Franken is leading by 225 with the recount 'complete' as of January 4th.
According to Bloomberg.com (as in, NOT some wacko Right-wing conspiracy croney site), we should be concerned about the outcome unfolding in Minnesota. Why? Well, consider the following:
Since election day, we've known that the Democrats have been praying for a 60 seat majority in the Senate at all costs. They've actually said as much - we don't have to guess. Add to that the uphill climb that they knew they were up against to get to 60 seats. On election day, Coleman had his slim lead with many disputes ahead of him, and systematically since election day, almost all rulings have gone heavily in his opponents favor - despite all mathematical odds against him. Unclear ballots for Coleman were often rejected as undervotes while unclear Franken votes were counted as such. A trunk-full of late absentee votes appeared mysteriously after election day which heavily favored Franken. They were counted. To put it in context, yesterday's WSJ article on the subject is titled "Funny Business in Minnesota".
This is no joke.
Yet, the canvassing board did declare Al Franken the winner of the election today. Franken is expected in Washington, and is already referring to himself on television as "the next Senator from Minnesota." And in truth, he's probably right.
No matter who was declared winner, it would have been by an astonishingly close margin, and the other side would probably be crying foul. But the fact remains that since election day, no votes have been cast for Senator of Minnesota. Yet, Al Franken has gained 440 votes' advantage over Norm Coleman. No single ruling went in favor of Norm Coleman in a state with a heavily Democratic political machine, and almost every day the Democrat picked up votes against the Republican after the election!
So, let this be a clear message about democracy in America, and those at the helm. If you still think it's the voters in charge, you're either crazy or you aren't paying attention.
Posted by Nick Stone
on 12:46 AM.
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