Again, I'm providing a round up of the campaigns' spin for the day:
| NEW BREAKTHROUGH IN EFFORT TO COUNT EVERY VOTE: SECRETARY OF STATE DIRECTS LOCAL ELECTIONS OFFICIALS TO REVIEW UNCOUNTED ABSENTEE BALLOTS 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 |
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| 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. The communication, from Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann, lays out the four legal reasons for rejecting an absentee ballot:
Previously-rejected absentee ballots that do not fall into one of those four categories will be placed in a fifth pile. Under Minnesota state law, there is no other legal reason for rejecting an absentee ballot. Communications Director Andy Barr: "We appreciate the Secretary of State's guidance and the hard work of the local elections officials who have done such great work throughout the election process. That process is not complete until every vote is counted. And today's directive is an important step in ensuring that happens." The Franken campaign is focused on making sure every vote is counted -- not only those included in the recount, but also those absentee ballots that have been improperly rejected and those that appear to have been lost. The Secretary of State has said there are roughly 12,000 absentee ballots rejected this past election. The Secretary of State has also estimated that 500 of them were wrongly rejected -- a number greater than the likely difference between Coleman and Franken at the end of the hand count. The Franken campaign actually estimates this pile is even larger -- up to 1,000 ballots. We are determined to ensure that every Minnesotan who cast a vote -- either in person or via absentee -- ought to have that vote counted. And whether it is at the county level, at the canvass board, in the courts or before the United States Senate, we don't know yet. But because we believe the principle that every vote cast ought to be counted is universal, we remain confident these votes will be counted. No recount should be considered complete or accurate until all the ballots are counted -- that includes the improperly rejected absentee ballots, and any missing ballots from around the state. |
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Mark Drake, Communications Director
RE: Coleman for Senate Recount Update – December 2, 2008
The end of the recount is just around the corner with the counting process finishing up this week and the first Canvassing Board meeting set for December 16th. According to the Secretary of State, more than 91% of ballots have already been recounted with just four days left, and we remain confident that when this process is all completed, Norm Coleman will once again come out ahead.
One important thing to keep in mind, as mentioned in this story today, is that while only 9% of ballots remain to be counted, several counties have not yet started their recounts. The counties of Dodge, Le Sueur, Rock, Winona, Wright and Scott will begin recounting tomorrow, and we feel pretty good that the strong results we saw in these areas for Senator Coleman on Election Night will hold firm.
As we’ve said many times before, but which merits repeating again, this recount is a methodical, conscientious process. To date we are almost three weeks into it, and we know we’ve got a ways to go as it won’t be completed until after the Canvassing Board meetings. This process demands patience and persistence, and volunteers in every county and community around the state have demonstrated plenty of both thus far. We thank them for their hard work and civic commitment in helping to make this process go smoothly in hopefully setting Minnesota up to be the textbook example for how a recount should be run.
The people of Minnesota, just like people in every state in this country, have the right to pick their own representatives. We are working hard to make sure that happens in a fair, full and transparent way. We are seriously concerned by both the talk and actions we’ve seen from the Franken campaign signaling that they intend to go against the will of Minnesotans and take this to the floor of the US Senate for a political battle to start the new Congress and first term of President-elect Obama. Minnesotans deserve this election to be handled just as every other election in this state has been handled: the Minnesota way.