100 more votes for Franken in Mt. Iron, Pct. 1
November 7th, 2008 – 2:06 PM by Dennis McGrathThe Norm Coleman campaign is saying that the 100-vote increase given to Democrat Al Franken Thursday night is highly suspicious, because the ballot machine printout of the vote results is timestamped two days before Election Day.
The 100 extra votes for Franken are from Mt. Iron, Pct. 1. That’s in St. Louis County, a Democratic stronghold.
Reporter Mark Brunswick has talked to election officials for Mt. Iron and the county, and here’s what they say:
The precinct officials called in the correct results on Election Night: 506 for Franken, 211 for Coleman. But the county incorrectly wrote down 406 for Franken, 211 for Coleman. And that’s what was reported to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.
Wednesday night, the Secretary of State website showed a 100-vote increase for Franken in Mt. Iron, Pct. 1.
The Coleman camp’s Cullen Sheehan says the timestamp on the ballot machine’s vote total reads: “11/02/2008″ That’s two days before the Nov. 4 election.
A county official told Brunswick that the machine’s clock must be incorrect. When they tested a machine in Mt. Iron Pct. 2 in late October, running test ballots through to make sure the machine was working properly, it also showed an incorrect date on the printout. And the printout from that Pct. 2 machine in Mt. Iron on Election Night, when it printed out the final vote tallies that remain unchanged, also shows an incorrect timestamp of Oct. 31.
The official said it could be from a bad battery or having to do with the Daylight Savings switch.
Meanwhile, Reporter Kevin Duchschere reports that Coleman’s campaign today is asking the Secretary of State’s office and Minnesota’s county auditors for copies of the results of election night machine tapes for all precincts and all election night summaries or tally sheets for all precincts that counted ballots by hand.
In a statement, Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said it was “troubling†to see “huge chunks of votes appearing and disappearing,†and that they are shifting to DFL candidate Al Franken’s favor.
“As many of these unexplained and improbable vote swings are taking place on the Iron Range, we’re asking that local and state election officials provide us with the necessary data to reassure the public that the canvassing process has not been tainted,†Sheehan said.
A letter sent to local and state officials from attorney Terry Trimble is seeking the documents under Minnesota’s Data Practices Act. Because the material is related to the recount, Trimble writes that it be provided immediately.
26 Responses to "100 more votes for Franken in Mt. Iron, Pct. 1"
No need for a recount.
Ritchie will have Franken winning by a landslide before the recount starts. The fix is on.
This is the whole reason we HAVE recounts, to make sure no one made a mistake and everything is on the up and up. Maybe Coleman should have thought about that before he tried to unilaterally declare himself the winner with a leading margin of .01%
To the commenter above me, I’d love for you to explain how Ritchie could fix a manual recount with lawyers on both sides watching.
Why are the Republican lovers always so paranoid? Lets get both sides together and figure out who really got the most votes.
No one is trying to fix anything, its just in your mind. And if you do want to cry about a fix, lets talk about Florida in 2000.
A two day difference because of a one hour time change. Oh dose crazy iron rangers.
How do you fix the election? You slip in extra Al Franken ballots into the stack of ballots BEFORE they get sent to the the recount canvassing board.
I complete faith that if Norm was behind by 500 votes right now, that he would just resign, as he said earlier this week. Politicians are true to their word and only have the public’s best interest in mind. I also believe that when night falls, pigs fly in MN.
Great, now let’s see some evidence of anyone actually tampering with ballots. I completely agree with Coleman’s call to monitor the storage of the ballots before the recount. It means that he can’t claim anything has happened to them.
By the way, it would be way more complicated than slipping in extra ballots, because then you’d have more ballots than voters, an obvious sign of fraud.
Seriously……every time I log on, Coleman’s lead is shrinking. So, every mysteriously found ‘late’ tally has votes that are ALL for Franken. Really. And nobody finds that suspicious?
tcbear, you say that every time you log in, Colemans lead shrinks, PLEASE stop loggin in!!!!!!
Coleman’s comments only serve to undermine the process — a process dictated by law that he sought to circumvent. I expect senators from Minnesota to support the electoral process.
The votes have not been ALL for Franken. My point is that a recount is necessary regardless. Norm is acting high and mighty when both candidates are out for blood. Here’s another good posting: http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/11/why_is_norm_colemans_lead_slip.asp
Coleman isn’t exactly the answer, but Franken is a complete tool box. Who are we kidding? I don’t blame Coleman, Dems cheat. acorn anyone
strange to have complaining about the fix in florida and labeling of “republican lovers” as paranoid in the same post. The irony is getting thick.
I still think the “none of the above” option is a good one… I just had to write it in.
I’m with the big lebowski. Yeah, Norm’s a career politician and alot of people have a problem with him.
So, what do the democrats do. They reach into their bag of highly esteemed, capable, seasoned MN politicians; and, who do they pull out of the bag—Al Franken.
That’s like going into your underwear drawer and finding the only one left is a tattered rag that you bought 10 years ago. They just couldn’t find anybody better eh.
That’s pathetic enough; but that he’s gotten this close is even more an embarrasment than Jesse as Governor.
I smell democrat voter fraud!
As Norm says, partisan politics just doesn’t work. We’ve got to work together on this. Duh!
Norm says he would concede if in Als’ position. If he’s trailing by a few votes when the results are made official does anyone think he will?
This has no bearing on this issue but I believe its time for some voter ID laws. One would think that you would need a driver’s license, photo id or some kind of state identification to prove your identity. All I gave the elelction official was my name and address.
I voted for Norm. Now I wish I could take my vote back and vote for Franken. I am very disappointed in Norm Coleman. As a sitting US Senator, I thought he would have more class than to demand Franken concede the election and blame him for having a recount. The MN election rules clearly state when the US senate election results are this close, there must be a mandatory recont. Franken didn’t ask for this, it is state law. The only thing these two should do is sit back and let the election judges get an accurate recound. fyi – the Iron Range doesn’t have the most up to date voting machines so this is where the most discrepancies will be found. Guess what. Most of these voters probably voted for Franken. I think Norm is worried he has lost the election and he is taking the low road in trying to capture the senate seat.
“I voted for Norm.”
Sure you did…..
What troubles me most about this is Coleman’s obvious unwillingness to allow the rule of law to prevail. And his lack of care that every Minnesotan’s vote counts, whether it’s against him or not. I want my vote to count and I can wait a few weeks to make sure it does. It’s in situations like this when peoples’ true nature comes to the fore, and Coleman’s true nature is proving to be, well, what’s a nice way of putting it… self-interest seems appropriate.
Hey titoben, sort of like Katherine Harris ‘fixing’ the 537 votes for Bush in 2000. And look where it got us…
As felicity says, these situations bring one’s true nature to the fore. Just as Florida 2000 demonstrated precisely what Bush was as a “leader”.
But I wouldn’t be as nice—-Coleman is clearly showing his strongly anti-democratic nature. He does not see elections as the sole source of his authority, does not accept that the will of the people is the source of all power, instead he sees elections as “games” which are to be manipulated to keep “worthies”—like this worthless failure Coleman—in “power”.
At bottom, Coleman is a Bushist.
Brian 3224, was the vote you cast for Coalman in any way influenced by the Star Tribune’s endorsement of him? If so the newspaper can hardly be called a liberal mouthpiece, as some suggest. True there is a divesity of opinion on the staff…a sound editorial strategy. It’s why we post.
Cullen, which is it?
From the strib: “Obviously, this is highly suspicious. They found 100 votes, and it’s statistically impossible that all 100 votes went to the two Democrats, even in St. Louis County,” said Cullen Sheehan, Coleman’s campaign manager.
Gee, individual votes are not being recounted with GOP AND DNC observers yet…this was a typo of a digit in tally… so the ONLY POSSIBILITY is the the full amount of the TYPO goes one way or another. So, which is it Cullen, are you incompetent or trying to tamper with election proceedings? Either turn in your drivers license because you can’t read or turn your self in for violating election law.
Coleman’s campaign manager is understandably vexed. The campaign understimated how many votes they needed to ice this thing. Over at the Brodkorb websites they’re suggesting that this be settled by duel. http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/11/08/coleman-press-event-about-32-absentee-ballots-found-in-election-officials-car/#comments
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