MN Sen Recount (UPDATE: Stuart Smalley certified winner, lawsuit forthcoming)

[Lunar]

Coleman is expanding his lead.

Democrats need to find more ballots

[Хahar 🤔]

I'm all for destroying democracy, but only when it benefits me!

^^^^

[Lunar]

[Ronnie]

Coleman is expanding his lead.

Democrats need to find more ballots

Don't worry, the SOS will eventually "find" 500 votes all for Franken in the back of a pickup truck.  I have no doubt about it.

[Lunar]

Coleman is expanding his lead.

Democrats need to find more ballots

Don't worry, the SOS will eventually "find" 500 votes all for Franken in the back of a pickup truck.  I have no doubt about it.

It'll be more subtle than that

It would seem that Coleman's lead expansion today is almost entirely due to increased challenges.  But Franken isn't eating into it regardless.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

There are many reasons why I want this election to be over, and the shrill partisanship of the Dems on this board in their love for Al Franken is certainly one of them.

I'm sick of this whole circus, I'm not a big fan of Al (though I would prefer him to be elected over Norm), and I'm a partisan Democrat.

[© tweed]

why are you guys tired of this?  fiascoes such as these are what we junkies live for.

[Lunar]

why are you guys tired of this?  fiascoes such as these are what we junkies live for.

I know, I want this to come down to a coinflip

Maybe have a scandal over Franken or Coleman using a trick coin

[Eraserhead]

Coleman is expanding his lead.

Democrats need to find more ballots

Don't worry, the SOS will eventually "find" 500 votes all for Franken in the back of a pickup truck.  I have no doubt about it.

Oh please. These Dems clearly don't know how to steal an election.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Franken is a standard liberal Democrat. I see no reason for any Democrat to hate him.

[Хahar 🤔]

Franken is a standard liberal Democrat. I see no reason for any Democrat to hate him.

Nah, he's also funny.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!

Yes, exactly.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I'm all for destroying democracy, but only when it benefits me!

What, you say that if such things become routinized, it could eventually hurt my wishes in a big way (Gore)?  No....

this would be retaliation for Gore

Wouldn't Washington 2004 be retaliation for Gore?

[Franzl]

I'm all for destroying democracy, but only when it benefits me!

What, you say that if such things become routinized, it could eventually hurt my wishes in a big way (Gore)?  No....

this would be retaliation for Gore

Wouldn't Washington 2004 be retaliation for Gore?

well, no

we need a couple of smaller races to make up for a presidential election.

[© tweed]

I'm all for destroying democracy, but only when it benefits me!

What, you say that if such things become routinized, it could eventually hurt my wishes in a big way (Gore)?  No....

this would be retaliation for Gore

Wouldn't Washington 2004 be retaliation for Gore?

arguably but I don't really care about that


besides the people here that know about what happened there seem to think that it wasn't stolen

[minionofmidas]

I'm all for destroying democracy, but only when it benefits me!

What, you say that if such things become routinized, it could eventually hurt my wishes in a big way (Gore)?  No....

this would be retaliation for Gore

Wouldn't Washington 2004 be retaliation for Gore?

Not on the same plane of existence.

Nor is this race. Unless it were *blatantly* stolen, but the process is far too transparent for that still to be possible.

[Sam Spade]

Update #1:  The State Canvassing Board unanimously rejected Franken's motion that rejected absentee ballots be included in the recount.

Of course this seems obvious too:  "During the discussion, the board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the merits of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys. They also made it clear they expect the issue to be litigated separately from the recount procedure."

They're also going to try and cut down on the challenges before the Canvassing Board meets and get rid of some of the pointless ones.

In all honesty, I was going through the new Dakota/Hennepin challenges last night.  If these numbers reflect numbers in other counties, at minimum 90% of these challenges are not going to go anywhere, IMHO, so this is good.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/35126884.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsr

Update #2:  Apparently Itasca County (Franken 47, Coleman 38) will open up the recount to count three absentee ballots that had been neglected or mistakenly rejected.  Naturally, I suspect these ballots may be "challenged". 

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/35074544.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUxWoW_oD:EaDUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyU

[Rob]

Wouldn't Washington 2004 be retaliation for Gore?

Preventing the GOP from stealing another election isn't what I would call "retaliation." Same goes for this race (if indeed we can pull it out).

[Keystone Phil]

besides the people here that know about what happened there seem to think that it wasn't stolen

Shockingly, they're all Gregoire supporters. Odd, eh?

[Ronnie]

My instincts are neutral at this point.  Who has the advantage?

[Sam Spade]

And you thought challenge *overkill* was bad before...  I'm hoping this is a misprint, otherwise I'll have as much *fun* as with Hennepin.

Sherburne
Vote Changes
Coleman -433, Franken -426

Challenges
Coleman 452, Franken 422

...help...

[Meeker]

besides the people here that know about what happened there seem to think that it wasn't stolen

Shockingly, they're all Gregoire supporters. Odd, eh?

Shockingly, Rossi supporters don't actually have any evidence of fraud, yet keep implying that there was. Odd, eh?

[agcatter]

This is pretty much as I expected.  Optical scanning is extremely accurate.  No hanging chads or such.  Coleman wins the recount without a significant change in the totals.  Franken will have to rely on some sort of litigation.   Perhaps he can get the courts to have Nate Silver declare him the winner.

[muon2]

And you thought challenge *overkill* was bad before...  I'm hoping this is a misprint, otherwise I'll have as much *fun* as with Hennepin.

Sherburne
Vote Changes
Coleman -433, Franken -426

Challenges
Coleman 452, Franken 422

...help...

I just saw this as well. This is almost as many challenges as in Hennepin! I understand that the canvassing board has pleaded for help from both sides to reduce the challenge pile. Does that mean that the attys will agree swap challenged ballots and allow them either both in or out at the same time?