Capitol View: November 7, 2008 Archive

Ritchie on Midday

Posted at 9:15 AM on November 7, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie will be on MPR's Midday today to talk about the recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race.

Pawlenty at low digits in 2012 GOP poll

Posted at 10:27 AM on November 7, 2008 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

Rasmussen Reports polled Republicans to see which candidates they would like to see run for President in 2012. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tops the list followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Gov. Pawlenty received 1% support in the poll.

The Weekly Standard writes about the poll here.

Meanwhile: The Fix continues to give Pawlenty plenty of smooches:

2. Tim Pawlenty: After being edged out in the veepstakes, T-Paw's profile faded somewhat over the final few months of the presidential campaign. But, the reasons he was an attractive potential vice presidential pick -- two-term governor of a swing state, up-from-the-bootstraps personal story, an economic populist by nature -- also are those that make him an appealing blueprint for Republicans around the country to copy. Watch to see if Pawlenty emerges as a leading economic voice for the party over the coming months; if he does, expect him to be a candidate when 2012 rolls around.

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Obama news conference

Posted at 11:46 AM on November 7, 2008 by Tom Scheck

will be live on MPR News at 1:20 this afternoon.

Voting 101(a)

Posted at 1:17 PM on November 7, 2008 by Tim Nelson

So one recount theory has it that a hand examination of the ballots is going to be good for Democrat Al Franken.

Since new, young and immigrant voters are thought to be liberally inclined, the thinking goes, Democratic voters might be less familiar with the process and more inclined toward error -- presumably the kind of error that can still be sorted out under Minnesota's voter intent law. That, in turn, would give Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman's challenger additional -- and possibly winning -- votes in a recount.

Well, think again.

Democrats aren't the only partisans that might have a stray thought or two about Minnesota's voting methods.

Case in point: the Minneapolis Republicans. A sample ballot mailed out under their name seems to offer the curious suggestion that Republicans would want to vote for a Republican school board candidate by circling her name. Here's a copy of the sample ballot that arrived in a Minneapolis mailbox the other day:

Granted, Republicans are as capable as anyone else of reading the directions on the actual ballot on Election Day or hearing from someone else about how to mark their ballots. I sent an email over to minneapolisrepublicans.org to see what they meant with the name-circling, but haven't heard back from them yet.

But it looks like stray voting might just be a multi-partisan affair.

Coleman camp questions vote counting

Posted at 2:17 PM on November 7, 2008 by Mike Mulcahy (5 Comments)

Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign is filing a data practices request looking for all information related to results, ballot security and revisions made to the Secretary of State's reporting of results since election night.

A release from the campaign says it is making the request of Mark Ritchie's office and county auditors because "improbable and statistically dubious chunks of votes appear and disappear, overwhelmingly benefiting Al Franken."

Here's the quote from Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan:

"Minnesota has a history of fair and clean elections, and we are committed to ensuring that this election is no different. That is why it is so troubling to us that instead of the normal slight changes in vote totals one would expect during this process, we are now seeing huge chunks of votes appearing and disappearing - statistically dubious and improbable shifts that are overwhelmingly accruing to the benefit of Al Franken. And, as many of these unexplained and improbably vote swings are taking place on the Iron Range, we're asking that local and state election officials provide us with the necessary data to reassure the public that the canvassing process has not been tainted."

The campaign specifically cites 100 ballots reported from Mountain Iron that all went for Franken.

Could this be the first step to contesting the election in court and effectively removing Ritchie from the recount process?

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Ritchie's recount plan

Posted at 4:44 PM on November 7, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie released his preliminary recount plan. Here's the release:

SECRETARY OF STATE MARK RITCHIE PRESENTS PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR STATEWIDE RECOUNT OF THE U.S. SENATE RACE

SAINT PAUL, Minn.-Nov. 7, 2008-Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced today preliminary details about how the statewide recount will be conducted.

"Today my staff and I met with representatives of the U.S. Senate campaigns to make plans for conducting this historic statewide recount," Ritchie said. "This requires the cooperation of all parties to ensure an orderly recount process."

The recount will be conducted in the local jurisdictions in which the ballots were cast. More than 70 counties and 30 cities have already agreed to assist by serving as Deputy Recount Officials. Details about the date, times and locations for the recount will be compiled and made available to the candidates and the public by the end of the day Wednesday, Nov. 12. The state canvassing board will approve the recount plan at their meeting on Nov 18. Deputy Recount Officials must complete the recount and submit their results to the Secretary of State by Dec. 5. The state canvassing board for the recount will meet on Dec. 16, and will aim to conclude their work by Dec. 19.

Each Deputy Recount Official will designate individuals to examine each ballot by hand to determine the voter's intent, in accordance with Minnesota Statutes, section 204C.22. Both candidates will have the opportunity to have an observer for each precinct who will have the right to challenge ballots if they believe that the voter's intent is not clear. The state canvassing board will review the challenged ballots to see if the voter's intent can be determined.

This week, county election officials have been busy proofing the unofficial results previously submitted to this office's Web site. Corrections have resulted in a shifting margin which now stands at 239 votes with the advantage to incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman. County canvassing boards, who certify the results in their respective counties, are scheduled to conclude by the end of day, Monday, Nov. 10.

As provided by Minnesota statutes, the state canvassing board will convene Nov. 18. The board is comprised of two Minnesota Supreme Court Justices, two district court judges and chaired by the Secretary of State. The state canvassing board will certify the results in the general election. An automatic statewide recount is triggered by Minnesota law when the margin between state, judicial, and federal candidates is less than one-half of one percent.

EDITORS NOTES:

Links to documents distributed during news conference are provided as follows:

Recount Assistance Plan http://www.sos.state.mn.us/docs/statewide_recount_assistance_plan..pdf (PDF)

2008 Recount Manual http://www.sos.state.mn.us/docs/recount_guide_2008.pdf (PDF)

Aitkin County: Adjustments to U.S. Senate Race Results for General Election Held November 4, 2008 http://www.sos.state.mn.us/docs/aitkin_county__2008_election_results.pdf (PDF)

Recount Informational Meeting: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/docs/recount_informational_meeting.pdf (PDF)

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