Franken gets bump from 171 found ballots -- but don't start celebrating yet..

[Breeze54]

Franken gets bump from 171 found ballots

http://www.grandforksherald.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D94QUNMG2

By PATRICK CONDON Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Wednesday, December 03, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn.

Democrat Al Franken caught a couple of breaks Tuesday as the recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race drew closer to a finish, though not enough to undo Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's persistent lead.

As Ramsey County wrapped up its recount, officials there discovered and tallied 171 ballots that weren't counted on election night. Franken gained 37 votes on Coleman's lead.

Coleman led by 215 votes out of 2.9 million cast before the recount. The lead has bounced up and down since the recount began, but the exact margin is difficult to know because both sides have put thousands of ballots in limbo through challenges. The disputed ballots won't be sorted out until a canvassing board meeting that begins Dec. 16.

Through Tuesday, Coleman's margin was 303, a comparison made possible because counties are reporting recount numbers that compare directly with their precincts' Nov. 4 results. However, those numbers could still shift as the last counties complete their work by Friday.

Ramsey County elections chief Joe Mansky said the ballots were from a machine that broke down early on Election Day in a precinct in Maplewood. The machine was replaced, but the ballots in question weren't fed through again.

Franken gained 91 votes and Coleman gained 54. The rest went to other candidates.

"That's why we do the recount," Mansky said. "That's why we're doing everything by hand - so we can discover those kinds of errors."

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But Gelbmann wrote that none of the rejected absentee ballots should be counted for the time being.

"We simply are looking for the number of rejected absentee ballots that were legitimately rejected ... and the number of rejected absentee ballots that were mistakenly rejected," he wrote.

In St. Paul, Mansky said election officials already sorted through the ballots and found 32 ballots that appeared to have been rejected for an invalid reason.

[rpannier]

1. I found this site

http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20081104/SenateRecount.asp

It's the SOS Office and it has Frankin ahead

I get more confused about this everyday with the variety of differing numbers

[shireen]

2. yes, i see that too.

so why do "they" say that Coleman is ahead?
:shrug:

[rpannier]

5. I have no idea

It's why I find trying to follow the race so aggravating.

[pacalo]

4. I like your numbers!

But I'm as confused as you are.

[MazeRat7]

3. We said it in 2000 and again in 2004... It should not be this hard to determine the winner

If nothing else, sometime in the next four years I would like to see some semblance of election "standards" laid down at the federal level for the states to follow. Perhaps even with the caveat that failure to do so will result in withholding of federal $$$ for something like highways or other projects.

Bottom line 50 legislatures will find 50 different ways to do the same thing. It's classic "missing the target" due to "lack of a defined process" (I apologize for using "corporate speak).

Just my $.02.

Peace,
MZr7

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. The ironic part was... Franken made fun of the Voting rights people

If he wins (and I hope he does) perhaps we will get an ally at the Fed Level