Minnesota Independent

Canvassing board turns down request to examine rejected absentee ballots

By Paul Demko | 11.26.08 | 12:41 pm

The statewide canvassing board unanimously voted down a request from Al Franken’s campaign to examine rejected absentee ballots at a meeting this morning. The five-member panel, charged with overseeing the U.S. Senate recount, did not rule on the merits of the Democrat’s case, but rather determined that it did not have the jurisdiction to consider the matter.

U.S. Senate recount: Will the courts ultimately decide the victor?

By Paul Demko | 11.25.08 | 4:22 pm

As the U.S. Senate contest lurches forward, with nearly 80 percent of the ballots recounted and Norm Coleman clinging to a roughly 200-vote lead over Al Franken, a resolution finally looks to be on the horizon. But as events have repeatedly proven over the last three weeks, nothing is as simple as it seems when a senate seat that potentially could give Democrats a fillibuster-proof 60-seat majority is on the line. All eyes will now turn to the five-member statewide canvassing board as it meets tomorrow to deal with the thorny question of whether to consider absentee ballots that were rejected by local election officials.

Desperate measures for public defenders in Minnesota and beyond

By Jeff Severns Guntzel | 11.10.08 | 10:39 am

Public defenders are overworked — it will probably always be that way. But water up to your chin is different from water up to your eyeballs. And eyeball-deep public defenders are drawing a line according to a story…