Franken Winning Vast Majority of Wrongly Rejected Absentee Ballots

by: tremayne

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 18:19

Norm Coleman's lawyers tried to stop the counting of hundreds of wrongly rejected absentee ballots and now we know they had good reason: those ballots are breaking for Al Franken who is winning nearly 60 percent of them. With another 15 percent going to "other" that doesn't leave many for Coleman.

The Uptake has a live feed where the votes are now being counted and you can also check their live updated spreadsheet here. But as of right now:

Franken: 270

Coleman: 160

Other/No vote: 79

So to win, Coleman must get a court to throw out these newly counted ballots and then trim another 50 votes off Franken's total somehow. Good luck with that Norm.

Norm Coleman's Lawyer: I Will Have My Way!

by: tremayne

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 14:30

Things are getting heated in Minnesota as officials prepare to count hundreds of wrongly rejected absentee ballots today. This morning there was quite an exchange between Norm Coleman's lawyer and a deputy secretary of state:

At the start of Saturday's meeting, Coleman attorney Tony Trimble asked Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann to cease any counting today.

After about an hour recess to consult the state attorney general's office, Gelbmann returned saying the decision was to "not slow down this process today, get the counting underway."

"We are relying on the oral advice of the attorney general," he added.

Trimble wanted to respond.

"We understand the decision you've made, we–," Trimble said before sharply cut off by Gelbmann.

"Excuse me," Gelbmann said. "I think the candidates have had an opportunity to address this process."

The two men quickly became visibly agitated, with Trimble adding, "This is a public meeting, and I'm going to have my say. And I will have my say."

"Two minutes," Gelbmann said.

"It may be two and half, sir, but I wll have my way," Trimble said sharply.

Gelbmann repeated, "Two minutes."

Trimble then laid out his objection but said they would reluctantly abide by today's process.

You can watch the counting this afternoon at The Uptake.

Coleman's Lead Dwindling Away as Most of His Challenges are Rejected

by: tremayne

Thu Dec 18, 2008 at 17:56

Senator Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken is down to less than 10 votes as the Minnesota Canvassing Board dispatches most of the challenges Coleman made during the recount.

After ruling on Coleman challenges until lunch today, the incumbent's advantage steadily dwindled to below 50 by midafternoon and was expected to continue to fall as more of his challenges are addressed today and beyond.

Since then, the lead has shrunk further to 7 votes as of this writing. With hundreds of challenges to go, look for Franken to take the lead, at least on this phases of this protracted process.

Ballot Analysis Consensus: Franken to Overtake Coleman

by: tremayne

Tue Dec 16, 2008 at 11:50

In an hour the Canvassing Board will begin examining ballots that have been challenged by Norm Coleman or Al Franken. But several analyses of the ballots point toward Franken gaining the edge. The latest analysis is also an example of traditional media learning tricks from bloggers: the Star Tribune has been keeping track of users taking their "ballot challenge" and the consensus among readers is that Franken will pull ahead.

This conclusion supports one done by the AP and those of several blog readers, like this one.  Of course there is a possibility of bias here; perhaps Franken supporters are more likely to be wasting time doing valuable work examining the ballots. But with AP concurring it seems quite likely Franken will be pulling ahead.The Coleman camp has turned to the courts to preserve their lead and Coleman is also hiring lawyers to prepare a defense against corruption charges.

Franken Gaining But It Will Be Very Close in Minnesota

by: tremayne

Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 22:58

Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken is down to 136 votes from the original pre-recount deficit of 215. To get an idea of where this is going let's break Minnesota down into three roughly equal parts:

The Big pro-Franken counties are Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis and he has netted 72 votes there so far. If he continues at the same pace he can pick up another 118 in the days ahead.