(CNN) – As the Senate recount resumes this morning in Minnesota, the number of ballots being challenged is growing. Nearly two-thirds of the votes have been recounted in the battle for incumbent Republican Norm Coleman's U.S. Senate seat.
The recount, which began last Wednesday, could extend into next month.
Unofficial results from the November 4 election put Coleman, a freshman senator, just a few hundred votes ahead of his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, known across the country from his days on Saturday Night Live and from his years as a talk show host on Air America, the progressive radio network. The slim margin for Coleman, far less than one half of 1 percent, triggered an automatic recount, the first time there's ever been a recount of a U.S. Senate race in Minnesota.
Now election officials are in the middle of the long process of recounting all of the ballots at 107 sites across Minnesota, surrounded by election observers and lawyers from both campaigns, and the media.
The Secretary of State's office reports nearly 2,000 ballots have been challenged so far, with 948 questioned by Coleman's camp and 945 by Franken's.
According to the Secretary of State's office, 65.65 percent of the more than 2.9 million votes cast in the election were recounted through the weekend. Coleman's vote today is down 669 votes and Franken's down 621 votes.
The process could extend well into December. The recount sites across Minnesota have a deadline of the first week of December to report their results. After that, the state's canvassing board meets to rule on disputed ballots and to certify the election. If one side is unhappy with the results, legal action could follow.
Democrats have so far picked up seven Senate seats in this year's election, with the currently-Republican seats in Minnesota and Georgia still undecided. In Georgia, freshman Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss faces off in a runoff election on December 2 against Democrat Jim Martin, a former state lawmaker.
If the Democrats were to take both remaining undecided contests, they'll reach their pre-election goal of controlling 60 Senate seats, a filibuster-proof majority. A filibuster is a move by the minority party in the Senate that basically brings the chamber to a standstill by blocking votes on legislation.
From CNN Politics
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Let's hope this isn't a Republican plot to steal votes. The Conservative Movement will never live down the debacle of 2000, which directly lead to the mess we are in today.
1. The goal of this process, of course, is to declare as winner the candidation who actually got the most votes, no matter who it turns out to be. Most Americans hope, of course, that the Democrat will turn out to be that person. Another obstructionist Conservative whose only goal is to prevent America's problems from being solved is the last thing we need.
2. Our local governments have failed us miserably by not implementing a system of voting in which the voter's intent is unquestionable and clear.
Imagine how our banking system would work if I could challenge my bank, arguing that I wrote a check for $100 but the bank erroneously transferred $1,000. Then, a group of auditors views the transaction and are unable to determine my "intent." This is not acceptable.
As a lifelong computer programmer, I for one do not trust the current computerized voting machines. While a computing device is reliable and can be programmed to record votes faithfully, there is no reason to believe that those votes are – in fact – being recorded correctly. We are again in the position of trusting elected officials to do the right thing without having any way of verifying.
stop the madness...count the votes!
After the last eight years of being lied to and the taking away of personal freedoms I hope Al Franken wins. Not because I like AL Franken that much but because I want the Republicans to go as far down as possible.
Only then will they start to look in the mirror and change their way of hate lies and telling me how I should think plus what religion I should follow.
There are far too many examples of this all the way from george bush to sarah palin, The American people are sick of them all.
I hope Al Franken wins then the Democrats will get their 60 seats majority, after that I sincerely hope they will put a stop to all these hate radio jocks and take them off the air forever.
Plus woman will have they right to make her own decisions concerning her bodies with regartd to abortion. That and stem cell production and research
Yes...... I hope Al Franken wins
What I'd like to see: A photo of every challenged ballot, which side challenged it, and why. Minnesota Public Radio has a dozen examples. There's no reason not to show all of them.
I was taught that every vote counts, including mine.
FOR EVERY VOTE TO COUNT, YOU HAVE TO COUNT EVERY VOTE!
I wish the 2000 Supreme Court would have remembered that. Shame on them.
Some people call BUSH v.GORE the beginning of the end of the USA. Let's not let that happen. Count EVERY vote.
Ready yourselves for the Republican "rent-a-mob" should the count start to tip Democrats way. Remember the Florida re-count in 2000? Republican staffers, posing as "outraged citizens," stormed the offices where recounts were taking place and shut-down the process. The folks doing the recounting later said they feared for their lives.
this is ridiculous... Let them draw straws!
Why do you refer to Air America as a "progressive" radio network?
Is this done as an option to a "reactionary" radio network.
You should label it as "liberal" radio, as opposed to conservative radio.
"Coleman's vote today is down 669 votes and Franken's down 621 votes."
What the heck does that mean in the real world? Down from What? the previous count?
Speak English, CNN!
Let all the votes be counted and then when they are finished Al Franken will be a Senator Elect .
My perdiction is Coleman will lose by a slim margin.
Maybe they'll know by 2012 who their senator is.
Gotta keep those sneaky Republicans from suppressing votes. They'll try every dirty trick in the book.
Gee, I wonder how it will turn out? Is ACORN in charge? If they are the republican will lose.
Gotta keep an eye on those Democrats; dead men votes , paid voters, duplicate voters the list goes on !
Are there reasons why these ballots are being disputed? Are the ballots hand written ones or just people who weren't on the roles before hand?
I've seen some of the disputed ballots . . .both camps are like children. Many of the ballots have clear intent, and yet they are nitpicking everything.
If Franken steals this election, it will be a slap in the face to democracy
Draw straws??? No, a good ol' fashion duel would be much better for out current culture.
Another Florida indeed. I saw the ballots being challenged on MSNBC and many were cleared to whom it should go, yet your guests discounted them automatically regardless of the obvious. It is not democracy it is Demonstration of Crazyness!!!! just
I love the revisionist history teachers out there.
Just a refresher: The Supreme Court in 2000 said that if you were going to recount votes in one county, you had to recount in every county(like they are doing in MN). The Supreme Court ruled that if you just recounted in certain counties (interesting enough, the recount requests from Gore were in heavy Democrat areas) then you were treating those counties more favorably than other counties.
But you can believe what you like. Otherwise it doesn't fit into your "Bush is Satan" underdeveloped brains!
If there were more then 2 candidates on the ballot for Senate, then have a run off election with the top 2. this is what the Supreme Court should have done in Fl. in 2000 POTUS election. Our elections should be decided by the people not the courts.
As a Floridian, I gotta warn Minnesotans to watch out for anti-vite-counting mobs!
I really think the Obama administration should consider seriously General Wesley Clark for a strategic position .
Thanks,
Richard Vaughan
You kooks should get over the continued self-deception that the 2000 election was "stolen." I realize that you wanted counters consulting mediums and mind-readers to determine the intent of every person who touched a ballot, but that is not the way it works. It is not for some vote counter to divine the intent of the voter. The voter is supposed to make his/her preference known.
Every subsequent recount has confirmed that the 2000 election count was essentially correct and that the legitimate winner was George Bush. You just did not like the results. Get over it you nut cases.
Well Dave,
By all means lets send every ACORN rep we can find. The republicans need to get themselves so they can remember who they represent.
Just go on and give it to Franken already.
All of this to put a comedian in the Senate? Come on, this is ridiculous.... the joke is over, let's get on with business here.
I'm inclined to agree with The Pecan State Pundit. I share the frustration concerning the means by which we vote and the clarity of it all. Moreover, as a Cyber-Security Professional and Engineer, the efficiency and security of the current computerized voting machines tends to trigger a rapid uncontrollable gag reflex in me. I'm sure Pundit will agree that the number of lines of code you find in these things just to make finite decisions is almost begging for something to go wrong.
As for Minnesota we can only hope that Franken emerges from this very avoidable fog victorious.
Bush won the recount 3 times even with newspapers doing the counting later. Look it up. If you lie about that you'll lie about anything.
this is crazy, why can't they get this done, no wonder we are in such bad shape, nothing but incompetance.
Who's trying to steal the election Mr. Franken? People do vote across party lines.
Here in Oregon we have vote-by-mail. It has worked very well for us for a number of years and encourages a higher turnout.
I think the Obama Administration should seriously consider switching the whole country over to such a system. It would eliminate the long lines on voting day and would better ensure integrity in the system.
Shouldn't the headline read, "Number of challenged voters in Minnesota ..."
This vote isnt being tampered with is it?The FED is one gigantic bank with NO competition.It controls everything and everyone,just like in the game of MONOPOLY.
IF every vote is counted, Franken will win.
Why? Because Obama-Biden beat the know-nothing team by 11%.
Do the math.
I don't believe it; an entire story without Alaska's CEO being named. I guess hell finally froze over. Go Al, beat Norm!
For the record Pecan State Pundit, in Minnesota we have a paper ballot that is scanned. The recount therefore is of the paper ballots themselves. There should not be any question about a computer error. The reason so many ballots are disputed has to do with the voters themselves. All that you have to do is fill in the circle next to the name of the person you want to vote for. For some reason not everyone can figure that out. The other thing being disputed is the large volume of absentee ballots that have not been counted. Hundreds of people voted absentee and only found out in the last week or so that their vote wasn't counted.
Minnesota has now become as big a joke as Franken!
If you can trust the GOP, who can't you trust?
I have seen some of the challenged ballots and the county auditors have every right to be frustrated with both sides. 90% of the challenges are ridicules, the voter’s intent is obvious. I know that this is a big deal to both sides, but for the people of Minnesota, well, we don’t really care. Just count the votes, do it right and let’s get this over with. They are both losers, and neither one of them represents the people of Minnesota.
We here in Alabama aren't always known for being on the cutting edge. But we have learned how to use a voting machine. We use optical scanners with paper ballots, which are marked with a felt-tip pen. No erasures, no faint marks, no hanging chads. If the ballot is unclear, the machine rejects it immediately and the voter starts over with a clean ballot. We had a partial recount in a recent governor's race and it took hours, not weeks. Is this kind of system just so darned simple and sensible that no one believes it will work? Why do states that are supposedly so much more "modernized" and "progressive" than we are keep having so much election trouble?
This is just crazy. We can put a man on the moon, but we still have an outdated pitful election system. We need to take the best features already in place around thge country and creat a standardized system that works!!! No more excuses!!!
Careful we all know how Republicans like to STEAL ELECTIONS The Republicans dont have a shred of Honesty to them!
Coleman and his crew are despicable. First they mock the idea of a recount and then they try to discredit the Secretary of State who must legally conduct the recount. Then they try to supress votes. Coleman was a Bush stooge from day one who DOESN'T reflect Minnesota values. I voted for, and hope, FRANKEN wins!
**It will be a fraud count like it was with the presidential election,
there is not such thing as HONESTY anymore it all comes down to a lieing count. it like when AIG, Fanny Mea, Freddy Mac, it like with the Car industrys, and the Banks, these people have had these companys for years, where was there responsiblitys then, and why should we pay for there years of living it up now. these individuals had all these years to put the money aside for such a time as this, and did'nt, and yet we have to pay for there irresponsibilitys, and it will be with this election, it will propley be a lie, The real looser will get in, all because someone payed them off to lie,
Arnold Tarmy-
Liberals renamed themselves a few years back, because liberal was a bad word. So they began to call themselves progressive.
Isn't it interesting the ebb and flow of politics. Now republican is the bad word. I would argue much worse than liberal ever was. Carter killed the word liberal. Bush killed the word republican.
With that said. . . any suggestions on what republicans can start calling themseves? I am sure there are some amusing ideas out there.
First Minnesota elects a former pro wrestler as governor, now they want to elect a comedian? Although I despise Franken, the Republicans need Al Franken to win in order for people to realize that having a D (or a DFL, in Minnesota's case) doesn't mean you're better suited for political office.
A comedian can't be smart enough to be Senator? Hmm. What about a wrestler like Ventura? An actor like Schwartzenegger or even Reagan? A singer like Sonny Bono? Actually, Al Franken is actually a very bright man. A comedian is someone who comments on current life with a laugh rather than a screech (Rush, give it a break!). With what our lives are facing right now, I'd appreciate someone with the ability to brighten my day. Too bad we can't get a decent comedian to run for Senator in Texas...
Minnesota votes for "Franken?" it says alot about the people that live there – Mn has become a clown show to the world, nice work/
really sad that a state is so inept that they cannot hold an election
"IF every vote is counted, Franken will win.
Why? Because Obama-Biden beat the know-nothing team by 11%.
Do the math."
TT – you obviously weren't all that great at math. The variables are not constant. Independents could easily vote for Obama, where he vowed to be a moderate and work with both sides of the aisle, and not for Franken who is flat out crazy. Not all that difficult to imagine, so please redo your math.
There should be only someny poeple in the room and not be able to release info about what is going on in the counting rooms. Get every one not counting outof the erea until completed,
Poeple at least do recounts with dignaty and honesty.
Lets just throw Minnesota out with the trash. From a wrestler gov. to a "comedian" senator and the word comedian is a stretch.
The Franken Monster LIVES!
Voters intentions???? If not readily discernible it should be tossed out; if you get too far into it psychics might be better prepared to tell us what someone meant. Intentions....that's a good one
Cloeman will win and you morons in MN will be out of luck by not having a so called comedian in office, you should be ashamed of yourself to even considering a moron like Franken.
ACORN has nothing to do with any of this. Did anyone see Mickey or Minnie Mouse voting? There is a huge difference between voter registration fraud and actual voter fraud. BTW ACORN brought the bogus registrations to the attention of the appropriate authority. FauxNoise simply did not report that. Can all you Bushies and neo-cons please go back over to FauxNoise and leave the real discussions to the adults (Democrats).
If Bush really won the recount in 2000...is it because ManCoulter voted twice? 2004 revealed that 2 persons in Cuyahoga County Ohio went to jail for voter fraud. Blackwell's cronies. If I recall correctly, that was the county that handed the election to Bush. Cheaters, cheaters, cheaters. Al Franken will win fair and square and the righties can't stand it!
I left Minnesota because I consider it to be a fascist state, mostly under the republican governor. I am not surprised, then to see Republicans trying to steal the election.
CNN I posted a true statement about Nate Silver predicting that Franken will win by 27 votes which should be something to consider since he was dead on with his predictions on the election through his informed calculations.
Why did you not post this or is it that you just can't abide the truth?
I hope Franken wins. The republicans have proven that they are completely inept at governing. Everything that has happened up to this point is the fault of neo conservatism. Its so sad that my generation's future has been robbed by the republican party. The only thing that is looking up for my generation is the complete destruction of the GOP.
In response to the comment "it is really sad a state is so inept it cannot hold an election"...There is nothing wrong with the way the recount is going. It was just a very close election. After the initial count, Coleman was up a measly 215 votes out of 2.9 million cast. State law requires a mandatory recount for races decided by less than .5%. This race was a lot closer than .5% so a recount is being done to ensure the right candidate is sent to Washington to represent the wonderful state of Minnesota. Besides, Minnesota's electoral system is one of the best in the country, by using optical scanners they don't have to deal with all the issues caused by punch hole or e-ballots. Get with it, although it sucks to see this drag on, it is only being done to ensure the integrity of the system.
I seem to recall reading (somewhere) that Coleman was a Democrat and switched party affiliation. If that is the case, wouldn't he qualify as a Centrist, or Moderate? And that wouldn't be so terrible. What we need is some Common Sense in our government representatives rather than folks who blindly vote along party lines.
The fact is that our election system in this country is not refined enough for elections that are this close. Take it from a Broward County Florida resident.
I think that our national election officials should meet with the producers of American Idol. Perhaps they can give our election officals some tips an how to accurately count votes in a reasonable timeframe.
Bill: It is really great that a state is competent enough to do a recount. The vote margin triggered the recount (by state law), not partisan claptrap of a biased sec'y of state (see Katherine Harris). This is how democracy works well.
You would think the people of MN would have learned after Jesse Ventura...
To the 2 fools below that commented that Bush won on "3 recounts" ???? You listen to Rush too much . The recount was halted by Daddy Bushes henchman and former Sec. of State Baker who stood in front of the US Supreme Court and claimed it wouldn't be fair to recount the votes in one County because then other counties would miss out by not having their votes recounted ??? Fits perfect with the mentality of the Gdbya admin. So, again, THERE NEVER WAS A FULL RECOUNT IN THE 2000 ELECTION AS FAR AS FLORIDA IS CONCERNED. (Sorry for yelling but...) Look it up you two fools, the US Supreme court overruled the Florida Supreme Court and ordered a halt to the recount and as of today Gore still leads in the recount by 10's of thousands... And by the way I won't get over it , THE ELECTIONS WERE STOLEN !!!!
Thank goodness this is happening somewhere other than Florida!!!!
Go Al!
I agree with Kyle. Neither of these fools really care about the People of Minnesota, they just want to make their parties happy. I didn't vote for either of the morons....I voted libertarian for the senate! Trust me people, it doesn't matter who wins...they are both crazy.
Oh and FYI
Cole man Killed Wellstone!
As someone who lived in Minnesota for twenty-some years, I can safely say that as bad as anyone thinks Franken is, Coleman is worse. I watched every smarmy step of his political career in the state, and if he loses I will rejoice.
"Too bad we can't get a decent comedian to run for Senator in Texas…"
We already got our comedian from Texas. Unfortunately, he was unintentionally comedic, and it was not "ha ha" funny, but rather "car-crash, its so bad I don't want to look at it, but I can't help but wonder how much he'll screw this up."
One can just imagine how many lawyers are waiting in the wings. There is a LOT at stake.
It would be unfair of me to judge Minnessotans, since my state, at least one overwhelmingly predominantly African American district just reelected Dollar Bill Jefferson (he of the $90,000 in his freezer fame), but Al Franken. The man's an obscenity.
Guys stop freaking out... it will take as long as it takes to get the job done well. As a Minnesotan I'll tell you that part of the reason it's so close (though the Presidental race wasn't) is that people don't necessarily vote straight party (oh the novelty of THINKING). For example... for President, Senator and Representative I voted for 2 Democrats and a Republican... no I won't tell you who exactly I voted for.
So many incredibly puerile and childish posts here, full of vindictive hate and name-calling. Hey, juveniles, whatever you think of Minnesota and either of the candidates, keep your unworthy filth to yourselves and let the recount finish up. If you are not a Minnesotan – or if you are one but didn't vote – you are absolutely not entitled to an opinion one way or another. Just shut up and mind your own business. Sounds to me like Minnesota is obeying the law and taking the time to do it right – whatever the outcome. If you can't live with that then YOU are a loser...whatever the outcome for your preferred candidate.
I would really like to see the democrats get a 60 majority. Tell me how it does any good to have an equally balanced congress with only two parties/sides. It amounts to GETTING NOTHING DONE. If one side can stop progress on anything they want, then the republicans will finish off our country rather than swallow their pride and vote for what the majority of the people want. I don't get it. Isn't there another way around a filabuster?
Bill,
What a completely uneducated post. The historical facts show that controll by one party has generally resulted in bad times for the country. Examples of this are President Bush and a Republican controlled Congress and President Jimmy Carter and a Democratic controlled Congress. Time will only tell if the Democrats repeat the blunders of the Carter administration or prove to have the best interest of America, as a whole, at heart.
A one party system of government would be detrimental to our freedoms and would smack more of communism than of democracy. Besides even Machiavelli recognized more than 500 years ago that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Like or hate Republicans or like or hate Democrats the complete absence of the other party would end our country and our freedoms without question. It is the balance of power that makes government work, so unless you are an ideolog and you only care that your opinion be heard and counted the destruction/elimination of the Republican party would be a bad thing.
I guess that is why it is good that we independents ultimately decide the outcome of elections.
Last time an "Al" was involved in a recount, the results were a disaster. Let's not go down that road again!
....Ben makes a greak point. Look how one biased state official (Harris – FL) dictated history. By calling the vote the way she wanted it to turn out, countless measures from the current inept administration were put into play....from everything from the war to the economy. So let's all send Katherine Harris a big thank you. From those who lost loved ones in Iraq and Afganistan, to those who lost their retirement savings and portfolios because no one wanted to regulate Wall Street....thanks-a-bunch! Don't ever beieve that one person can't make a difference in your life.....look how her decision effected countless lives. Tragic.
1. Progressivism and Liberalism are two different political ideologies. Its like saying socialism and communism are the same thing. So get that straight.
2. For everyone who is saying that the Minnesota recount is inept. Seriously? Its going exactly as it is supposed to without a hitch. Both sides play games obviously, but the outcome will not be affected by it.
3. Ventura was a good governor. We in Minnesota can vote for whoever we want. Remember, Ventura beat Coleman for governor. At least property taxes didn't skyrocket under Ventura. Pawlenty has basically run the state into a corner so he can say he didn't raise state taxes. (of course city/property taxes went way up to make up for budget shortfalls. thanks pawlenty.)
4. Both candiates were born in new york. Coleman came here and started his political career. Franken left after growing up and is now back to run for senate. I don't think we minnesotans were thrilled by either choice. This was the seat vacated by Paul Wellstone when he died in the plane accident after all.
ML, don't insult our intelligence with that "fascist Republican" crap. If you really left Minnesota, you left for a job or family, like everyone else who moves in this country. You dishonor the millions of refugees around the world who risk their lives to escape REAL repression–not just because they dislike the party in power, but because the party in power is trying to kill them. You need to give thanks this week that you live in a country where you can live wherever you choose, and where the opposition party is merely obnoxious, not murderous.
Where are all the liberals that were screaming about Sarah Palin's qualifications to be Vice-President? What are Franken's qualifications to be a United States Senator?
The recount isn't a ploy or an attempt to steal. Lets just hope whoever wins does a good job. If the people want bipartisan representation, they ought to quit acting so bipartisan themselves. Remember sometimes politicians do listen to the constituents - If we choose to act so partisan, how is it that we can blame the congress for acting in our reflection?
Ben
Do you suffer from PTSS or what ( Its eight years ago now Ben). The biggest problem in Florida was in Broward county , THE most heavily Demcratic county in the state. All three major news papers eventuallu just gave up trying to find something wrong in the recount. The biggest problem was that a certian Democratic Candidate just would give it up.
Good Lord, how long are they going to take??? This isn't brain surgery, folks, count the darn ballots and get it over with.
I think its funny that so many people on here like to bash Minnesota so much... I wonder what state theyre from? From what Ive seen on the news, Minnesota is one of the cleanest, healthiest, wealthiest, best educated states in the union... although they have had a couple of moron governors I think its silly to bash MN when theyre just doing what is required by law. If my states senate race was that close id want a recount too! hopefully the idiots talking about how dumb Franken is wil shut up... look at his college record and also his record of public service! Coleman isnt quite a bushy but he has been a flip-flopper and probably only won his current senate seat because of the death of Wellstone...anyways you morons should do some homework!!!
The laws on the books in Minnesota require a recount if the difference between the candidates isn't at least .5%.
The margin these guys ran was only 1/50 of that.
It's sad to see Americans criticize vote validation. Criticize the WAY votes are validated if you think fraud is a possibility if you want. But don't criticize vote validation itself. Our right to vote is too important for that.
@ Jackie in Dallas
THANK YOU!!! I've been waiting for someone to point out all the other people from the entertainment industry who have gone on to hold state and national office. Democrats AND Republicans.
To those who have tried to claim that the Clinton staff didn't remove the W's and put up centerfolds.
It did happen. And it was chiildish. Google it.
It was Bush who handled it like an adult and refused to comment.
Just saying it didn't happen, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
And FYI, I was working in the WH for Bush Sr. and was one of the last out of the OEOB, and we did nothing as childish. That being said, I know of people who saw the aftermath. There were also many power cords that had been cut and or removed.
Every vote CAN'T AND SHOULD NOT COUNT IF IT IS an ILLEGAL VOTE OR someone has incorrectly filled out their ballot. We should not let officials into the business of voter intent. I certainly filled out my ballot correctly so it is not a problem. I know someone very well that is an observer at this recount and the challenges are coming from all sides
I am here in Minnesota and know what is going and for anyone to say this is all one sided is an idiot. Both sides are playing the chess game.
It isn't brain surgery, but you can't count votes that should not be counted. ie. Person writes their name on their ballot, ie puts some other marking on the ballot when you cannot do that.
They are both a bunch of Morons! I could not get myself to vote for either Franken or Coleman here in Minnesota. So I voted for myself!
And I voted for Donald Duck for president!!!!!!