Minnesota Supreme Court ruling could help Coleman

[babylonsister]

Minnesota Supreme Court ruling could help Coleman
By Michael O'Brien
Posted: 12/18/08 07:24 PM


A state Supreme Court ruling, which will likely exclude hundreds of ballots that Al Franken (D) had sought to include in the recount, could help Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in Minnesota’s contested Senate race.

The court in part overturned a decision by the state’s Board of Canvassers to recommend that Minnesota’s counties open and tally more than 1,000 absentee ballots that were not counted for any stated, legal reason. In its decision, the court forbade the board to include any of those ballots in its final tally, except in limited circumstances laid out in the decision.

“We order candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken and their campaign representatives, the Secretary of State, and all county auditors and canvassing boards to establish and implement a process...for the purpose of identifying all absentee ballot envelopes that the local election officials and candidates agree were rejected in error,” Associate Justice Helen M. Meyer wrote in the majority decision.

The campaigns will be allowed to challenge the determination of local election officials regarding voter intent, just as during the regular recount. The decision also sets a deadline of 4:00 p.m. on December 31st as resolution of the review of rejected absentee ballots.

more...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/minnesota-supreme-court-sides-with-coleman-2008-12-18.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. huh?

most think those ballots will help Al not Coleman

:wtf:

[mucifer]

2. will this ever end?

[BlooInBloo]

3. From 538...

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/in-minnesota-six-inches-of-confusion.html

[hlthe2b]

4. Well that's a contrarian opinion-- and one no one else has voiced

.... I tend to listen a bit more to those who have been on scene following this, every ballot of the way than Mr. (theHill) O'Brien...

[BlooInBloo]

...

"Each campaign, then, is under some compulsion to develop and apply a consistent statewide standard. The Franken campaign, believing that counting more absentee ballots is generally to its advantage, will undoubtedly argue for a more liberal standard, and the Coleman campaign for a more conservative one. Since the Coleman campaign essentially has veto power over the matter, the more conservative standard will probably prevail."

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/12/in-minnesota-six-inches-of-confusion.html


It's not omgwe'redoomed, but it's not good, either.

[hlthe2b]

8. I assume if the Franken campaign does not agree with Coleman

standard, that rather than acquiesce, they have the right to go back to court... In addition, both campaigns have to agree to a standard BEFORE any ballots are opened, which holds throughout. I should think that that "blind decision" makes it far more difficult to "game the system."

[Dennis Donovan]

5. The Hill has The Head up The Ass...

NO one seem to think what they're suggesting.:crazy:

[BlooInBloo]

6. Wow. I'm the only one who reads 538.

Lonely here. :P

[Dennis Donovan]

7. I just did (thanks for the link)...

:hi:

The ruling is quite clusterfuckity...:crazy:

[hlthe2b]

9. No... just the first to find his update...

I'd been waiting for Nate to way in, all day. ;)

[BlooInBloo]

10. Shouldn't have waited *quite* so long to see him weigh in on it, then. :P

[hlthe2b]

11. LOL... he just posted it at 7:08 PM Central time,

since he's in Chicago-- that would mean within the past hour or so... :crazy: Maybe we should demand an RSS stream

[BlooInBloo]

12. It was there when you posted your "no one else" remark, is what I meant....

Had you checked, you might have reconsidered the remark.

EDIT: News on the election front, such as the OP, leads me to check 538 before I do anything else.

[hlthe2b]

13. You may have also read...

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune (by way of HuffPo http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/18/frankens-senate-victory-c_n_152241.html):
As it stands now, it seems likely that Franken will end this process with a lead wider than even his campaign expected. Earlier projections, from the Associated Press, Star Tribune and Franken himself, suggested that Coleman would lose the race by roughly 20 votes or less. And this tally doesn't even take into consideration the legal and political battle being waged over wrongfully rejected absentee ballots, which the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled, on Thursday, should be counted.

That decision, another loss for the Coleman campaign, could mean even more votes flowing into Franken's tally, though the Court also stressed that the state and both campaigns come up with a uniform standard for identifying these absentee ballots before they are counted.

***
BTW, my post hit at Dec-18-08 07:12 PM. I would have been writing it, just as he was posting.... I don't quite get what seems to be snark, but whatever...

I adore Nate and think he's brilliant, but not the only reasonable, rational, nor informed voice, in town.

[BlooInBloo]

14. "no one else has voiced" = the only thing I commented on....

Oh, and: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4679661&mesg_id=4679661