Dayton: Seat the governor by January 3rd

Posted at 11:48 AM on November 5, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor, Recount 2010

Democrat Mark Dayton says he thinks any likely recount in the governor's race should be finished by the middle of December. Dayton currently leads Republican Tom Emmer by just over 87-hundred votes in unofficial results, a small enough margin to trigger an automatic recount. On MPR's Midday program, Dayton says he's working on two tracks at this point. He's preparing to take office as governor and has also assembled a team to monitor the recount.

"It's sort of like having one foot driving the car the way you're not supposed to. One foot on the gas pedal and the other on the brake. On the one hand, the clock is ticking. I believe strongly that the next governor, whether it's Representative Emmer or myself that the next governor should take office on January 3rd and there's no reason that that should not occur."

The Republican Party of Minnesota has been reaching out to activists to see whether they saw voting irregularities or had their absentee ballots rejected. Emmer has not spoken to the media since Election Night.

Here's the full interview: Listen

Meanwhile, the Secretary of State has released a schedule for the recount:

Initial meeting of the State Canvassing Board: November 23, 2010: 10 a.m. Room 10, State Office Building, St. Paul Tasks: certification of election results determination of the need for any automatic recounts designation of state recount official adoption of a recount plan

Recount begins at locations around the state:
November 29, 2010 9 a.m.
(Locations to be decided)

Deadline for deputy recount officials to finish sorting the ballots:
December 7, 2010

State Canvassing Board meetings:
December 8, 2010 9 a.m.
December 9, 2010 9 a.m.
December 10, 2010 1 p.m.
(Location to be decided)
Tasks:
certification of any recounts in state House races
determination of challenged ballots in the gubernatorial recount

State Canvassing Board meeting:
December 14, 2010 (time and location to be decided)
Tasks:
certification of gubernatorial election

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