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MN Senate: Franken Extends Lead Over Coleman to 312
Filed under: 2008 Senate
Republican Norm Coleman’s dim prospects for winning the U.S. Senate trial darkened today as several hundred disputed absentee ballots were finally counted and split strongly for his DFL opponent, Al Franken.Minutes after the ballots were opened for the first time, state elections director Gary Poser counted them, reading off the votes one by one to a hushed courtroom. When he was done, Franken’s lead had grown from 225 to 312 votes.
Ouch! Norm Coleman is playing the recount rules right. Fight to keep counting when you’re ahead, then fight to stop the counting immediately. The big loss was a couple of weeks ago when the court decided that only these 400 votes would be counted. This slap is just icing on the cake.
But the Republicans are saying they are going to keep fighting for the 4,000 votes that weren’t counted. And they have a point since absentee ballots meeting the same criteria were counted in Franken friendly territory, as we’ve reported previously.
“Events today do not address the main issue that remains unresolved: over 4,000 Minnesotans were disenfranchised by this three-judge panel. That’s why it’s so critical for this process to move forward before the Minnesota Supreme Court and why Senate Republicans fully support Senator Coleman’s efforts.“The message from our side has remained consistent throughout this process: we want this election to resolve itself as quickly, but not at the expense of Minnesota’s laws or voters.
“In contrast, the criticisms from the Democrat side as recently as today have expressed the opposite viewpoint. It’s blatant hypocrisy that many of the same Democrats who so loudly complained about voter disenfranchisement during the 2000 Florida recount are now willing to compromise this fundamental principle of our democracy when it no longer fits their political agenda. Senate Democrats should stand down, set partisan politics aside, and respect Minnesota’s laws and voters.”
Next stop, the Minnesota Supreme Court, but before that, I believe we’ll have another attempt to get Al Franken certified as the winner and seated.
And someday, the 2008 election might be over. But not today!
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