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Emmer wants recount rules changed

By Andy Birkey | 11.19.10 | 2:00 pm

The Republican Party of Minnesota and Tom Emmer for Governor want changes made to the recount rules ahead of the State Canvassing Board meeting on Tuesday. Specifically, Emmer wants Rule 8 changed to make inspection of challenged ballots the job of the five-member canvassing board and not the 87 county auditors.

WSJ recount editorial prompts non-meek response from Judge Cleary

By Chris Steller | 01.06.09 | 5:23 pm

A much-criticized Jan. 5 Wall Street Journal editorial that called the Minnesota State Canvassing Board “meek,” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie a man of partisan “machinations,” and Al Franken — who the board determined had won 225 more votes in the statewide recount than former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman — “tainted and undeserving,” has prompted a retort from one of its targets: State Canvassing Board member Edward Cleary.

Coleman camp: Disappointing ruling means we’ll file election contest quickly

By Chris Steller | 01.05.09 | 12:56 pm

Here’s the response from Norm Coleman’s recount attorney, Fritz Knaak, to the Minnesota Supreme Court’s denial of Coleman’s motion to stop this afternoon’s State Canvassing Board certification of the vote.

Given our campaign’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that

Senate leaders Reid and Cornyn clash over Franken’s future

By Chris Steller | 12.30.08 | 4:12 pm

A war of words is beginning to erupt in the U.S. Senate over what appears to be the increasingly likely outcome of the statewide recount in Minnesota: Al Franken emerging as the candidate with the most votes.…

Franken and Coleman fight over 1,350 uncounted ballots

By Chris Steller | 12.29.08 | 3:02 pm

Here’s a quick recap of the latest developments in Minnesota’s Senate recount:
The biggest remaining pool of disputed ballots — 1,350 that that local officials rejected on Election Day for no legal reason — remain disputed. The campaigns of Al Franken and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman differ sharply on how many should be counted, and under a state Supreme Court order they’ll have their say this week at 12 regional meetings where the ballots’ fate will be decided. Coleman must make up a 46-vote deficit if he is to keep his seat.

Recount’s running total has Franken in front — a first

By Chris Steller | 12.19.08 | 10:31 am

This morning, for the first time in Minnesota’s drawn-out election for Senate, major media outlets began to report a lead for Democrat Al Franken over Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. The news came soon after the State Canvassing Board began its fourth and perhaps final day of evaluating ballots the campaigns had challenged during the statewide hand recount of the Nov. 4 vote. As with the two- and three-digit leads that Coleman has held over the course of weeks of recalculating and recounting since Election Day, Franken’s lead is merely a snapshot of a still-changing running total — a turn of the tide that could stay turned or could turn back again

Franken will whittle ballot challenges to fewer than 500 by Tuesday

By Chris Steller | 12.14.08 | 2:56 pm

It can’t be coincidence that the Al Franken for Senate campaign pledged today to reduce its pending ballot challenges in the ongoing statewide Senate recount to fewer than 500 by Tuesday. On Friday, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie…

Liveblog: The Minnesota State Canvassing Board

By Chris Steller | 12.12.08 | 9:35 am

The Minnesota State Canvassing Board met Friday morning to discuss what to do about wrongly rejected absentee ballots and 133 missing Minneapolis ballots in the statewide Senate election recount. Here’s a liveblog of what happened.

Ritchie: Making voters take absentee ballot errors to court is costly, stressful, ‘bad’

By Chris Steller | 11.27.08 | 7:49 am

As the members of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board — with varying degrees of enthusiasm — fell in line Wednesday to reject Al Franken’s request that they count votes on improperly rejected absentee ballots in his U.S.…

Liveblog: Minnesota State Canvassing Board

By Chris Steller | 11.26.08 | 9:00 am

The Minnesota Independent liveblogged and tweeted (at MnIndyLIVE) the Nov. 26 State Canvassing Board meeting, at which Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie led the five-person board in considering the Al Franken for Senate campaign’s request that they find a way to count votes from all improperly rejected absentee ballots.