Franken Gets Big Boost From Key Legal Victory, But Long Road Still Ahead
Al Franken won a big court victory today, one that could help him significantly in his battle to overcome Norm Coleman's current 215-vote lead in the Minnesota recount.
A judge ruled in favor of the Franken campaign's request that Ramsey County (St. Paul) turn over to Franken all the available information about rejected absentee ballots: Who cast them and why they were rejected, and thus what avenues of correction are available to get them re-admitted. This will enable the Franken campaign to find ballots that were thrown out by clerical errors or ballots that were close legal calls and could potentially be put back in, once the campaign contacts those voters and helps them get their ballots counted.
With thousands and thousands of ballots like these across the state, and the likelihood that the Franken camp can leverage today's decision in order to get the relevant information from all the other counties, Franken could potentially find enough of a swing to be put over the top.
Of course, for every rejected or provisional ballot that the Franken camp is fighting to get re-admitted, there will probably be a lawyer from the Coleman campaign defending the original decision and working to keep those ballots out of the pool. And the Coleman camp can always retaliate by using this decision to find rejected ballots that they think would be good for them.
So we're in for a long few weeks as this recount hashes out.
Coleman's lead is down to only 212 votes after a few hours of recounts, and 53 ballots have been challenged by both campaigns! (Link)
November 19, 2008 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
What will we do when all the counting stops? Hopefully by then it will be Jan 20th.
November 19, 2008 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or later...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_gubernatorial_election,_2004
November 19, 2008 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hi -
Missed you and everybody else.
Well we got Stevens. I'd love to see Franken win -
November 19, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
November 19, 2008 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Word!
November 20, 2008 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I haven't seen the Costner movie Swing Vote, but this concept of campaigns contacting each individual voter with disputed ballots to help them get their vote counted correctly has the high potential for misdeed, and that what it reminds me of. Campaigns camped out in folks' yards individually.
I guess it makes sense that provisional or absenteee ballots are identifiable from who mailed or marked the ballot, but doesn't this fly in the face of the concept of a secret ballot.
November 19, 2008 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
The don't get to see how you voted. They only know that the vote was not counted and why.
November 19, 2008 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
One wonders where the GOP is getting the money for all the lawyers.
November 19, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yet another piece of excellent news today.
Let's keep 'em coming; and thank you Taniel, for the link.
November 19, 2008 7:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is gonna be agonizingly long process. Hope Al Franken has a sense of humor... he'll need it. (bada BING!)
November 19, 2008 7:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agonizing is right. Can you see either side graciously accepting the result of the first recount? That will only be the beginning...
And the worst part is that the electorate of our "nice" state will hate them both long before it's over.
November 19, 2008 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. Thousands and thousands of Coleman lawyers. Maybe now's the time for trial lawyers to go on strike to un-cap pain-and-suffering and punitive damages.
November 19, 2008 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope Coleman gets his assed kicked. Period.
November 19, 2008 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chalk up another victory for doing the right thing about voting in Minnesota. Coleman can lawyer up all he wants. The commitment to voters is to count every ballot that should be counted. All the legal wrangling they can muster won't change that.
We have a solid recount process that will be done methodically, under supervision of the Secretary's office, qualified election judges, and both parties. Coleman's and Franken's campaign will be present for every ballot recounted. Once will do it.
Franken will win. I can feel it.
November 19, 2008 8:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Coleman is now ahead by 195, down from 215 at the start of the recount, for a net gain of 20 by Franken, according to the Star-Tribune. They have a running tally in their "Senate Recount" box at http://www.startribune.com. Those may be the final numbers for today.
Nate Silver will probably have his much more informed take soon, but this does not sound like a great start for Franken, since according to the paper the recount is starting in Dem strongholds and will wind up in GOP areas. I certainly hope I'm wrong about that.
The court ruling Franken won today on the rejected ballots may turn out to be crucial.
November 19, 2008 9:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you all mind if I post a bit of spam on how to get involved in the GA runoff? This runoff could change the results of all the issues that matter to a lot of us.
November 19, 2008 9:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
538 is saying Franken gained a net of 43 today, though both sides have a bunch of challenged votes so the real total for today is not known just yet.
November 19, 2008 9:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoopie now we get to watch votes be counted in a close race for another few weeks....
November 19, 2008 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey! I think the paint is starting to dry in that upper left-hand corner. Up near the ceiling. Check it out!
November 20, 2008 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Breaking News from CNN - Napolitano to Homeland Security. That's huge!!! I knew that she would wind up in the cabinet. I just didn't expect Homeland Security.
Also, clinton people all over the place saying "she is torn" and she might decide not to take it and bs, bs, bs. Maybe, just maybe, it's falling through. One can always hope!
November 19, 2008 10:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, wow, wow!!!
November 19, 2008 10:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pritzker to Commerce.
November 19, 2008 10:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup... (lol, looks like some people keep leaking...)
November 19, 2008 10:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really despise cnn, but I like gergen. He made a point that today there were three leaks about the cabinet and they were all non-clintonites. It seemed like they wanted to beat back the clinton restoration talk.
I am still hopeful on no clintons as secretaries of state. By the way, anyone notice no hispanics yet. Maybe that points to richarson, who would be awesome.
Also, I know that this won't be popular, but it appears that Gates will stay on as sec def. That would be excellent as well in my opinion. He gives obama political cover and he actually has done a good job in keeping the loonie neocons in line the last two years. I think that he should definitely stay on. He is closer in philosophy to obama than the king.
November 19, 2008 10:36 PM | Reply | Permalink