Déjà vu meets snafu at recount Ground Zero

Minneapolis Precinct 1, Ward 3 is now the latest and greatest Ground Zero of messed-up election practices to be exposed during Minnesota’s statewide recount in the U.S. Senate contest between Democrat Al Franken and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. It’s there, in the Dinkytown neighborhood on the edge of the University of Minnesota campus, that poll workers recorded 133 more votes than they have ballots to show for it. It’s also there that students trying to vote via Minnesota’s same-day registration process last month were turned away — in a re-run of a major snafu at another campus polling place during the last general election two years ago.

MnIndy video: Franken sues for voters’ names on rejected absentee ballots

The Al Franken for Senate campaign announced today it is suing Ramsey County in hopes that a favorable court ruling will compel all Minnesota counties to release the names of voters whose absentee ballots were rejected in last week’s election. Attorney Marc Elias said the campaign may present cases of wrongly rejected absentee ballots to the newly-formed canvassing board that will oversee the recount in the U.S. Senate race between Franken and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

Video and more after the jump.

Crackdown begins: Food Not Bombs house among Saturday raids

MnIndy RNC reporter Jeff Severns Guntzel is at the Minneapolis Food Not Bombs house, which was raided by police this morning. Facts are still coming in, but Guntzel says that at 8 a.m. neighbors near the home, located at 2301 23rd Avenue South, reported hearing a loud bang followed by yelling. A single police squad car was parked out front. When Gunztel arrived he saw eight or nine officers enter the house in what he says is apparently a joint operation between officers of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s department and Minneapolis police. According to one witness, the action is related to last night’s raid on the RNC Welcoming Committee’s “convergence space.”

Look for updates after the jump.

Luger’s Republicans

DFLer Andy Luger’s ability to attract the support of some of the state’s most powerful Republicans in his campaign for Hennepin County Attorney speaks volumes for his political skills, but you have to wonder what effect it will have on…

It’s prosecutions, not politics for Luger

More than a year ago, during the early days of the Minneapolis City Council campaign, I chanced upon Andy Luger at the 13th Ward DFL convention. He handed me his card and announced he was running for Hennepin County Attorney.…

Hakeem takes a shot at McLaughlin

Farheen Hakeem, who is challenging her old mayoral campaign nemesis, Peter McLaughlin for his seat on the Hennepin County Board, testified last night against the county’s proposed stadium tax and pointedly attacked McLaughlin in her remarks for not representing his…

Ballpark hearing hardly ho-hum

Tuesday’s public hearing on the proposed Hennepin County sales tax that would fund a new Minnesota Twins stadium was supposed to be a somber–albeit cynical–affair, as critics of the plan acknowledged that stadium supporters on the County Board held a…