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MUST READ FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “MISCHIEF IN MINNESOTA?”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | November 12, 2008
“You’d think Democrats would be content with last week’s electoral rout. But judging from the odd doings in Minnesota, some in their party wouldn’t mind adding to their jackpot by stealing a Senate seat for left-wing joker Al Franken.
When Minnesotans woke up last Wednesday, Republican Senator Norm Coleman led Mr. Franken by 725 votes. By that evening, he was ahead by only 477. As of yesterday, Mr. Coleman’s margin stood at 206. This lopsided bleeding of Republican votes is passing strange considering that the official recount hasn’t even begun.
The vanishing Coleman vote came during a week in which election officials are obliged to double-check their initial results. Minnesota is required to do these audits, and it isn’t unusual for officials to report that they transposed a number here or there. In a normal audit, these mistakes could be expected to cut both ways. Instead, nearly every “fix” has gone for Mr. Franken, in some cases under strange circumstances.” Source: Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
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“This entire process is being overseen by Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who isn’t exactly a nonpartisan observer. One of Mr. Ritchie’s financial supporters during his 2006 run for office was a 527 group called the Secretary of State Project, which was co-founded by James Rucker, who came from MoveOn.org. The group says it is devoted to putting Democrats in jobs where they can ‘protect elections.’
Mr. Ritchie is also an ally of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, of fraudulent voter-registration fame. That relationship might explain why prior to the election Mr. Ritchie waved off evidence of thousands of irregularities on Minnesota voter rolls, claiming that accusations of fraud were nothing more than ‘desperateness’ from Republicans.” Source: Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
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22 Responses to “MUST READ FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “MISCHIEF IN MINNESOTA?””
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November 12th, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Oh please, in 2002 during this time Coleman lost over 8k votes. This is basic, regular, and consistent with past election results and shifts.
You and the Wall Street Journal should do your research.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Mark Ritchie, with all his faults, is the secretary of state who was elected by the voters. The concern now is that lawful votes be counted accurately. If anyone, anywhere, knows of anyone who voted illegally, let’s hear about it.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:21 AM
I’m moving on to the next question. Other than through sheer incompetence, how could Mark Richie have fucked this up.
This is the first time that voting machines across the state were unable to securely transmit their tabulations. Had this simple thing happened, we wouldn’t have these questions marring the integrity of the recount.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:28 AM
“With their party only three Senate seats from the 60 needed to break a filibuster (and two still not decided), Democrats have a political incentive to cut corners to steal a seat if they can get away with it. Mr. Franken and his left-wing allies also know that if Mr. Franken couldn’t win election in this fabulous Democratic year, then the not-so-funnyman never will. If Minnesota wants to retain its reputation as a state with clean elections, it needs to run an honest recount.”
Hiram, what part of this do you disagree with?
Basically here is the task before Mark Ritchie:
1. Provide a fair and open process. Ballots “suddenly discovered” under a bunch of McDonalds wrappers in a back seat of a car is not a fair and open process. Vote totals that are inexplicably changed after normal working hours is not a fair and open process.
2. Be accountable. Why were the voting machines not tested before election day? Why were there machines printing the wrong date? Why weren’t machines able to upload the results automatically as they were designed? There shouldn’t be any “newly discovered votes” or “accounting errors” after election day. The reason the entire system is automated precisely to REMOVE the possibility of human errors (and the subsequent doubts about accuracy). He has yet to explain (or take responsibility for) the failure of the automated process.
3. Become a reformer. Ritchie’s former group, Acorn, has become synonymous with election fraud. Ritchie now needs to demonstrate to Minnesotans that he is no longer an agent of this group. Push for basic election reforms such as showing ID before voting and an end to same-day registration. Our democracy depends on people believing that every vote cast is a legal vote.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:41 AM
“”1. Provide a fair and open process. “”
Fritz Knaak, Norm Coleman’s lawyer, told the Pioneer Press that the handling of the 32 ballots in Minneapolis was “neither wrong nor unfair.”
“2. Be accountable. . . . 3. Become a reformer.”
Katherine Kersten admitted that “Ritchie has shown no evidence of misconduct.”
November 12th, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Actually, this isn’t the first time voting machines haven’t transmitted. Last cycle some of the machines could transmit and others couldn’t. It made results flow in haphazardly. While compiling results you’d hear the radios in the background asking for verification of result transmission over and over again. Mary Kiffmeyer was SOS then. It wasn’t an issue as head judges or associate head judges just drove results over to city hall – like this year. Because no races were this high profile or this close, no one made a big deal out of it.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:46 AM
“Ritchie has shown no evidence of misconduct.â€
True. Just incompetence.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:46 AM
“Last cycle some of the machines could transmit and others couldn’t.”
This year, none could.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:49 AM
“Last cycle some of the machines could transmit and others couldn’t.”
If so, then what, other than polishing ACORN’s apple, has Mark Richie been doing in the meantime to ensure that these systems and processes worked?
How could Mark Richie fuck this up. Especially if, as you say, he had fore-knowledge that there were kinks in the system to work out.
He had two years to make sure Minnesota elections could run smoothly. In fact, I think that idiot ran on the idea that he would guarantee solid operation of Minnesota’s election apparatus.
What the hell has he been doing?
How could Mark Richie fuck this up?
November 12th, 2008 at 12:01 PM
What will be odd is if Richie allows Al Franken’s election theft strategy to stand. The Franken election theft strategy calls for the recount to consider a vote for Barak Obama, but no vote in the Senate race, to count for Al Franken.
This would truly be defining intent from thin air — an absolutely fraudulent manufacture of votes for a candidate for whom not vote was registered.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Kyle… I suggest you get back on your meds.
Democrats will win the day. The truth hurts.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:08 PM
They may Dan. And they may even have done so legitimately. But this current issue reeks to high heaven.
Good to know you have no concern for the rule of law. What was truly precious, however, was to see your idiot candidate Ashwin Madia get his ass kicked.
Madia: Ready to dust off his resume.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Ashwin has honor. Erik does not and will not.
Too bad for the good people of the 3rd CD.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Ashwin has an unemployment claim to file. Certainly not honor. He ran a dishonest, disingenuous, hack campaign. Madia is a fraud, a liar and a loser.
Back to the issue at hand: What is absolutely positively clear is that Mark Richie is absolutely incompetent as Secretary of State.
He’s run his office unprofessionally and has given nobody in this state any reason for confidence in his ability to carry out his duties.
Mark Richie is a disgrace.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:46 PM
“He ran a dishonest, disingenuous, hack campaign.”
If you are referring to Erik The Whiner, you would be correct.
Paulsen, a “moderate” with a history of “working across the aisle, in a bipartisan manner”??!?
ROFLMAO!!!
He did NOT rise to the position of Majority Leader with a history of “working across the aisle, in a bipartisan manner.”
NO WAY you bootlickers would allow THAT to happen.
Paulsen started his campaign as a liar, he lied troughout his campaign, and he ended it as a liar.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Hey Tommy, you are smarter than you look!
November 12th, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Madia started his campaign as a liar, he lied troughout his campaign, and he ended it as a liar.
How true. That’s why that no-talent hack is waiting in the bread line.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Madia: Ready to wash your car.
Madia: Can I take your order please.
Madia: Clean up in aisle five.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Madia: Paper or plastic?
Madia: Would you like fries with that?
Madia: Hold on, I think I hear an ambulance. Yep, gotta run.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:11 PM
I suspect that Ritchie & Co. deliberately avoided having the broken voting machines repaired.
It is very handy to have an apparently innocent malfunction to provide cover when you are stealing an election.
The fact that Ritchie refused to investigate his supporters at ACORN, despite the fact that there is evidence of massive fraud in all states they have operated in, is evidence enough of collusion.
We need to remove this clown, and remove him now.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:56 PM
“Hiram, what part of this do you disagree with?”
I certainly agree that Mark Ritchie wants Franken to win.
‘Ballots “suddenly discovered†under a bunch of McDonalds wrappers in a back seat of a car is not a fair and open process. Vote totals that are inexplicably changed after normal working hours is not a fair and open process.’
If the votes were validly cast, it doesn’t matter how many McDonald’s wrappers they were found under. The officials should be held accountable as to why they mishandled the ballots, but if the ballots are valid, they must be counted.
“Push for basic election reforms such as showing ID before voting and an end to same-day registration. Our democracy depends on people believing that every vote cast is a legal vote.”
I don’t believe in erecting barriers to voting, but in any event, there is no reason at all to believe that the votes found under the McDonald’s wrappers were cast by people without ID’s.
The issue here is counting votes. That’s all that’s relevant, that’s all that matters.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:56 PM
showing an ID to prove residency is not a barrier…having to register on a day that is not election day is not a barrier…. same day registration…and not having to show proof of residency is rife with fraud..we are seeing the fruits of this insane practice