CNN

Signing another person's name on anything relating to a voters' ballot here in Oregon is a FELONY.

To go into a court and say your girlfriend did this would put both of them in jail here.

Irony January 28th, 2009 2:30 pm ET

More votes than people? What kool-aid are you drinking? Let it play out, it's called democracy! It may not be efficient, or pretty, but it's the best thing going.
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No kool aid. This fact is on CNN today. wake up.

In local Star Tribune, an article was written about this. The article told of voter Coleman brought in who was blind and therefor could not sign his name properly. Unfortunately, this voter gave a blatent lie while on the witness stand. He was 75 years old and said he voted for Eishenhower in '52 for his first presidential election. Unfortunately, that would put the witness at 19 years old during that election, 2 years under the legal voting age of 21. The voting age was not lowered to 18 until Vietnam. Either this voter is lying, or he voted illegally.

Please Norm, if you're going to have witnesses, at least get ones that will tell the truth while they're on the stand...

fight the power Norm. don't let the dems steal the seat. it only took them 3 counts in Washington state for gregoire to steal it here.

He needs to step down.
Isn't there an investigation going on about his conduct and possibly being a crook?

Coleman, walk away. Can you spell "over?"

Letter of the law, a mispelled name makes a rejected ballot. A girl friend signing a ballot application with the voter signing the ballot means signatures dont match its rejected. What is so hard to understand. Spelling are important, if it was spelled wrong the voter needed to take steps to correct it, fraud is fraud, signatures must match, names must match. It's time Coleman gives it up and stops wasting tax payers money.

Unless Minnesota does things differently, during recounts represtatives of the canidates are right there during the recount and must agree on each and every ballot that is counted.

I am sure that Franken will be at very least as good of Senator as Coleman ever thought he was.

What a bunch of losers. YOU LOST. GET OVER IT.

Does bringing a handful of people to take a witness stand represent the entire state of MN?

ten million a day? CNN do a story of our aid in reference to our budget so that we can better understand what this is, please.

Just another bunch of liberals throwing another election. Who in their right mind would want Franken in office? Of course we are talking about Minnesota who once had a pro wrestler as their leader.

More votes than people? What kool-aid are you drinking? Let it play out, it's called democracy! It may not be efficient, or pretty, but it's the best thing going.

Michael,
You are an idiot. Frankin did not request the recount. It is an automatic recount prescribed by MN law. Whenever the vote is closer than .1% , there is an automatic recount. In that recount, MN law demands that officials count EVERY vote.

Michael Landes: NOT TRUE!

Coleman needs to hang it up and turn it parttime tempo job into a fulltime one! franken, get your plane ticket to DC now!

Mari> I guarantee you that 3rd world countries have it MUCH worse off than we do. I'm sure you're not walking around w. a bloated belly. It's our duty to set the standard and help those less fortunate.

Coleman doesn't look so good...

And, again, why is Normie so anxious to get back to DC anyway? He'll need to travel to Dallas Texas to re-brown his nose from now on.

The hypocrisy of the Coleman camp is as thick as concrete. The Coleman and Franken camp agreed before the re-count on which types of additional ballots would be accepted and which would be rejected. The recount didn't go their way, so now Coleman is tyring to change the rules mid-stream - which is the very life-blood of the [R]-way.....change the rules and cherry-pick the "facts" until you can spin the story your way. Sound familiar? It should: that was G. Bush to the tee for the past 8 years. What a terrible example to our children.

what do you mean 10 million a day to Isreal

As a Minnesotan, I believe the recount was fair. All the ballots were counted and the former Senator can't believe he lost.
1) If we look at the 2000 election, many blame Gore for losing his home state of Tennessee. Norm Coleman lost in his home voting precint, and not to mention the city of which he was the mayor.
2) Norm said he would have lost to any Democrat except Franken. It's as if to say John McCain should have challenged the results of the election because he would of been beat by anyone else then Obama.
In reality, Norm does not like the fact he was beat.
3) Norm is looking to win in any way possible. Read the article. A man is upset that his vote didn't count because his girlfriend forged his signature. Another because the man misspelled his name. They want their ballot counted. There were people who went to the polls on election day who ballots were rejected because they didn't follow the election rules while voting. shouldn't they get a do over too?

Wow – one of Coleman's witnesses admitted on the stand to an act that essentially is voter fraud, yet Coleman still wants the vote to count? I thought Republicans were against voter fraud?

Unbelievable!!!!!!

What is the sound of one vote not being counted in MN?
This is so stupid it's sad...give it up Coleman and find a real job

Mari and american-I agree completely!!!

A lot of voters are idiots and just don't follow directions. Then they whine when their ballots are rejected.

Get a grip people. Follow the law. You can't have someone else - like your girlfriend - sign your name to your ballot. It has to be you. Your ballot. Your signature. That's how election officials know that you are the person who voted. Duh???? And don't send in a ballot that has your name misspelled. How is anyone supposed to know that except you?

If these judges let Coleman overturn the election based on these kinds of complaints, they will set a precedent for overturning every election. Unfortunately there are always a few fools who screw this up every election year.

WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR OUR LEADERS TO SEE THA T THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES NEED HELP A LOT MORE THAN OUR SO CALL ALLIES. THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE IN THE STATES STARVING, LOOSING EVERYTHING AND OUR TAXES DOLLARS ARE SENT TO FOREIGN COUNTRY'S TO REBUILD THEM .WHICH WE SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN OVER THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS NEED TO WAKE UP. BUT I 'M AFRAID I'M WASTING MY TIME AND WRITING. MOST OF THEM DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE POOR, NAD HAVING TO WORK IN A FACTORY OR ON A FARM MAKING $2.OO A DAY YES I SAID $2.OO A DAY BACK IN THE 40'S AND 50'S. THINGS HWVE REALLY CHANGED AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S FOR THE GOOD EITHER .MAY GOD HELP US I DON'T THINK ANYONE ELSE IS.

Hey "Chris from NY", are you talking about Blago and the other four high-profile Dems in trouble right now? I actually want Frank to win so he, Pelosi, Reid, and the corrupt Chicago politicians in high office now will so enrage the American people that 2010 will be 1994 all over again.

I'm sorry, but am I supposed to feel bad that they excluded the vote of some doofus who had his girlfriend sign his name on a legal document–probably an affidavit: his voter registration??????

No good reason?
"His ballot was rendered moot due to a mispelling in his name" – the man can not spell his name, but his ballot should be counted? For all the local election official knows someone else filled out your ballot, because you should know how to spell your own name.

"Ballot may have been rejected because his girlfriend signed his signature on his ballot application while he signed the actual ballot, meaning the two signatures did not match." – This is not a legal ballot. You have to sign your own ballot.

I am sure Franken voters received the same type of letters. Franken should bring in people that had their ballots rejected for similar reasons.

I moved to wisconsin in 2001 and registered as a voter there in 2002 . recently I found out fro my parents that I am still registered to vote in Minnesota although I am also Registered In Wisconsin. MN election judges that I personally know say that there is no way someone can be registered in two states but MN did it to me. How many other mistakes have they made?

Well, I know where all the money in this economy is going...to the lawyers of Minnesota! Coleman parading voters in the court now? What's next, Franken doing jokes for the court?

I do agree that Foreign aide should be banned immediately starting with the Middle East (Including Israel) and go down the list.

Per Minnesota election results:

Total # of Eligible voters

Coleman: 1,212,206
Franken: 1,212,431

Total # of votes cast in 2009: Approx. 2,910,369

I did the math, according to the Mn election board's published numbers, and more ballots were NOT cast than were eligible to vote in Minnesota's election. Have you been listening to Rush again?

Why doesn't cnn report on the 2 witnesses that admitted to tampering with evidence on the stand yesterday.
Is cnn bias in it reporting?
What do you think?

The key here is 'former' Republican senator. This thing is already over.

OMG! NO ONE CARES ABOUT THIS SENATE RACE! NOT EVEN PEOPLE FROM THE STATE! so please run more interesting stories about the everyday Americans and no the Senators who really have no idea what its like to be out of a job.

Repubicans regularly win elections in states like Florida by illegally disenfranchising voters, but boy how they howl when they think it has happened to them.

Coleman, after one term, only received about 40% of the vote in a three-way race; clearly voters don't want more of the same.

Why not let Al Fraudken be senator?

He's good enough.
He's smart enough.
And gosh darn it, the media likes him.

I checked the absentee ballot application and it clearly states:

"I certify that..."

in the signature section. It doesn't say anything about allowing others to certify for you. Isn't there a special word for signing someone's name on an official document? Something like "forgery?" And how exactly does someone misspell their own name?

Please change that picture. He looks like a bottle opener.

Norm, I wish you well. Our politics is full of crooks including Al Franken. They do not want to follow the democracy. I hope you will come through this trial and become our senator. There crooked people around like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Franks, Chuck Schumer, Chris Dodd, etc and then Barack Obama.....

@RDW, what IS true is that some votes for Franken counted on election night could not be found for the recount, yet were 'counted' anyway. The chain of custody of others was broken, yet they were counted. Duplicate ballots created legally to replace damaged ballots were supposed to be stapled to the original ballot. Many became seperated and were probably counted twice in the recount. Different counties used different standards in the recount and to determine which ballots to reject, which the Supreme Court said in the 2000 FL recount was illegal. Face it, there are many procedural errors operating here, and at this point no one knows who really won. The court should clear this up by ordering that a single statewide standard be used for recounting all ballots and that only those ballots actually located with positive chains of custody be counted.

Coleman agreed to all the terms of the recount but once it didn't go his way...t's a problem...

Do you really want an ex-comedian in office. What qualifies him?

I think there should be another vote. This is just too much of a mess.

I live in MN. I find it funny the Dems liked it when Franken wanted a recount. But now Coleman is being a baby and should drop out when he asks for it to be done right? In several precincts, we had more votes then registered voters. Is that right? Just start over and do another vote.

Seeing how this man is carrying on, the courts should throw him and those who are pushing this foolishness out on top of their heads. We are facing grave issues and he still worrying about mis-counted votes months later after the election. My goodness all politicans are crooks in some way or fashion. Coleman you crapped out this time; take it like man and move on.

This is how we handle things back in the day on the school yard when you got in a fight. You win some and you lose some. You LOST!!!! Take it as it is and move onto something else. Go write a book!

Oh John and Shirley, I guess it's ok to have more ballots than voters in precincts, right? Just concede. That is for the courts to decide.

Has everyone forgotten that Franken first disputed the count when Coleman finished ahead at the end of the election. It's only fair that Coleman should have the same opportuinty to dispute what appears to be votes counted twice and votes not counted at all. Remember Democrats that you have always advocated that every vote be counted. It required that the courts review the various complaints from both parties to resolve the issues at hand.

RDW

25 precincts with more votes than voters-thats a fact-what a joke.

Double counted ballots that just "happen" to be for Franken-what a joke.

Al Franken-what a joke. That he even received so many votes shows how messed up the political system is.

Seriously?
Coleman is bringing random voters to the stand?
I suppose it is a good PR trick, but doubtful that this will win him anything in the courts.

Glad I am not from Minnesota. This is a fiasco.

and america pride themselves on fair election. what a bunch of pathetic people.

this racists is a sore loser like all republicans.

It is sad that Coleman demanded that the candidates do the right thing and get the election over with soon...until Franken took the lead. Now Coleman shows his true hypocritical colors......win at any cost, fight dirty, care about yourself and not the people of your state.
'Storming Norman' should STEP ASIDE and let MN be represented according to their vote.

i wish and pray to god everyday that one morning i wake and see on the news all republicans has vanished from earth so this country can be a better place. these racists morons on the right are pathetic humans.

Coleman was so quick to insist that there be NO re-count just after the election when HE was ahead. Now that he's been declared the loser he's crying foul. Somebody grab the (vaudeville) "hook" and pull him off stage!

With 25 precints that had more votes cast than there were actual voters in those precints all leaning to Franken, it makes you wonder how much voter FRAUD there actually was in MN.

Like all Republicans lately, Coleman looks like a pathetic loser.

Minnesota must be proud.........................What an absolute JOKE!!!!!!!!

This guy is such a creep. It's time he stopped holding the state and the people hostage and get out of the way. Franken won and Coleman is just wasting the peoples time and money. He's just another whining and obstructing Republican and if he shows his face in the next election he will be shouted down.

Count ALL the votes please. If Franken still wins then so be it. As a citizen of the state of Minnesota I am extremely ashamed by the voting process in this state and the obvious partisan involvement of our dispicable Secretary of State.
When more votes are counted in a precinct than there are registered voters then the whole process is tainted and the election results are not credible.
When the same vote is counted more than once the process for voting is further invalidated.
Seems ironic doesn't it, that only when the DEMOCRAT S.O.S. gets involved does Franken win.
Why is it that only Franken votes got double counted, why is it only Franken districts count more votes than registered voters?
You can say Coleman probably is partly to blame for trusting the voting process to work fair.
I don't blame him for taking this to court.
In 2000 when Bush won the White House every single Democrat in this country claimed he stole the election and wouldn't support him. Now when Franken CLEARLY steals this election the dems have no problem with it and want us to support their candidate. Can you say HYPOCRISY?
How about giving the election to the person who came in third? Sounds like a fair deal to me.

I wonder if the author of this story would be denied his vote for misspelling misspelling.

Coleman this is such a reminder of the 2000 election with Bush/Chney, and you know what a mess that has caused. Just look at America and the world as we sink further into despair. Do the right thing and concede. You lost the election along with many of the rest of your hate-filled party. Let's move on.

Hey Michael,

There are NOT more votes than people in the state. Or more votes than registered voters. Or even more in-person votes than people that signed in on election day. It simply isn't true. It's not even close to being true. Please stop copying things that you hear from Limbaugh. He's just wrong...

@ AMERICAN.......... I KNOW....... LET'S STOP .......ALL FOREIGN AID.........AND HELP OUR OWN PEOPLE!

HOW ABOUT IT FOLKS...... THIS IS SOMETHING BOTH THE LEFT AND THE FAR-RIGHT CAN AGREE ON!

LET'S CALL, WRITE TO AND EMAIL OUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND DEMAND FOREIGN AID IS STOPPED!

WHY DO WE PAY JAPAN, GERMANY....... AND OTHERS? WHEN OUR NATION IS IN A FINANCIAL CRISIS?

I'm sure this is not the way the citizens of Minnesota want to be known nation wide but this is the way it is now. The election count in Minnesota is a joke. They make the Florida mess look like Kindergarden stuff.

Drop a coin from 3 stories up onto the side walk and let the 2 men call it on it's way down. Winner goes to Washington and the loser goes home. End of dispute. So simple and painless.

Whether you voted for Coleman or Franken, your girlfriend can't sign your ballot application on your behalf and then you sign your actual ballot. This vote was properly rejected. And wasted.

Just another example of the Democratic Culture of Corruption stealing elections. Nothing to see here, move along....

'I' find it strange that Coleman said told Franken publicly after November 4th that whomever was had a deficit following the state-wide recount should accept defeat and allow the state to heal. Of course, that was when HE was the lead. Now that he's not, funny how that changed.

A whiner like Coleman will be a great candidate when paired with Pallin in 2012.

what a mess.

I am curious why the first comment which is a poorly worded and thought-out bash on Israel was deemed "appropriate for posting" as specified in the comments policy on this page.

Isn't it a bit off topic.

Charlie in New Jersey

GIVE IT UP COLEMAN! YOU THINK AL FRANKEN IS A JOKE? YOU NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.YOUR TO SELF CENTERED IN YOUR THINKING AND DEFINITELY NOT CONCERNED WITH VOTER NEEDS.OR FOR THAT MATTER THE STATES WELFARE IN GOVERMENT'S.SYSTEM.YOU HAVE LOST BETTER LUCK MAYBE NEXT TIME

If you spell your name wrong...your vote doesn't count.
If you have your girlfriend sign your ballot application, then don't have the forethought to have her sign the ballot too...your vote doesn't count (and you should be fined for attempted voter fraud).

Stupid people who vote incorrectly have forfeited their ballots. Better luck next time.

GIVE IT UP COLEMAN! YOU THINK AL FRANKEN IS A JOKE? YOU NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.YOUR TO SELF CENTERED IN YOUR THINKING AND DEFINITELY NOT CONCERNED WITH VOTER NEEDS.OR FOR THAT MATTER THE STATES WELFARE IN GOVERMENTAL.SYSTEM.YOU HVE OST BETTER LUCK MAYBE NEXT TIME

Why is it so difficult to run an election without all this controversy? Seriously.

Sen. Coleman, or more appropriately, former senator Coleman, you will do yourself and Minnesota, a great good if you withdraw this lawsuit and declare Al Franken the winner. In the final analysis, I am highly doubtful that you will prevail in this lawsuit. You would have succeeded in spending valuable tax-payer dollars and taken much time the courts could spend trying real cases. If you were a good senator, you wouldn't be in this situation, as most of your colleagues seeking re-election won hands down.

Poor little Normie, I feel so sorry for him.

Coleman's witness admits that he trusted the decisions made by local election officials. Given that testimony, the appeals court will not reverse. The fact that some ballots might have been impacted by human error is not evidence of anything, unless Coleman can prove that such error would impact only him, which he cannot do. Coleman is reduced to bringing in a voter who sent his girlfriend in to sign his name on the voter registration. All this proves is that 1) the voter is a jerk or too lazy to care about his vote, or both, and 2) the election officials did their job properly precisely because the signatures did not match. Coleman's legal challenge is all bluster and no evidence.

Man, I wish this guy would just go away. I mean, he says he wants the will of the people, right? Well, when an incumbent has more people vote against him than for him, I think it's pretty clear that the will of the people is to get him out of there.
On the other hand, though, what's a few more weeks/months of MN being under-represented? We've been under-represented for six years now.

We can go to the moon and come back seven times; build a space lab in space; but we can't develop and conquer a voting system. Doesn't say much for us as a society--if you want to become a Senator---steal the election.

=========$10 Million a day goes to Israel…..!!!!!!!

A Day!!! Can u believe that???????????

and,

we can't even help our own people here in usa!!!!

What's wrong with the country????????

CNN, post my comment, i know u don't want people to talk about these things….

I find it strange that when Franken asked or more like demanded that the votes he wanted counted was re-looked at and recounted even though some if not most of those were of questionable votes. Lets count all the votes that match, very simple. You have more ballots that you have people in this state.DO THE MATH!!!!!!!

That's what power can do to you. It makes you drunk to forget it's not about you but the people of Minnesota. It took the people of America to throw the Republicans out of office. I guess Coleman didn't get the memo yet.

I think that is time to get on with it. Just how much do you think it would cost to bring the 4,500 voters. How much has this cost so far? So much for the taxpayers in your state, they don't get a say how you are forcing them to spend they money. This has turned into a circus. I understand that defeat is not easy to swallow, but come on. If you feel that you were done wrong, then use the courts, but let the high court decide. You must be willing to accpet defeat and you are free to run again. Wouldn't your efforts be better spent in making your state better? Can't you find another way to serve your state? Ask yourself, is this all worth it? I vote that you get on with it, and accpet th decision. Allow the elected senator to begin his work. Stop holding up progress.

... and 4494 of them were registered by ACORN

count all the votes....

I'm sure Norm's lawyers will want to call everyone who voted for him to the stand; that's certainly in the state's best interest, isn't it?
Funny that the two examples given–misspelled name and mismatched signatures–strike me as legitimate reasons for rejecting ballots. Why would someone not correct a misspelling of his name, and what possible legitimate reason is there for having your girlfriend sign your name?
Norm Coleman, you just used up your last shred of dignity.

Riiiiight... and ACORN registered all 6 of them... 750 times each!

If you want to vote, follow the procedures properly. Don't have your girlfriend sign your application for an absentee ballot. Duh! If you don't follow the rules properly you run the risk that your vote won't be counted...and you have nothing to whine about if that happens.

This is stupid and the people of Minnesota need a senator. Give up Coleman!! Good going Al Franken!!!! The world can always use some positive humor!!

The truth is finally coming out. I hope that 4500 voters testify and show the biased democratic election board to be as blatently crooked as it is. Between Acorn and desperate democrats in positions they have no business holding, this years elections are just a BIG JOKE. Coleman won this race and I hope the courts do the right thing.

The only two people who thihk Coleman was treated fairly are Harry Reid and Paul Begala. Enough said.