133 Minneapolis Voters At Risk Of Being Disenfranchised

Franken Campaign: “The Integrity Of This Election Is At Stake”

SAINT PAUL [12/04/08] “The Al Franken for Senate campaign today demanded that the Secretary of State oversee an immediate and intensive search for a lost envelope containing 133 ballots from Minneapolis Ward 3, Precinct 1.

After initially suggesting that the discrepancy between the number of voters on Election Day and the number of ballots found during the recount could be the result of ballots being accidentally double-counted on Election Day — a suggestion the Franken campaign immediately pointed out was completely implausible – Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert late last night admitted to the Star Tribune that the ballots were missing, saying that her earlier theory “doesn’t jibe with the numbers we have” and “wasn’t valid speculation.”

Minneapolis Ward 3, Precinct 1 covers the Dinkytown neighborhood and includes a large population of students at the University of Minnesota.

Franken lead recount attorney Marc Elias:

“These ballots must be found. The outcome of this election is at stake. But let me be clear: The integrity of this election is also at stake, as is the integrity of Minnesota’s electoral process. We won’t stand for the disenfranchisement of 133 Minnesota voters, and neither will the people of this state. Find the ballots.”

The Franken campaign released a list of steps that should be taken to find the missing ballots:

• Interview every person who worked at the precinct on Election Day, every person who had a role in setting up or cleaning up at the church that served as a polling place, and every person who touched or transported the ballots either on Election Day or at any point between then and now.
• Conduct a systematic forensic search of the church that served as a polling place, any vehicle used to transport ballots or other elections materials, the warehouse where the ballots were stored.
• At the warehouse, catalog every envelope containing ballots.
• Review all precinct and polling place documentation, and all email or other communications relating to this precinct and this polling place.
• Establish a clear chain of custody noting exactly where these ballots were at every moment from Election Day until they were lost.

In addition, the Franken campaign called for the following information to be released to the campaigns and the public immediately:

• Contact information (name, address, phone number) for: everyone who worked at the precinct on Election Day, the administrator responsible for the church that served as the polling place, and every county employee who at any time for any purpose touched these ballots or ballot envelopes.
• Copies of all precinct and polling place documentation, as well as any email or other communications relating to this precinct or this polling place.
• The address of every warehouse or other location where these ballots or related materials have ever been stored, as well as the current location of any vehicle ever used to move any of these ballots or related materials.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 1:39 pm and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.