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December 11, 2008 at 11:53:37     Permalink Republican Norm Coleman is Okay with Disenfranchising Minnesotans and Does Not Want Your Vote to Count Diary Entry by E. Nelson (about the author)

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Republican Norm Coleman claims certain legally cast votes in Minnesota should not count. Are Norm Coleman's political aspirations more important than our Democracy and the clear outcome of this historically close election between Norm Coleman and Al Franken?

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Earlier this week Republican Norm Coleman publicly stated that 133 ballots that went missing in a Minneapolis precinct should not to be part of the ongoing recount. The Al Franken campaign is arguing that these voters did nothing wrong and their votes should count. The is the first time in Minnesota history a politician has publicly stated that legally cast votes should not count in an election. Despite what some media outlets continue to state and even the Coleman campaign, these ballots were deemed missing by all the election officials involved. This was determined by matching the voter rolls on election day with the number of ballots that were recounted. Originally it was thought that the discrepancy was due to some ballots being counted twice on election night but that explanation was later disproven by comparing the voter rolls on election night to the number of ballots in the recount. Because of this mistake 133 ballots are clearly missing and could not obviously be recounted. Election advocates have stated that the fair remedy and one that has legal precedent is to use the original vote count on election night for this precinct.

In the closest Senate race in Minnesota history, every vote should be counted fairly. But there are Minnesotans who had their votes thrown out, even though they did nothing wrong. They voted absentee, but their ballots were improperly rejected because of someone else’s mistake. And in the closest Senate race in Minnesota history, their votes remain uncounted. The Minnesota State Canvassing board will be deciding whether these Minnesotans should be disenfranchised. The Norm Coleman campaign does not want to count these Minnesotans or anyone of the Minnesotans who cast one of the 133 ballots that went missing in a precinct that not surprisingly went for for Al Franken 2-1 on election night.

The following video highlights a number of Minnesotans that had legally cast absentee ballots rejected for either unknown reasons or for reasons that are not valid under Minnesota election law.

This week right-wing columnist Ann Coulter said of the recount efforts in Minnesota, "Election recounts are never intended to get more accurate results. They are simply opportunities for Democrats to manufacture new votes and steal elections." She continued with this comment, "And once again, Republicans are asleep at the wheel while another close election is being openly stolen …".

Hopefully a public servant like Norm Coleman has a little more respect for the voice of Minnesotans and will do everything in his power to make sure every legally cast vote counts in this election.

Are Norm Coleman's political aspirations more important than our Democracy?

 

Eric Nelson is freelance writer, an editor at OpEdNews, and a spiritual progressive from Minnesota who has become more politically active. The reasons for this should be obvious to most; rising poverty, a broken health care system, and a growing (more...)
 

 

 
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