MN Recount Video: Republican vote suppression

[mindseye]

The Minnesota Recount Guide is an 18-page PDF detailing the procedures of the recount -- who is eligible to be present at the recount, who may handle the ballot, how to handle challenges, etc. Here's the short version: Al Franken and NOrm Coleman (but not third-party candidates like Dean Barkley) are permitted a representative at each counting table. The recount official takes each ballot, one-by-one, and sorts them into one of three piles: Coleman votes, Franken votes, and "Other" (undervotes, overvotes, third-party and write-in votes). Either representative may challenge any ballot; challenged ballots are not counted for either candidate, but are placed in a separate envelope to be reviewed later by a panel of judges.

The NOrm Coleman team is taking advantage of this rule by challenging valid votes for Al Franken. This has the effect of removing those votes from the initial recount results -- so that when later a panel of judges determines that these votes are valid, Coleman can complain about "activist judges thwarting the will of the voters".

The official reason given by the Coleman team for challenging these ballots is that if a voter cast votes for both John McCain and also Al Franken, the "voter intent" is unclear. (Because, presumably, everyone votes straight party.)

You can see a video of the actual challenged ballots here to see this slimy vote suppression tactic.

 

[OldPArtner]

Franken is doing that too, in fact he's challenging more ballots (but we don't know how many are frivolous).

 

[mindseye]

Franken is doing that too, in fact he's challenging more ballots (but we don't know how many are frivolous).

Yeah, it's true that the Franken camp is challenging a large number of ballots, too. (The Star-Tribune reports that Coleman has challenged more votes than Franken, though the difference is small.)

But have you seen the video? If Franken had established a consistent pattern of challenges this frivolous, I suspect we'd have heard of it by now. Nate Silver reports (anecdotally) that, "Franken's ballot judges have tended to be more experienced and better trained than Coleman's ballot judges". I'm hoping that will prove to translate into a lower number of challenges ruled to be frivolous.

Granted, we won't know for sure until December.

 

[EagleCowboy]

The other 49 states just need to follow Oklahoma's example and do it the way they do it so there is no mistake.

I mean, how do you know that your vote REALLY counted if you didn't vote in Oklahoma?? Maybe the election really was stolen yet again.

 

[B_starinvestor]

Yeah, it's true that the Franken camp is challenging a large number of ballots, too. (The Star-Tribune reports that Coleman has challenged more votes than Franken, though the difference is small.)

You're backpedaling faster than Bob Sanders of the Colts.

But have you seen the video? If Franken had established a consistent pattern of challenges this frivolous, I suspect we'd have heard of it by now. Nate Silver reports (anecdotally) that, "Franken's ballot judges have tended to be more experienced and better trained than Coleman's ballot judges". I'm hoping that will prove to translate into a lower number of challenges ruled to be frivolous.

Granted, we won't know for sure until December.

So despite the fact that the number of challenges are nearly equal, Franken's challenges are legit and Coleman's are not legit.

Do you wear Democratic face-paint too?

 

[mindseye]

So despite the fact that the number of challenges are nearly equal, Franken's challenges are legit and Coleman's are not legit.

We'll find out in December, won't we? Should it turn out that Coleman wins a greater proportion of challenges than Franken, I'll acknowledge that result. Based on the challenged ballots we've seen (and by the way, I haven't seen you defending those McCain/Franken ballot challenges), I'm not concerned.

In fact, I'll predict at this point that the panel of judges will rule favorably on more of Franken's challenges than Coleman's, but that it won't be enough to overcome the 210-vote deficit he faced at the beginning of the recount.