Coleman Lawyer: Maybe The Franken Voter Was Mentally Disabled?

[babylonsister]

I know this is getting redundant, but the excuses are coming fast and furious. It's 'almost' entertaining.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/coleman-lawyer-maybe-the-franken-voter-was-mentally-disabled.php

Coleman Lawyer: Maybe The Franken-Voter Was Mentally Disabled?
By Eric Kleefeld - February 20, 2009, 4:14PM


We've now found a case of lead Coleman lawyer Joe Friedberg actually being concerned about ballot fraud, and wanting to keep a vote out as a result -- so much so that he'll speculate about a Franken-voter being mentally disabled.

Really. No joke.

In court just now, lead Franken lawyer Marc Elias went over a rejected ballot envelope for which he said a power of attorney had been granted by a disabled voter, to allow a family member to fill it out. The issue was that the mark made to authorize the family member was not a signature or a conventional "X", but was instead an amorphous scribble. Elias and Goodhue County elections official Carolyn Holmsted spent some time hashing it out.

Then Friedberg took issue with this whole idea of the power of attorney to fill out a ballot, which is a specifically allowed clause in Minnesota law for disabled voters.

"And normally, people give powers of attorney because they're incompetent, mentally disabled," Friedberg began, before he was interrupted by a very loud objection from the Franken side.

"Your honor, this door was opened," Friedberg replied.

The judges sustained the objection as to how Friedberg was phrasing this, but allowed him to continue with the line of inquiry.

Friedberg then discussed how if the power of attorney was granted because the voter was mentally incompetent, then obviously the ballot is invalid -- but if it's because of a physical disability, it's valid. The problem, Friedberg offered, is that we don't know.

Friedberg debated the idea of delegating authority to fill out a ballot. "I can't give my ability to decide who to vote for to someone else, can I?" he said, before the Franken camp successfully objected.

He then rephrased: "To be more specific, John Clarence Albert can't give his decision-making process in relation to who to vote for to anybody else, can he?" This, too, met a successful objection.

He tried again: "You have no idea whether John Albert even knows that someone even voted on his behalf, do you?" Friedberg said. After this was objected to, Friedberg simply asked whether Holmsted had ever seen a mark like this before -- she hadn't.

Let's take a trip down memory lane: Joe Friedberg once offered up the idea that someone had illegally signed and voted in two ballots for himself and his wife, but said that one of them should be counted. He also previously declared that he didn't care about the procedures to prevent ballot fraud.

[madrchsod]

1. mentally disabled people can vote joey....

i`d say you are bit disabled if ya did`t know that...

[Botany]

2. what scum

odds are the voter had ALS, MS, MD, Parkinson's syndrome, or some
other neuro muscular problem .... might have been blind.



Senator Al Franken get used to it.

[sakabatou]

3. For the love of the FSM...

[spanone]

4. give it up norm, the people like al better

[RoyGBiv]

5. I smell another lawsuit ...

I'm quite certain this whole script has to be from something Franken wrote when he was working for SNL, and the Coleman team stole it.

[myrna minx]

6. OK, as a Minnesotan, I was angry that Coleman and his ghouls made a mockery of our

rather sound system, but now I am incensed. We're stuck with ONE Senator, because Coleman and his ilk are obviously riding out the clock, insulting our whole process as well as the good people of Minnesota. I can't even type, I'm so angry. :puke:

[Botany]

10. Sooner or later it will be Senator Franken

My guess is that the voter had a neuro muscular problem or might
have been blind .... this is an act of a classless man and his lawyers

My guess is that the RNC is paying Norm's legal bills to keep Al from
getting his seat in the Senate.

[gratuitous]

11. That's exactly what Coleman's doing

And there's no sanction, no penalty for Coleman to continue with his frivolous, court-clogging pettifoggery. And as long as his legal challenge remains on life support, the people of the State of Minnesota are in limbo, one Senator short. The legislature should come up with a system for provisional certification and seating of a winner in their next session. It's hard to believe that anyone would drag out and abuse the process the way Norm Coleman has, but there's nothing in the statutes to prevent it, and every reason for a sore loser to keep being a sore loser. And as we've seen over the last few decades, you have to spell it out exactly or these motherfuckers will be motherfuckers.

[tularetom]

7. Off the subject but are you losing hearts?

This morning I counted and you needed 13 to fill out your third row. Now it's 15. Are the rows longer or is somebody stealing hearts?

[KamaAina]

8. She loses one for every vote SoreLoserColeman challenges

Also, God kills a kitten.

Please, Norm! Think of the kittens!

[tularetom]

9. LOL

[frylock]

12. it's time for reid to get off his ass and get franken in the damn senate already..

the repubs installed brian bilbray before all the votes were counted. it's time the dems followed suit. this shit has gone far too fucking long.

[babylonsister]

13. Is there a way he can do that legally? If so, he should. nt

[Ocracoker16]

14. Coleman is appearing more pathetic by the hour

He needs to concede and allow Al Franken to be seated. It sounds like his lawyer is grasping at straws.