County Begins Process Of Sorting, Counting Ballots Today Despite Coleman Efforts To Shut Down Recount

SAINT PAUL [12/15/08] – The Al Franken for Senate campaign today commended Hennepin County for its decision to correct errors related to the improper rejection of absentee ballots. The county today instructed localities within its jurisdiction to immediately sort rejected absentee ballots and report the results to the county canvassing board so that so-called “fifth pile” ballots may be included in a revised count. Hennepin County set a deadline of tomorrow for the sorting to be completed.

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Despite Coleman’s False Characterization Of Lawsuit, Campaign Is In Fact Attempting To Overturn Decision Of State Canvassing Board

SAINT PAUL [12/15/08] – On Friday, the Coleman campaign told reporters that it was going to the state Supreme Court to ask the Court to clarify the process for counting so-called “fifth pile” absentee ballots. However, it refused to release those documents until late Friday night. A review of their lawsuit reveals that, in fact, Coleman has gone to the state Supreme Court to attempt to stop the counting of lawful ballots.

Communications Director Andy Barr:

“This is shameless. Norm Coleman didn’t get his way on Friday, so he’s suing to stop the counting of lawful ballots and disenfranchise voters who did nothing wrong. The fact is that those ballots were legally cast, and the state canvassing board – which includes two Supreme Court Justices, and in fact the Chief Justice – has said that they should be counted. And now Coleman is going to court to try to overrule the board and throw those lawful votes out. That may be characteristic of his approach to this entire process, but it’s entirely un-Minnesotan.”

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In Unanimous Decision, Board Denies Coleman Effort To Disenfranchise 133 Voters In Minneapolis

Board Recommends That Counties Correct Improper Absentee Rejections, Include Uncounted Ballots – Will Accept Amended Returns From Counties

Attorney General: “There Is No Doubt That Voters Who Have Complied With All Legal Requirements, But Whose Ballots Were Improperly Rejected, Should Have Their Votes Counted.”

Secretary Of State’s Office: More Than 1500 “Fifth Pile” Absentee Ballots Wrongly Rejected

SAINT PAUL [12/12/08] ” In a devastating rejection of the Coleman campaign’s attempts to stop lawful votes from being counted, the state canvassing board today voted unanimously to accept Election Night returns from Minneapolis Ward 3, Precinct 1–thus protecting the franchise for the 133 voters whose ballots were lost by city elections officials.

In addition, the board unanimously recommended that counties open and count so-called “fifth pile” absentee ballots deemed to have been improperly rejected, and indicated that it planned to accept amended returns from counties after they have revised their vote totals to include these uncounted ballots.

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“My Vote” Features Voters Who Did Everything Right, But Whose Ballots Remain Uncounted

Franken Campaign Continues To Fight For Minnesotans’ Right To Vote

SAINT PAUL [12/10/08] “A new web video released today by the Franken campaign tells the story of seven Minnesotans who lost their right to vote because their absentee ballots were improperly rejected.

Communications Director Andy Barr:

It’s important that every vote be counted. But it’s also important to remember that, behind every ballot, there’s a real live Minnesotan who wanted to exercise their right to choose their leaders on Election Day. The improper rejection of absentee ballots not only threatens the integrity of this election, it undermines the fundamental principle of our democracy and breaks the promise made to Minnesotans that their voices will be heard. These are people who did everything right. These are people whose votes should be counted. These are the people we continue to fight for.”

You can watch the web video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBOad11LueE

The Franken campaign invited viewers to share their stories at a new website, www.alfranken.com/countmyvote .

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SAINT PAUL [12/04/08] “The Al Franken for Senate campaign today announced that $2.1 million had been raised for its recount effort, both directly by the campaign and through a joint fundraising committee with the Minnesota DFL Party (the Franken Recount Fund). As of November 24, the campaign and the joint fundraising committee had a combined $1.9 million cash on hand.

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SAINT PAUL [12/04/08] “Tonight, Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert revealed new information about a missing envelope, marked “1/5″which contains the 133 ballots lost from Minneapolis Ward 3, Precinct 1. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State’s office has agreed to keep the recount open in that precinct in order to allow officials to find that envelope.

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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.”

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In Letter To Ritchie, Reichert, Franken Campaign Expresses Grave Concerns, Demands Immediate Action

SAINT PAUL [12/03/08] “After 133 ballots were lost by elections officials in the city of Minneapolis (Ward 3, Precinct 1), the Franken campaign today sent a letter to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Minneapolis Elections Director Cindy Reichert expressing grave concerns about the missing votes and demanding that Reichert complete an intensive search before the recount is declared closed or any numbers are officially reported from this precinct.

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Local Officials Will Re-Examine And Sort Previously Rejected Ballots – Ballots That Do Not Meet A Legal Qualification For Rejection Will Be Separated Out

Franken Campaign Applauds Efforts Of Elections Officials

SAINT PAUL [12/02/08] “In a major development toward counting improperly rejected absentee ballots, the Secretary of State’s office today directed county auditors and county and city election officials to review all previously-rejected absentee ballots and determine whether they fall under one of the four legal reasons for rejecting a ballot. The absentee ballot review will begin on December 8.

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SAINT PAUL [11/05/08] – U.S. Senate Candidate Al Franken:

The Secretary of State’s office reports that all but nine of Minnesota’s 4,130 precincts have reported in. And this race is too close to call, with a margin of just about 1100 votes out of 2.9 million cast. That’s four one-hundredths of one percent of the vote. And we expect that when those final nine precincts are counted this morning, that 1100-vote margin will shrink into the hundreds.

Under Minnesota state law, we will now enter into an automatic statewide canvass and recount. It will be the first one since 1962, when I was 11 years old. I remember that year very clearly for two reasons. The recount between Elmer L. Anderson and Karl Rolvaag. And the Gophers were in the Rose Bowl that year.

And we have twice as many ballots to count this time.

Let me be clear: Our goal is to ensure that every vote is properly counted.

The process, dictated by our laws, will be orderly, fair, and will take place within a matter of days. We won’t know for a little while who won this race, but at the end of the day, we will know that the voice of the electorate was clearly heard.

There is reason to believe that the recount could change the vote tallies significantly.

Our office and the Obama campaign have received reports of irregularities at various precincts around the state. For instance, some polling places in Minneapolis ran out of registration materials. Our team has been working on those issues for several hours already, and they will continue to do so this morning as the recount process begins.

Let me be clear: This race is too close to call, and we do not yet know who won. We are lucky enough to live in a state with built-in protections to ensure that in close elections like these, the will of the people is accurately reflected in the outcome.

This has been a long campaign, and it’s going to be a little longer before we have a winner. Senator Coleman, Senator Barkley, and I have done a lot of talking. Minnesotans have waited a long time to have THEIR say. And thanks to our state’s laws, we will eventually understand precisely what they have said.

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