Polinaut: January 8, 2009 Archive

Daily Digest: 1-8-09

Posted at 10:09 AM on January 8, 2009 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Daily Digest

Recount

Lawmakers are already working on election reforms post-recount.

The Senate's ruling on seating Roland Burris will affect the chances of seating Al Franken.

The US News and World Report has ten things we didn't know about Norm Coleman.

State and Local Govt.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and lawmakers want schools to share.

The Legislature will likely confirm a new transportation commissioner today.

A new efficiency report outlines savings for the state.

A new Minnesota program to help veterans is announced.

Waseca is considering early retirements.

Beltrami County is keeping its Washington D.C. lobbyist.

Minnesota has a shortage of ESL teachers.

And St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman will seek reelection this year.

Congress

Rep. Keith Ellison talks to Al Jazeera about the conflict in Gaza.

Rep. Michele Bachmann is tweeting.

Rep. Tim Walz is going to work to make sure that projects in southern Minnesota are eligible for stimulus money.

Rep. Jim Oberstar sets the timetable for infrastructure spending.

And things are already getting tense in the Senate.

Obama

President-elect Obama is speaking today on the economy.

Tom Daschle will start laying out his plans for health care reform at his confirmation hearing today.

So far, Americans like Obama's plan for the economy.

And he still supports a college football playoff system.

How fast is absentee voting growing?

Posted at 12:43 PM on January 8, 2009 by Tim Nelson (2 Comments)
Filed under: Recount

I got an email overnight challenging Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's assertion that absentee voting had doubled in the 2008 election, compared to 2006. "Derek of Eagan" called it an "apples to oranges" comparison, since 2006 didn't have a presidential candidate on the ballot.

True enough, but it wasn't half the election, either.

So here's what the actual percentages look like, looking back to 2000. It isn't doubling every election, but there's pretty steady growth.

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