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COLEMAN FOR U.S. SENATE PRESS RELEASE: “COLEMAN FOR SENATE’S SENIOR COUNSEL LAYS OUT CONCERNS OVER RECOUNT; MANUFACTURED STORIES, POTENTIALLY FALSE AFFIDAVITS, AND TROUBLING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | November 15, 2008
ST. PAUL – Fritz Knaak, Senior Counsel for Coleman for Senate today held a press conference today to outline some concerns over recent developments with the recount. These concerns included the Franken campaign concocting a story about rejected absentee ballots, the Secretary of State changing his position on rejected absentee ballots and the state’s Chief Recount Official endorsing Al Franken’s legal and political position regarding private data.
The following are remarks delivered by Fritz Knaak.
“We look forward to the beginning of the recount next week, as you can imagine we’re very busy here preparing for the recount and staying focused on the practical things that we have to from our point of view that it’s a full, accurate recount, and are confident that when all the votes that were legally cast and counted are recounted, that Minnesotans can have confidence that their re-election of Senator Norm Coleman will stand.
“But, the last 24 hours have resulted in a series of from my view point very troubling developments as we move into the recount. And these are the kind of developments that are major enough from our point of view to require us to respond.
“Some of these developments have come, not surprisingly, directly from the Franken Campaign – but more disturbingly I would say from my perspective, is that they’ve also come from the Secretary of State’s Office.
“In each of these cases, we see an unprecedented and alarming trend that could undermine public confidence in the recount – and replace it with armies of lawyers – deployed across the countryside – using the courts, instead of the ballot box, to determine the outcome of a recount.
“Minnesotans should not just be concerned about this potential – they should be almost fearful of the Franken Campaign’s unprecedented efforts to get across to their private data to influence this recount – and equally fearful of the Franken Campaign’s efforts to force rejected and spoiled ballots into a recount for the first time ever in the 150 year history of our state.
“Since several counties have released the names and addresses of voters whose absentee ballots were legally rejected from the ballot box - and one of the things we’re trying to find out is if that was a result of some advice they received from the Secretary of State - the Franken Campaign has engaged in a series of tactics that border on unethical and, frankly, have all the trappings of the type of harassment that the voters of Florida had to deal with in the year 2000.
“According to published reports, the Franken Campaign not only invented stories about voters who had their ballots rejected improperly, but, even after having been told by election officials that the story was false, their attorney never the less conducted a high-profile press conference to promote a story that they knowingly knew to be false.
“Equally troubling, if not more so, are the same media reports that tell us local election officials in Beltrami County raise strong voices of alarm at the Franken Campaign’s practice of sending false and inaccurate affidavits to voters and pressuring them to sign them – even after being told by local election officials, that the claims in the affidavits were false.
“It’s obvious that the Franken campaign, in places like Beltrami County, is blanketing the area with lawyers and others – knocking on doors, in places like nursing homes, places where some of these individuals are clearly vulnerable voters, and who knows what else, stalking and harassing them.
“And, to make matters worse, the Franken campaign appears to us to be engaging in what we would characterize as out-of-control harassment of Minnesota voters and that this is picking up steam, they are going to court next week to seek the court’s approval to provide government sanction to take away what we think Minnesotans expect, their right to privacy – the privacy of a secret ballot.
“The Franken Campaign wants to have the government sanction their current system of voter harassment in a way that is unprecedented in Minnesota history.
“Now to a matter that’s even more troubling, yesterday afternoon the chief recount official of the State weighed in on the legal issue by siding with the Franken campaign’s assertion that voters’ private and secret information should be shared with the Franken campaign.
“This to us was a stunning revelation and suggests at the very least that the very neutrality of the Secretary of State’s most senior election officials has been breached.
“This comment, along with the Secretary of State, according to press reports, having shifted his position on addressing the propriety of shoving legally-rejected absentee ballots into the ballot box is shocking, which is my word, and raises troubling questions.
“I think Mark Ritchie was absolutely right when he said that the place for the Franken campaign’s unprecedented effort to place legally-rejected absentee ballots into the ballots box belonged in the court room. Yesterday, he has now opened the door for, the first time in our 150 year of Minnesota history, of saying that it is appropriate for the Franken campaign to bring this matter to the State Canvassing Board, where obviously we will be prepared to address that.
“This acquiescence to the Franken campaign’s strategy must be immediately rejected by the Secretary of State.
“He is a key member of that Canvassing Board. He has now had a key member of his election team accepting the legal reasoning of the Franken campaign on a matter that will be before the Ramsey County Court. Its a matter, incidentally, in which Ramsey County is opposing the Franken campaign in its efforts to take away the privacy rights of Minnesotans.
“Now, I have no expectation of this happening, but I would hope that the Franken campaign would cease and desist of what I view as harassment and intimidation of voters, and to cease and desist in its efforts to seek state-sanctioned harassment of voters and depriving them of their privacy rights.
“More importantly at this point, we call upon the Secretary of State Ritchie to communicate immediately to all 87 counties that his office does not accept the argument that voters’ private information is public data.
“It is our hope, as well, that instead of his new position from yesterday – Mark Ritchie embraces the correct position that the appropriate place for the Franken Campaign to attempt the unprecedented effort is in the court system and not the recount.
“Before this recount begins, Minnesotans must have confidence that the Franken campaign’s Florida style tactics will be rejected with vigor by the courts and by the Secretary of State’s Office. There is no need for any of this to be going on in our state.
“Minnesotans should expect a calm and straight-forward legal recount of all legally cast and counted ballots from Election Day.”
Team Franken’s Story Rationalizing Their Lawsuit Proves To Be False:
“Al Franken’s campaign needs a new story to establish the need for a lawsuit it filed Thursday.” (Don Davis, “Franken campaign backs off of story,” Grand Forks Herald, November 14, 2008)
“The story an attorney for Democrat Al Franken’s U.S. Senate campaign told reporters in order to illustrate claims that valid absentee ballots were wrongly rejected, turns out to be false.” (Mark Zdechlik, “Franken campaign’s rejected ballot story false,” Minnesota Public Radio, November 13, 2008)
Officials Said There Was No Such Ballot Rejected. “The Franken campaign, in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court, alleged that an 84-year-old woman who lives in a Beltrami County nursing home had her absentee ballot rejected because her signature on the ballot didn’t resemble one on file. The woman apparently told a Franken campaign worker that a stroke prevented her from having a similar signature. ‘Beltrami County does not have one ballot that was rejected because signatures didn’t match,’ Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Mack told the Bemidji Pioneer in a telephone interview Thursday evening. ‘The Franken campaign was clearly told that — I do not know where they’re getting that from,’ Mack said. The story of the Beltrami woman denied her vote was the focal point of a lawsuit intended to get all 87 counties to release lists of absentee ballots they rejected and who they belonged to. It was the only example.” (Brad Swenson, “Beltrami official disputes Franken campaign over claim,” Bemidji Pioneer, November 14, 2008)
Team Franken Informed That There Were No Mismatched Signatures. “‘Beltrami County didn’t reject one absentee ballot because signatures didn’t match,’ Mack said. ‘And we informed [the Franken campaign] of that.’ Mack said that of the 1,918 absentee ballots cast in her county, 69 were rejected, some because they had no signature or mark at all.” (PATRICIA LOPEZ, “Franken seeks names of rejected voters,” Star Tribune, November 14, 2008)
Using False Story To Force Other Counties To Hand Over Private Data. “If a judge orders Ramsey County, home of St. Paul, to turn over the list, the Franken campaign expects all other counties to follow.” (Don Davis, “Beltrami County woman’s ballot rejection leads to suit,” Grand Forks Herald, November 13, 2008)
False Story From Beltrami County Only Story Team Franken Could Produce. “The Beltrami incident is the only problem Franken campaign officials could produce.” (Don Davis, “Beltrami County woman’s ballot rejection leads to suit,” Grand Forks Herald, November 13, 2008)
Team Franken Urging Beltrami County Voters To Sign Potentially False Affidavits:
Affidavit Sent To Voter By Team Franken Contained False Information. “[Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer] Mack said the Franken campaign is contacting voters on the rejected absentee list she gave it. A man came into Mack’s office to tell of the contact. ‘He came in and talked to us about it — they wanted him to sign an affidavit that his was rejected because he did not sign the back of his envelope,’ Mack said. ‘The affidavit has … a statement that the eligibility certificate reflects my name and address and bears my genuine signature. So even though we told them on the spreadsheet it didn’t have his signature on there, they’re sending him an affidavit and having him sign something that says it did have his signature on it.’ No matter what the man does, his ballot will not count because he did not properly sign it, Mack said. ‘It’s the law.’” (Brad Swenson, “Beltrami official disputes Franken campaign over claim,” Bemidji Pioneer, November 14, 2008)
Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Frustrated By Team Franken Pressuring Voters To Sign False Affidavits. “Kay Mack, the county’s auditor-treasurer and its chief election official, said she was troubled by what appeared to be an effort by the Franken campaign to challenge the rejection of the ballots without first contacting local officials. The data provided to the campaign clearly indicated that Jeranek has been rejected because he failed to sign the envelope, she said. ‘They knew he hadn’t signed it and they are still encouraging him to sign this affidavit, so that’s frustrating,’ Mack said. ‘Whether they are attempting to do something wrong or maybe they read something wrong, I don’t know.’” (MARK BRUNSWICK and BOB VON STERNBERG, “Rejected absentee ballots: Should they count?” Star Tribune, November 15, 2008)
Beltrami County Auditor-Treasurer Confirms Information In Affidavit Is False. “In one case, a ballot was rejected because the voter didn’t sign the back of the envelope as required by law but the affidavit asked the voter to swear that ‘the eligibility certificate reflects my name and address and bears my genuine signature.’ ‘So even though we told them on the spreadsheet it didn’t have his signature on there, they’re sending him an affidavit and having him sign something that says it did have his signature on it,’ Mack said.” (Brad Swenson, “Coleman campaign says Franken attempt to use Beltrami voter disappointing,” Bemidji Pioneer, November 15, 2008)
Team Franken Repeatedly Asked Voter To Sign Affidavit. “Mark Jeranek, who voted absentee in Beltrami County and whose ballot was rejected because he did not sign an outside envelope, said he has been approached several times by the Franken campaign asking him to sign an affidavit affirming that he did vote and that he wants his vote counted.” (MARK BRUNSWICK and BOB VON STERNBERG, “Rejected absentee ballots: Should they count?” Star Tribune, November 15, 2008)
Voter, Who Supported Franken, Admits Affidavit Sent To Him By Team Franken Was False. “Jeranek, who lives in Jones Township near Bemidji, said an original affidavit sent to him by the Franken campaign indicated that Jeranek did sign the envelope. But when Jeranek approached Beltrami election officials about the issue, he came away convinced he had failed to sign the document. ‘I’d like to have my vote counted, but it was my mistake, not anybody else’s,’ he said. Jeranek said he voted for Franken but did not believe the Franken campaign knew that when it approached him.” (MARK BRUNSWICK and BOB VON STERNBERG, “Rejected absentee ballots: Should they count?” Star Tribune, November 15, 2008)
Secretary Of State’s Position On Rejected Absentee Ballots Changes In Less Than 24 Hours:
Thursday: Ritchie Says Law Is Very Clear, Rejected Ballots Cannot Be Counted. “Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said Thursday that the state would not consider rejected absentee ballots as it begins the recount of the 2.9 million votes cast in last week’s election. ‘Recount law is very specific about what is included,’ Ritchie said. ‘Under current law, those rejected ballots would be handled by a court.’” (PATRICIA LOPEZ, “Franken seeks names of rejected voters,” Star Tribune, November 14, 2008)
Friday: Ritchie Now Says That The Canvassing Board May Consider Rejected Ballots. “But at a Friday afternoon news conference, Ritchie said he would not take a position on rejected absentee ballots mostly because he and the four other members of the canvassing board may have to consider a motion by the Franken campaign to include those ballots. ‘We didn’t know that the Franken campaign would bring this to the State Canvassing Board,’ Ritchie said. ‘I am not going to stand up here and say “We’re not listening to the public, we’re not listening to the candidates, we’re not listening to the press and we’re close minded because I can’t speak for all five.” So if somebody brings an issue, it will get a hearing by the whole State Canvassing Board.’” (Tom Scheck, “Minn. board may act on voided absentee ballots,” Minnesota Public Radio, November 14, 2008)
Chief Recount Official Endorses Franken Legal And Political Position Before The Court’s Ruling:
Hennepin And Ramsey Counties Say Information Is Non-Public Data. “While Hennepin and Ramsey counties have said the rejected ballot information is non-public, Gary Poser, the secretary of state’s chief election official, said Friday that he has been advising other counties that the information should be public, which would make it available to the Franken campaign.” (MARK BRUNSWICK and BOB VON STERNBERG, “Rejected absentee ballots: Should they count?” Star Tribune, November 15, 2008)
Gary Poser, Chief Recount Official, Has Been Advising Counties That It Is Public. “While Hennepin and Ramsey counties have said the rejected ballot information is non-public, Gary Poser, the secretary of state’s chief election official, said Friday that he has been advising other counties that the information should be public, which would make it available to the Franken campaign.” (MARK BRUNSWICK and BOB VON STERNBERG, “Rejected absentee ballots: Should they count?” Star Tribune, November 15, 2008)
Al Franken Wants To Use Data To Call Voters And Help Them Get Their Votes Counted. KERRI MILLER:” If you were able to get this information, what would the campaign do with it? Would you be calling these voters specifically to say, ‘Let’s here the story and find out why your absentee ballot was rejected?’ I mean, what would you do with it?” FRANKEN: “Yea. I guess that’s what we’d do. We’d call them and say, ‘Did you know that your absentee ballot wasn’t counted?’ We are getting questions from people who are calling and asking whether their vote might be at risk of not being counted. So we call them and tell them that this is the case and then talk to them. If they wanted to pursue it, we’d help them do that.” (“Midmorning,” Minnesota Public Radio, November 14, 2008)
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Topics: Uncategorized |
November 15th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Gee, am I the only one who got to the bottom of this dreck? Actually, I did skim…
November 15th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
What’s troubling is these 4000 word rants that expose the GOP’s utter disregard for the truth.
How desperate can you guys get?
November 15th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Quiz for all Republicans here: Can you name one Coleman complaint that wasn’t thrown out of court? Just one gus, you can do it! Don’t you all find it disturbing that literally every single Coleman complaint has been proven to be false?
November 15th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
…Minnesotans should expect a calm and straight-forward legal recount of all legally cast and counted ballots from Election Day…
Calm? What about this post was calm? It is Coleman’s supporters who appear to be the most panicked by the recount.
BTW, I made it all the way to the bottom — no skipping. I’m not impressed.
November 15th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Bravo to Coleman! The truth must be clearly stated and Coleman needs to put Frankin on the defensive.
November 15th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Wait, he’s issuing a press release on his own admitted lies?
November 15th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
My God, do you guys know something we don’t? Did you stash 5,000 Franken ballots somewhere, but now know they’re coming out? This is beyond a freak-out at this point, y’all are terrified beyond belief. Why?
November 16th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Naa, the ACORN peope did that months in advance.
“Did you stash 5,000 Franken ballots somewhere”
November 16th, 2008 at 6:58 am
The utter desperation of the party of no-conscience liberals who believe the election is theirs to steal - and think it’s the right thing to do. I’d say “shame on them” but they have no shame, just look at who their candidate is.
November 16th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Our candidate has the heart of a lion, and is committed to fight for middle class families.
There is no need to “steal” anything if the voters have a chance to speak and select Franken as their next United States Senator.
Hey Kaz, I’m impressed that you had the stamina to wade thru all the babble in Michael’s post. You will learn in short order that the loonacy begind in the first 10 words, sometimes less.
Welcome aboard!
November 16th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
“Our candidate has the heart of a lion, and is committed to fight for middle class families. ”
Define “middle class” thats all we hear about. middle class this, middle class that..
Obama never put a number down, to me, 42K is low middle class and both Obama and Biden voted to raise their taxes.
Frankins higher gas tax would nail the “middle class” and lower class the hardest.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
[...] I disagree with Ritchie on almost every issue related to the recount. I think he should be far more forceful than he has been on the issue of ballot security. I believe he had an obligation to more strongly condemn Team Franken’s fake story about the 84 year old stroke victim’s ballot, as well as their bullying tactics to get voters to potentially sign fake affidavits. [...]
November 17th, 2008 at 12:02 am
merkurfan.. your ignorance is astonishing!
But you DO have the GOP talking points down, I will give you credit for that.