Coleman suffers additional defeat; 1400 ballots without registration will not be considered

[grantcart]

Increasingly desperate to find any votes that could keep him in office the Coleman campaign had high hopes that 1500 rejected absentee ballots would provide the magic numbers he needs.

County clerks, however, found that of this number only 89 had valid registrations and the other 1400 will not be considered. The 89 with valid registrations may face other problems. In any case the shrinking pool of questionable ballots that can even be argued about has made a change in the recount even more impossible.

Smaller vote pool may hurt Coleman

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/40965532.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUxWoW_oD:EaDUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

A review of 1,500 secrecy envelopes turned up registration cards that may now turn 89 rejected ballots into accepted ones. Norm Coleman hoped for a higher yield.

By PAT DOYLE and KEVIN DUCHSCHERE, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: March 10, 2009 - 2:52 PM

Republican Norm Coleman had hoped an inspection of hundreds of secrecy envelopes holding rejected absentee ballots would yield enough additional votes to help him cut into DFLer Al Franken's 225-vote lead. But it turned out that only 89 of them had valid registrations.

. . .

The three-judge panel hearing the U.S. Senate trial ordered county officials to inspect about 1,500 secrecy envelopes, which the two campaigns identified as possibly containing the completed voter registration forms needed for them to be counted. Each campaign had identified roughly the same number of envelopes for inspection.

It was not known for whom the ballots were cast, but two-thirds of those containing valid registrations are from counties that Coleman carried on Nov. 4.

Because of the size of his deficit, Coleman needs to put a substantial number of new ballots in play. The 700 secrecy envelopes that he identified for inspection were among thousands of ballots that he has claimed may have been improperly rejected.

After the secretary of state's office identified the 89 as having valid registration forms, Franken lawyer Marc Elias said the number was well below the threshold that "might have opened up" the contest. Elias also said the 89 ballots could be challenged on other grounds.

[gademocrat7]

1. When will this end and Franken be declared the winner?

[HughMoran]

2. Coleman lost

Will somebody tap him on the shoulder and tell him to go home?

[LiberalFighter]

9. A sledgehammer between his legs will be the only way he will concede.

[grantcart]

10. If they stop sending him money and he has to spend his own he will be out in a second

[AlinPA]

19. It looks like the republicans are in that litigation for the long haul. Very long.

[myrna minx]

3. We Minnesotans are sick of Coleman and his sleazy lawyers.

Enough already! Concede.

[damntexdem]

4. Hey, Norm, don't you know we need to protect against election fraud?

LOL!

[firedupdem]

5. Will he just go away? n/t

[thevoiceofreason]

6. Wasn't that nice?

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Time for new rules

In any vote re-count, loser has to pay all costs of said re-count.

[MoonRiver]

8. What a pathetic whiner.

Just go away Normie, before you become the eternal personification of "poor loser." :puke:

[annabanana]

11. He is pathetic...

go home, norm.

[Cha]

12. If this were a Dem like say Al Gore..then

the repubs and their base, the corporatemediawhores, would be screaming for his Loser head.

[agent46]

13. This guy Coleman

This guy Coleman must owe A LOT of people favors.
He's acting like someone's going to break his knees
if he doesn't get this gig and start greasing palms.

Stick a fork in it Norm! It's done!

:hi:

[dmr]

14. That's what I've been saying -

people say it's because the GOP hates Franken, and the GOP doesn't want the Dems to have 59 Senate votes, but I think it's even more than that for Norm. Just why does he have to win so badly? What unfinished business does he need to address? What favors does he owe? I don't think there is an honest Senate bone in Coleman's sleazy body. He certainly doesn't act Senatorial.

I am really heartened by Al Franken. He has shown himself worthy of his Senate seat. He has behaved through all of Coleman's bullshit respectfully, honestly and very, very intelligently.

I can't wait to see Franken on the Sunday talk shows! He'll eat the GOP liars right out of their lying lies!

[Dinger]

15. I Couldn't Agree With you More

Excellent post:)

[grantcart]

16. I think really Coleman has no employment prospects at all

[grantcart]

17. I think really Coleman has no employment prospects at all

[Imagevision]

18. Franken should pull a Bush and have the Supreme court stop the couinting and end it!

[LanternWaste]

20. Ah petulance, they name is Coleman...

Is it possible Coleman's simply dragging out an already decided victory simply to prevent Franken from taking his seat for as long as possible? That Coleman is not in fact, prolonging this with any hope of eventual victory, but is instead merely keeping up the fight to deny the Democrats that one additional seat in the Senate for as long as possible?

How much easier would the past fifty days have been had we seen Franken take his seat in a more timely manner? In this divided house, much easier than the sum of one Senator would suggest I would think.

And if Coleman is actually doing this (regardless of who set him to it), does he yet realize that he has, for all intents and purposes kissed his national political career good-bye? This continual act of pettiness on his part is advertising him as a joke for everyone to see, far beyond his own state borders-- the Senator without any clothes, so to speak.

Ah petulance, they name is Coleman...

[grantcart]

21. not only his national career but his state career and any chance as a pundit

He is making a fool out of himself.

[opihimoimoi]

23. Yup, all that and more.....he will be selling dope soon.....

[FVZA_Colonel]

22. I turn 22 on March 16th.

Though there really is no chance of this happening, there would be no greater birthday present than waking up and hearing that the case has been resolved and Al Franken is official representing the state of Illinois in the United States Senate.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. This decision? Phht. A mere flesh wound ...