Crooks put Franken over the top

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds

The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman.

The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day, showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- fewer votes than the number of felons whose illegal ballots were counted, according to Minnesota Majority's newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with voting records.

Furthermore, the report charges that efforts to get state and federal authorities to act on its findings have been "stonewalled."

"We aren't trying to change the result of the last election. That legally can't be done," said Dan McGrath, Minnesota Majority's executive director. "We are just trying to make sure the integrity of the next election isn't compromised."

He said his group was largely ignored when it turned over a list of hundreds of names to prosecutors in two of the state's largest counties, Ramsey and Hennepin, where fraud seemed to be the greatest.

A spokesman for both county attorneys' offices belittled the information, saying it was "just plain wrong" and full of errors, which prompted the group to go back and start an in-depth look at the records.

"What we did this time is irrefutable," McGrath said. "We took the voting lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went back to the records and found the roster lists, where voters sign in before walking to the voting booth, and matched them by hand.

"The only way we can be wrong is if someone with the same first, middle and last names, same year of birth as the felon, and living in the same community, has voted. And that isn't very likely."

The report said that in Hennepin County, which in includes Minneapolis, 899 suspected felons had been matched on the county's voting records, and the review showed 289 voters were conclusively matched to felon records. The report says only three people in the county have been charged with voter fraud so far.

A representative of the Hennepin County attorney's office, who declined to give her name, said "there was no one in the office today to talk about the charges."

But the report got a far different review in Ramsey County, which contains St. Paul. Phil Carruthers of the Ramsey County attorney's office said his agency had taken the charges "very seriously" and found that the Minnesota Majority "had done a good job in their review."

The report says that in Ramsey, 460 names on voting records were matched with felon lists, and a further review found 52 were conclusive matches.

Carruthers attributed differences in the numbers to Minnesota Majority's lack of access to nonpublic information, such as exact birth dates and other court records. For example, he said, "public records might show a felon was given 10 years probation, but internal records the county attorney has might show that the probation period was cut to five and the felon was eligible to vote."

Carruthers said Ramsey County is still investigating all the names and has asked that 15 investigators be hired to complete the process. "So far we have charged 28 people with felonies, have 17 more under review and have 182 cases still open," he said. "And there is a good chance we may match or even exceed their numbers."

McGrath says the report shows that more still has to be done.

"Prosecutors have to act more swiftly in prosecuting cases from the 2008 election to deter fraud in the future," he said, "and the state has to make sure that existing system, that flags convicted felons so voting officials can challenge them at the ballot, is effective. In 90 percent of the cases we looked at, the felons weren't flagged."

"If the state had done that," he said, "things might be very different today."

Comment: I'm not surprised

Minnesota Supremes 5-0 for Franken

Minn. court rules for Franken in Senate fight

Excerpt:

A unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken should be certified the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for the former Saturday Night Live comedian to be seated after an almost eight-month fight.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining his Senate seat are dwindling, saying Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office.

"We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under (Minnesota law) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota," the court wrote in its 5-0 ruling.

Comment: Time for Norm to bow out and for Tim Pawlenty to certify for Franken. I don't like it but I doubt a Federal court would overrule the Minnesota Supreme Court. This will go down as the closest Senate race ever (I believe I have this correct). Franken wins by 312 votes.

Update: Coleman concedes

"I thought we had a better case, but the court has spoken," Coleman said outside his St. Paul, Minnesota, home. "I'll abide by the results. There will be no further litigation."

Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty said in a statement he would sign the election certificate immediately, allowing Franken, a former writer and actor for the popular Saturday Night Live television show, to join the Senate, likely next week.

Coleman holds +192 lead after recount

The recounting is done (with one exception)

Excerpt:

Except for 133 missing ballots from Minneapolis, the recounting of votes from the U.S. Senate race is over. According to the Star Tribune's tabulations, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman has a 192-vote advantage over Democrat Al Franken, pending the resolution of those Minneapolis ballots and of thousands of ballot challenges.

When the recount began, Coleman held a 215-vote edge.

At 11:29 this morning, Wright County maintenance worker Allen Buskey pushed a cart with 10 boxes of ballots into Room 217 at the county government center in Buffalo and locked up the last of the 2.9 million ballots recounted since Nov. 19.

"We're done," said state elections director Gary Poser, after putting stickers on the 21st challenged ballot from the Wright County town of Montrose.

The last ballot tallied in the recount of the bitter race was for neither Coleman nor Franken, but the Independence Party's Dean Barkley, from a voter in Hanover.

The 192-vote margin almost certainly will change once the challenged ballots that have been set aside are reviewed by the state Canvassing Board.

Comment: Image captured from the Star Tribune (12/5/08). Compare Coleman & Franken: 238 votes from 11/7/08

Update: Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said Coleman led Franken by 787 votes

With the recount virtually complete on Friday, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said Coleman led Franken by 787 votes. Local newspapers put Coleman's margin at about 200 votes, tallying ballots that had previously been challenged.

Franken challenges this ballot

One challenge headed to the state so far in Plymouth


Excerpt:

The bubble beside Norm Coleman’s name appeared to have both an X and a squiggle in it, but the Al Franken campaign wants the state Canvassing Board to rule on whether it should count. That’s the only challenge in the special envelope in Plymouth so far, according to Sandy Engdahl, the city clerk and the official running the city recount.

The Canada geese milling on the grounds and parking lot of Plymouth City Hall were oblivious to the gaggle of election officials and observers inside. The drone of “Franken” and “Coleman” was accompanied by the swishing of paper in Medicine Lake Room A. Early on, Engdahl had to admonish some candidate representatives from trying to tell her counters how to count. Clearly, she said, the recount watchers are “very passionate,” but she has to remind them of everyone’s roles in this civic drama.

Eight of the 24 precincts had been counted by 1:45 p.m., and the only challenged ballot, in Engdahl’s view, was clearly a vote for Coleman. Nevertheless, the Franken campaign was allowed to seek a second opinion.

Comment: How a Franken representative might think this is not a Coleman vote is beyond me!

Coleman & Franken: 238 votes

Franken's deficit: 238 votes

Excerpt:

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.

"That's why we have recounts," Ritchie said, surveying the e-mail sent in from the county auditor. "Human error. People make mistakes."

The margin in the tightest Senate race in the country bounced like the stock market throughout the day, with the difference between Coleman and Franken dropping, then rising briefly to 590 votes before shooting down to a razor-thin 238 as of 10:50 a.m.

In a reversal of the previous day, when Coleman had declared victory and suggested that Franken should waive a recount, Coleman kept to himself on Thursday, while Franken called reporters to talk about the prospects for a continued narrowing of the count.

"Coleman said there was no reason for a recount, that there would be no movement," Franken said Thursday, a day after unofficial results initially showed Coleman with a 725-vote advantage. "But you see that it's more than halved and the recount hasn't even started. This election will be decided by the voters, not by the candidates."

Comment: I told my son, Roger, that this is the closest Senate race I could recollect. Well my memory is apparently not that good! See below

Closest Election in Senate History

Excerpt:

The closest election in Senate history was decided on September 16, 1975. The 1974 New Hampshire race for an open seat pitted Republican Louis Wyman against Democrat John Durkin.

Although Wyman enjoyed a lead during the campaign, the Watergate scandals and the August 1974 resignation of President Richard Nixon made it a tough year to run as a Republican. On election day, Wyman barely won with a margin of just 355 votes.

Durkin immediately demanded a recount. That recount shifted the victory to Durkin—but by only 10 votes. Reluctantly, the Republican governor awarded Durkin a provisional certificate of election.

Now, it was Wyman’s turn to demand a recount. The state ballot commission tabulated the ballots in dispute and ruled that Republican Wyman had won—but by just two votes. The governor cancelled Durkin’s certificate and awarded a new credential to Wyman.

As a last option, Durkin petitioned the Senate—with its 60-vote Democratic majority—to review the case. On January 13, 1975, the day before the new Congress convened, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration tried unsuccessfully to resolve the matter. Composed of five Democrats and three Republicans, the Rules Committee deadlocked four-to-four on a proposal to seat Wyman pending further review. Alabama Democrat James Allen voted with the Republicans on grounds that Wyman had presented proper credentials.

The full Senate took up the case on January 14, with Wyman and Durkin seated at separate tables at the rear of the chamber. Soon, the matter returned to the Rules Committee, which created a special staff panel to examine 3,500 questionable ballots that had been shipped to Washington.

Following this review, the Rules Committee sent 35 disputed points to the full Senate, which spent the next six weeks debating the issue and took an unprecedented six cloture votes, but resolved only one of the 35 points in dispute. Facing this deadlock, Durkin agreed to Wyman’s proposal for a new election. The Senate declared the seat vacant and the governor appointed former Senator Norris Cotton to hold the seat for six weeks until the September 16 balloting.

A record-breaking turnout gave the election to Durkin by a 27,000-vote margin.

Comment: Image from the Star Tribune. More below:

Voters' word may not be last in Minn. Senate race

Excerpts:

In percentage terms, Minnesota's race will go down as the closest Senate election prior to a recount. In 1974, a New Hampshire race came down to 355 votes out of 200,000 cast.

...

The Minnesota election law envisions Senate involvement.

Once a result is contested in district court — which must come within a week of the post-recount canvass — the chief justice of the state Supreme Court assigns three judges to hear it. The current chief, Eric Magnuson, is an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Either party can request to inspect the ballots, and three-member inspection teams are appointed. Each party picks one, and the third is chosen by the two or appointed by a judge.

Within 20 days of the initial filing, a trial is held. The court decides who received the most votes and is entitled to the certificate of election. The court can study evidence of election irregularities, but it can't issue findings or conclusions.

Once all appeals are exhausted, either party can ask that the information be forwarded to the presiding Senate officer.

From there, it's up to the Senate to decide how to proceed.

"Ultimately the Constitution gives the Senate the sole power to determine the qualifications of its members," Ritchie said. "In the end, there is no appeal if the Senate makes the decision."

Angry Al

Comment: I approve this message.

Hibbing, Al Franken, Wal-Mart

Kathee and I were in Hibbing with Al Franken on Thursday!

Well actually:

Kathee and I were in Hibbing Thursday & Friday (for a wedding on Friday!) and Al Franken happened to be there at the same time! We saw this on the local news Thursday night:

Union workers protest Wal-Mart / Al Franken visits to show support

Excerpt:

HIBBING — Local trade union members gathered at highways 169 and 73 in Hibbing Thursday to protest Wal-Mart’s failure to rely on local union labor for a remodeling project, and a candidate for U.S. Senate showed up to support them.

The union members accused the company of “shopping out bids” and said out-of state, non-union labor will soon revamp Hibbing’s Wal-Mart in a $1.8 million project. They said the store was originally built with local union labor.

One union official said a few local union conractors would work on the $1.8 million renovation, but their share added up to “a minute percentage” of the contract’s worth. Al Franken, the DFL nominee for the Senate seat now held by Republican Norm Coleman, came to the protest site Thursday and said “the least they (Wal-Mart) could do” would be to use union labor on construction projects.

“We have to get back in this country to where we care about quality, and we care about paying people enough, so these people can buy things and have a good quality of life,” Franken said in an interview.

Gordon Smith, an organizer with the International Union of Painters an Allied Trades, said local trade unions learned of the project — slated to start July 21 — a few weeks ago. He said they approached Wal-Mart’s local and corporate offices to submit bids but learned later the project had been awarded to a general contractor in South Dakota, who then picked out-of-state subcontractors.

“It’s very frustrating,” Smith said. “You can’t allow these companies and businesses to keep undermining the standards of everybody. If you do, pretty soon, they’ll have everybody working for nothing.”

Smith said union workers will protest at Wal-Mart until construction starts or Wal-Mart changes its decision to farm out the work.

Weak economy may be Wal-Mart’s strong suit / When the going gets tough, shoppers turn to the giant discounter

Excerpt:

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer has “absolutely” benefited from the fact that more Americans need to pinch pennies. But she thinks the company’s efforts to make shopping there more appealing — including extensively remodeling stores, working to improve customer service and revamping the product mix — also have helped keep them coming back.

The company also has undertaken a major effort to improve its reputation, countering attacks over its wages and benefits and working to make its business more environmentally sustainable.

Observations:

1. There is more to Hibbing than one who has never been there might think. I told my boss today that I was in Hibbing over the weekend and he kind of scrunched up his face like "oh well ... too bad for you".
   
2. Hibbing is an attractive city of 17,000. It has at least three car dealerships, some nice restaurants, a brand new movie theater (we went out to see Wall-E), a Lowes, Caribou, Pizza Hut, and a Wal-Mart. It also has some nice housing and many churches (only one Baptist that I could find!).
   
3. Back to Al Franken and his labor protest. The non-union laborers ... they are laborers too! Right? I'm not in a Union. (I wanted to form one back when I was a Baptist minister: The United Brotherhood of Ordained Baptist Ministers (UBOBM). This idea never really took off and when I was locked out of my church I realized the error of my way!)
   
4. And back to Wal-Mart. In the strongly union town of Hibbing, the Hibbing Wal-Mart is one busy place. They must be doing something right. Perhaps to keep costs down for the average guy, they have to bid out projects to the lowest bidder. That's what I would do!
   

Will Minnesota elect a "clown"?

Not the Al Franken Decade

Excerpt:

"Democrats in Minnesota are just pulling their hair out,'' says Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. He told Bloomberg News: "You've got an environment that's very favorable to Democrats and a Republican incumbent who's clearly vulnerable.''

National Democrats claim not to be worried. Senator Chuck Schumer, head of the Democratic Senate campaign committee, tells reporters the party's game plan is simple: "You look at all the things Al Franken said as a comedian... and then you say simply that Norm Coleman supports the war and supports President Bush 90-plus percent of the time. Franken wins by ten points."

Comment: I predict that we won't!

Franken's "Porn-O-Rama!"

Franken's old Playboy article concerns Democrats

Excerpt:

At one point in the Playboy piece titled "Porn-O-Rama!" Franken called the Internet a "terrific learning tool," writing that his 12-year-old son was able to use it for a sixth-grade report on bestiality.

"As a parent and an aunt, and talking to other parents, people are very concerned about the type of Internet use that's out there, and how it has a potentially harmful effect on children," McCollum said. "Sexually explicit material is one of the things that parents are very concerned about, and want to make sure that they're steering their children away from."

Ellison said that and other parts of the article about sexual activities "made me feel a little uncomfortable."

"I have to ask myself, can I explain it to my 11-year-old daughter? I'd have considerable difficulty," Ellison said, adding that voters who have talked with him about it are "just sort of appalled."

Nonetheless, Ellison said he will support Franken if he receives the state party's endorsement. McCollum was making no such promises. "I'll have to see," she said.

Franken is the heavy favorite to take on Coleman, although he faces a challenge from college professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.

Comment: Hard to believe this is the best the Dem's can do for a Senatorial candidate. Of couse they also have Ellison! See earlier post!