The Republican Party of Minnesota owes nearly 20 counties payment for expenses incurred by the counties during the 2010 recount between Tom Emmer and Gov. Mark Dayton. The fact that so many counties haven’t been reimbursed in seven months led one Republican senator to offer to pay some of the bills out of his own pocket.

The Rochester Post Bulletin got a hold of a letter by Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, that called the GOP debt to the counties an embarrassment.

“This is embarrassing and painfully indefensible. This damages us not just on the local level, but statewide as well,” he wrote to GOP caucus leaders. “It is spreading through the political blogs, and must be a reason for much head shaking in water cooler conversations.”

Howe said he would donate money to help the debts be repaid.

GOP chair Tony Sutton told the Post Bulletin that the party paid eight counties last week and the party still had 20 more to pay off.

As Blue Stem Prairie notes, Sutton has missed his own promised deadlines to pay the counties.

The GOP and Sutton filed suit against several counties for not being swift enough in pulling together recount documents last fall.

“The unacceptable foot dragging of St. Louis and Pine Counties cannot persist,” Sutton said at the time. “The Emmer for Governor campaign and the Republican Party of Minnesota should not have to go to court to get counties to respond to data practices requests in a timely manner. We will continue to pursue any counties that do not promptly meet their legal obligations during this process. Minnesotans deserve better.”

The Minnesota Independent contacted the county auditors in St. Louis and Pine counties. Unlike two dozen other counties, they have been paid.

In an interview with Stateline, Kansas Secretary of State-elect Kris Kobach said that Minnesota’s Secretary of State Mark Ritchie committed a “heist” in the recount election of Sen. Al Franken. A Republican, Kobach ran on a platform of eliminating voter fraud and was — as Stateline notes — “the intellectual architect of Arizona’s S.B. 1070, the tough-on-illegal-immigrants legislation signed into law in that state last year.” Ritchie, whose work with the bipartisan canvassing board in the Coleman-Franken recount was praised by many, was handily reelected by voters in 2010.

According to Stateline:

Kobach called the 2008 Minnesota recount that led to Democrat Al Franken’s narrow U.S. Senate victory a “pseudo-election.” He also attacked Minnesota’s Democratic secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, for playing “a pivotal role in the heist — manipulating the process to pacify a leftist mob.”
Kobach went on to argue that “the problem is only going to get worse, unless the country’s secretaries of state take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of our elections. The threat is real, and time is short.”

In Kansas, Kobach “would be transforming the model (of the secretary of state office) somewhat, from a ministerial model to more of a law enforcement model.”

The Republican Party of Minnesota still owes counties for a massive document request leading up to the recent election recount, according to the Mankato Free Press. For the past several weeks, more than a dozen counties have been wondering if they’ll get paid for hundred of thousands of documents that were requested by the GOP on behalf of the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Tom Emmer. Those counties were threatened with lawsuits if they didn’t comply with the GOP’s requests for election documents.

“They just insisted they had to have the machine tapes right away,” Patty O’Connor, Blue Earth County elections director, told the Free Press.

“I sent bills for $800, of which Dayton paid and Emmer did not. I have requested at least three times, where’s my payment, and they’ve responded to nothing.”

Two weeks ago, southern Minnesota counties complained that they weren’t being paid after they assembled election documents under threat of lawsuit by the GOP.

GOP chair Tony Sutton, in an early November statement complaining that counties were not responding quickly enough to the party’s request, said, “We will continue to pursue any counties that do not promptly meet their legal obligations during this process. Minnesotans deserve better.”

Bridgette Kennedy, Nicollet County Auditor, told KEYC-TV back on Dec. 1, “Not that I relish the thought of completing the task and getting all the copies made, but I would feel horrible if the taxpayer dollars have been used fruitlessly with having 10,000 copies sitting here.”

The GOP told KEYC that they were looking into it. But as the Free Press reports, the counties haven’t heard a word from the GOP on whether or not they will get paid.

According to the Federal Elections Commission, the Republican Party of Minnesota faces a debt of $621,116 as of Nov. 22.

At his home in Delano this morning, Republican Tom Emmer is expected to concede the governor’s race. An unfavorable Minnesota Supreme Court opinion released Tuesday as well as a new poll showing a vast majority of voters want him to concede preceded the announcement.But more insurmountable for Emmer is the math: The State Canvassing Board will meet Wednesday morning to go over challenged ballots, but that number has shrunk to 181, far short of the approximately 9,000 Emmer would need to overcome Mark Dayton and win the governor’s mansion.

According to the Associated Press, Emmer will concede the governor’s race at 10:30 am Wednesday from his home in Delano.

Before Thanksgiving the Emmer team argued that all of Minnesota’s 87 counties must reconcile their ballot counts with precinct rosters rather than the standard set since 1982 of counting ballot receipts.

The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected that argument in late-November and released their opinion on the matter on Tuesday, shutting down an important legal angle for Emmer.

The justices wrote:

Because Minn. Stat. §§ 204C.20, subd. 1, and 206.86, subd. 1 (2008), use obsolete language that does not include the terms “polling place roster” or “voter’s receipts,” they do not unambiguously require local election officials to determine the number of ballots to be counted based only on the number of signatures on the polling place roster or prohibit reliance on the number of voter’s receipts.
Construing the legislative intent of the ambiguous language in Minn. Stat. §§ 204C.20, subd. 1, and 206.86, subd. 1, based on the purpose to be achieved by the statutes, the language of current and former statutes on the subject, and the longstanding administrative interpretation of the statutes, it is clear that the Legislature intended to permit reliance on either signatures on polling place rosters or voter’s receipts to determine the number of ballots to be counted.

The opposition took the court opinion as a clarion call for Emmer to concede. “It’s time to read the tea leaves: the party’s over,” said DFL Rep. Ryan Winkler of Golden Valley. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling leaves only 181 contested ballots in front of the state canvassing board, and an impossible 8,500 vote gap between Tom Emmer and the Governor’s Office.”

Winkler’s argument was boosted by a Public Policy Polling survey released on Tuesday that found a majority of Minnesotans agreeing Emmer should concede. Only 22 percent said he should continue the fight, with 68 percent saying it’s time for a concession speech.

Also on Tuesday, Emmer withdrew more ballot challenges; the count now stands at 90 challenges by Emmer and 91 challenges by Dayton. About 30 of Emmer’s challenges are considered frivolous after the campaign dropped more than 2,000 others over the last four days.

As Emmer considers his concession on Wednesday morning, the margin in the race is around 9,000 votes.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer withdrew 2,580 ballot challenges over the weekend after the State Canvassing Board gave the go-ahead for the campaigns to evaluate those frivolous ballots. In the end, the Emmer team narrowed the number of frivolous challenges that it will send to the board to just 24. Meanwhile, as the recount process draws to a close, CNN has become the first media outlet to call the race for DFLer Mark Dayton.

“The fact that we withdrew a large number of challenges doesn’t mean that we necessarily agree that these were frivolous challenges,” Emmer’s attorney Eric Magnuson told reporters on Saturday. “They’re simply challenges that we didn’t think would prevail in front of the canvassing board.”

He said, “What we are trying to do is make sure that the count is accurate. Once we figure out exactly what the ballot count is, then [Rep. Emmer] will be able to make some choices as to where it goes from there.”

On the Dayton side, attorney Charlie Nauen told reporters at a Saturday press conference, “We found out what we really knew going in: That virtually all of these challenges are indeed frivolous.”

He said the number of ballots selected by Emmer’s team to go forward — 24 — represented “less than one percent of the ballots that had been challenged over the last five days.”

“There were many opportunities for the Emmer team to do what they did today,” he said. “In other words, look at the ballots and make the decision that these were frivolous.”

He added that Dayton has a 9,000-vote lead over Emmer. “The recount is over. There’s no doubt that come the 14th that lead will be a substantial lead. The numbers speak for themselves.”

CNN seemed to agree with Nauen. On Saturday, it called the race for Dayton. Emmer has not conceded the race, and will likely not do so until the vote tally is certified by the State Canvassing Board on Dec. 14.

By Thursday evening, 93 percent of ballots had been counted in the Minnesota gubernatorial recount, but the State Canvassing Board will meet on Friday to deal with thousands of frivolous ballot challenges made by the team of Republican Tom Emmer, whose lawyer said the number could reach 8,700 by 2 pm today. Dayton’s team withdrew all its frivolous challenges and in a letter to the canvassing board chastised Emmer.Emmer’s frivolous challenges are included in the recount total unlike legitimate challenges, which are set aside for review by the canvassing board.

Meanwhile, the Dayton team announced on Thursday that it is rescinding all frivolous challenges, 42 in all. And in a letter to the canvassing board by Dayton attorney Marc Elias, the campaign accused the Emmer camp of trying to disrupt the recount process.

“This pattern of frivolous challenges by the Emmer campaign is inconsistent with Minnesota law,” wrote Elias. “It is disrespectful of the process and of thousand of Minnesota voters. I respectfully ask the Board to put an end to this irresponsible conduct, bring the recount to an orderly conclusion, and certify the results of this election.”

But on Thursday the Emmer team ramped up its efforts to frivolously challenge ballots. A reporter asked Emmer lawyer Tony Trimble if the canvassing board should look at a small number of ballots even if they didn’t have the 8,770 is would take to overcome DFLer Mark Dayton’s lead.  Trimble said they would get there. The UpTake has video of Trimble’s statements to the press on Thursday.

“The canvassing board would obviously perform its role,” he said. “There will be a large number of ballots. It’s too early to predict how many there will be, but I’m quite confident we’ll have a significant number of ballots, more than the number to make this a substantive review by the canvassing board.”

A reporter asked, “Did you just predict that the canvassing board would get more than 8,770 challenges?”

Trimble replied, “That would be my prediction, of course. That’s why we’re here.”

Another reporter asked, “That means the pace of challenges is going to have pick up significantly.”

“That could happen,” Trimble replied.

He added that politics play a role in the recount process. “Let’s be frank: This is also a political process. So, there’s going to be some of that gamesmanship around. Just like a campaign is a political process. This is an extension of that. It’s for the seating of a governor. So there will be huge emotions, huge efforts expended on each side. Let’s let it play out fairly, cleanly, above board and then we can make decisions.”

Tony Sutton, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, told the Star Tribune that the party disagrees with the Dayton letter. “We not doing anything but exercising our right to make sure people are enfranchised, to make sure every vote counts,” Sutton said. “I’m dismayed that Mr. Elias would want to keep every vote from counting. That’s not Minnesota way.”

Elias-Letter –

On the third day of the Minnesota gubernatorial recount, DFLer Mark Dayton’s campaign said it may have eclipsed the 9,000 vote mark in his lead over Republican Tom Emmer. Also on Wednesday, Emmer’s team increased the number of frivolous ballot challenges to 2,141, far exceeding Dayton’s 39, according to numbers released by the Dayton campaign. The vast majority of frivolous challenges came in Hennepin County, where elections manager Rachel Smith asked to make changes to a counting process slowed by the volume of Emmer’s challenges. The Minnesota GOP attacked her for what they said was siding with Dayton.

Emmer’s frivolous challenges caused Hennepin County Elections Manager Rachel Smith to consider adding more hours to the daily recount time and to add more tables to the 25 already dedicated to the recount. She said she reconsidered when the GOP threatened to take her to court.

“We basically were told if we tried to add more tables we’d be taken into court,” Smith told the Pioneer Press.

GOP chair Tony Sutton went on the attack.

“After overseeing an unprecedented 400,000 vote error on election night, Hennepin County Elections Manager Rachel Smith today tried to change the rules in the middle of game to advance the interests of Mark Dayton,” Sutton said in a statement. “Smith has repeatedly inserted herself into the action by siding with the Dayton campaign on a host of issues, including her attempt today to arbitrarily change the recount schedule. Instead of expediting the recount, Smith’s machinations have only served to slow things down. As the advocates for Tom Emmer’s interests in this process, we will not be intimidated by Smith.”

Smith defended her actions in an interview with MinnPost.

“I don’t work for either party, I work for the citizens of Hennepin County,” she said. “I am trying to do the best job I can to get through a half-million ballots in the allotted time, and do it as fairly and expeditiously as I can.”

The recount is already 84 percent complete, according to the Secretary of State. The Dayton campaign says it may have a vote margin of more than 9,000 for the first time and released numbers showing a 8,998 lead. With a large number of challenges still in the system, that number could change.

However, the number of legitimately challenged ballots is much smaller than Dayton’s lead — just over 700 so far.

The second day of the Minnesota gubernatorial recount focused on two counties, Hennepin and Ramsey, where the bulk of ballots remaining to be counted exist. Hennepin County officials told reporters Tuesday that the campaign of Republican Tom Emmer was engaged in numerous frivolous challenges to ballots. Meanwhile, party chair Tony Sutton told the Associated Press that the Republican Party may press for a court challenge once the recount has concluded.

According to Hennepin County Elections Manager Rachel Smith, the Emmer team has challenged 927 ballots since the recount began in that county on Monday; of those, 894 were frivolous challenges. The team of DFLer Mark Dayton has made 13 challenges deemed frivolous.

“We are increasingly getting concerned about the time it is taking to process those challenges,” said Smith. “In one precinct we had over 100 frivolous challenges.”

She told reporters that her staff had overheard the Emmer team telling their challengers that they need to increase their challenges.

“We are trying work with the Emmer campaign to reduce the number of challenges,” said Smith, noting that the Emmer campaign has so far refused to withdraw any of his challenges deemed frivolous.

“It seems a bit unnecessary to be labeling all these ballots, and we would like explanation for why they are being challenged,” she said.

But despite the additional time needed to process a large number of challenges by the Emmer team, Smith said the process has “certainly been very respectful, and we will continue to work with both the Emmer and Dayton campaigns.”

Ken Martin, spokesman for the Dayton team said, “Things are going smoothly.” He said Dayton has gained a net of 205 votes so far, expanding his lead to 8,975.

He did, however, criticize Emmer’s frivolous ballot challenges, which total 1,228 to Dayton’s 33.

“It seems to me a lot of these challenges so far are beyond just frivolous,” he said. “Our concern is that we are wasting time.”

He continued, “If there’s a legitimate challenge, each side has the right to do that, and some of the frivolous challenges yesterday were absurd and they unfortunately are wasting people’s time.”

The situation in Hennepin County contrasted with that of Ramsey County, where Elections Manager Joe Mansky said the process has run smoothly and the number of challenges has been low.

He said there was “nothing that would be out of ordinary or alarming in any sense. I think the attorneys for the two sides have been very respectful.”

Ramsey County has decided to sent all challenges, frivolous or not, to the state canvassing board.

The county has recounted close to 80,000 ballots over the last two days and is on track to finish by Friday’s deadline, said Mansky.

But while the recount continues, GOP chair Tony Sutton told the Associated Press that a court challenge following the recount may be in the works. Such an action could possibly delay the seating of a governor past the start of the new legislative session.

“There’s definitely some issues that merit review,” he said, including reconciliation of ballot counts in precincts, an issue that the party brought to the Minnesota Supreme Court and which the court quickly rejected. Sutton also said that isaues with vouching could be part of a lawsuit.

He said that Emmer, not the party, would have the final say.

By the end of the first day of the recount in Minnesota’s gubernatorial race, DFLer Mark Dayton picked up 20 votes while Republican Tom Emmer lost four after less than half of ballots were recounted Monday. The Emmer team launched an aggressive campaign to challenge ballots, although many challenges were rejected as “frivolous” by election officials. The recount was not without humor, though, as some voters made some interesting write-in choices. One voter, for instance, wrote in “Who farted?” for Ramsey County Sheriff — sure to be the recount’s version of the infamous 2008 write-in candidate “Lizard People.”

The Secretary of State‘s current total in the race shows Dayton leading Emmer by 8,794 votes after the 44.65 percent of ballots have been recounted.

Emmer released a statement yesterday praising elections officials, but made no prediction on his prospects after the first day.

“First, we all need to take a moment to thank the thousands of Minnesotans, from both sides of the aisle and the nonpartisan election officials, who have taken time from their busy lives to partake in the ultimate show of civic engagement,” Emmer said. “At the day’s conclusion, Minnesotans should be proud of the open and transparent recount process on display. Minnesota deserves election integrity. We are committed to ensuring the law is followed so voters will never have to question the value of their vote.”

At a Dayton campaign press conference Monday afternoon campaign spokesman Ken Martin said, “We want there to be no doubt that who ever is the next governor of this state is viewed as the legitimate governor. That means that we can’t short-change this process during the next week to two weeks.”

Dayton’s campaign challenged far fewer ballots than Emmer’s:  86 versus 281. Those numbers do not include challenges deemed frivolous by election judges.

“We’re not in the same position as Tom Emmer,” Martin said Monday. “We don’t need to go out and challenge every ballot. What we need to do is sit back and make sure we’re advocates for Mark Dayton, that we respect this process. We don’t need to go out there and make up ground and try to challenge every ballot.”

In Renville County, Emmer challenged 423 ballots, but only one was allowed to go forward. The remaining 422 ballots are included in the recount total but have been put into a separate pile for evaluation by the state canvassing board. If the board rules those challenges to be substantiated, they will be taken out of the recount total.

A moment of levity came when Team Emmer challenged a ballot where a voter wrote in “Who farted?” for Ramsey County Sheriff, an echo of the 2008 recount’s write-in’s for candidates like “Lizard People,” the “Flying Spaghetti Monster,” and “Nickel Bag.”

Some ballots were challenged by Emmer because voters didn’t completely fill in the circle next to a candidate’s name while in other other cases the campaign argued that ballots should be counted when multiple gubernatorial candidates were marked by voters.

The Dayton campaign released several examples of Emmer challenges that were deemed frivolous by election judges on Monday (via TheUptake):

12-Examples-Emmer-Frivolous-Hennepin-11-29-10