Missing Ballots And Other Drama Of The Great Minnesota Recount

The race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken is extraordinarily close three weeks after the polls closed in Minnesota. The count difference is somewhere between 84 and 211, depending on who you ask. So with a wire-thin margin like that, things like found ballots that were missing, thousands of challenges to known ballots and many more ballots that have gone missing are all a part of the game we like to call democracy here in the United States.

From RawStory:

With the recount in the razor-thin Minnesota U.S. Senate race continuing into its second week, Democratic candidate Al Franken's campaign says it has uncovered 6,400 rejected absentee ballots and will ask a state board to count at least some of those votes.

Campaign attorney Marc Elias said Tuesday that the campaign received the rejected ballots from 66 of the state's 87 counties, according to the Associated Press. In some instances, clerical errors or oversight caused the ballot to be improperly rejected.[...]

Each campaign is challenging more than 1,500 votes each, not counting any of the just-discovered absentee ballots Franken plans to ask to have included.

Franken's campaign also says several dozen ballots have gone missing.

Already we can tell this is going to be one hell of a finish. Nate Silver predicts that Franken will win by 27 votes, but really, with all these ballots moving around, it is hard to say who'll win this thing whenever it finally gets done. One thing that is for sure, the rest of the recount will be very interesting.

Does Frank Padavan Have His Own Katherine Harris?

I can't imagine there being a recount that can equal the epic failure that was Florida in 2000. The way that debacle turned out knocked our democracy at least a few rungs down the ladder. Katherine Harris (and the Supreme Court too) were instrumental in handing the election to George Bush by purging African Americans from the voter rolls and then stopping the count as the margin slimmed down. This is all common knowledge now but one State Senate race in Queens has a lot at stake and the Republicans will do anything it takes to keep Padavan's seat. The question is, how far will Republican Commissioner Judith Stupp go to push the results in her desired corner?

From The NY Times:

In the past, Democrats claim, all such ballots were counted. But this time, they say, the Republican commissioner of the Board of Elections in Queens has ruled that ballots should be invalidated if they do not include the signature or stamp of a poll worker.

That ruling brought a firestorm of criticism from Democratic officials and lawyers, who point out that the Republican commissioner, Judith Stupp, is also employed as the manager of downstate operations for New York State Senate Republicans. She is also a contributor to Mr. Padavan’s campaign.

Ms. Stupp defended her role, saying: “I took an oath to make sure that every legal vote be counted. And I feel that what I’ve done has been honest and fair.” She said she did not think it appropriate to comment on the specifics of the vote-counting process.

Ms. Stupp said that after the initial days of the paper-ballot counting, she stopped attending the sessions, turning over her responsibilities to the chief Republican deputy clerk, Katherine James. When asked whether she would recuse herself from further involvement in the counting, she said, “I honestly don’t see any reason why I should.”

The will of those voters be damned, if there was a poll worker that didn't know what they were doing and did not stamp a ballot, it isn't the fault of the voter. I expect the frivolous and discriminatory challenges from the Padavan campaign, but as far as the people that count the ballots no changes in the system should be made at this time. If the BoE has counted the paper votes of registered voters in the district last time around, it should be the same this time around.

Stupp should have recused herself before this started anyway, as she has two clear conflicts of interest. Padavan would be screaming and shouting if a Gennaro contributor and DSCC operative were in Stupp's position, so if we on the left are ticked off about this it is for the right reasons. I wonder if her actions help Padavan hold on, what plum positions can she look forward to? She might want to give Katherine Harris a call and get some advice. On second thought, nah, nevermind that.

Common Cause Gears Up To Babysit MN Recounters

Many of the people who are about to undertake a recount of Minnesota's ballots for U.S. Senate are not very acquainted with the laws concerning their task. That is why Common Cause is on the scene to observe and ensure the process is sound, regardless of whether Coleman or Franken comes out on top.

Gennaro Continues To Close The Gap

We are now nine days past the election and the count continues for the 11th Senate District in Northeast Queens. Board of Election officials are busy counting inside a warehouse in Middle Village and the machine tally has brought the seven hundred-plus Padavan lead down to a mere 502 out of more than 82,000 ballots cast. Now it's time for a hand count of all the paper ballots, due in part to dysfunctional machines throughout the district.

From The NYT Cityroom:

In unofficial results, Mr. Padavan was leading his Democratic rival, City Councilman James F. Gennaro, by 723 votes. But Valerie Vazquez-Rivera, a spokeswoman for the city’s Board of Elections, said that there about 8,000 absentee and other paper ballots yet to be counted.

The board said the official count of the votes cast at machines could be completed as early as today. But it was uncertain how long it will take to count the various paper ballots; it could take days or much longer. Both candidates are entitled to oversee the process, the length of which depends on the degree of scrutiny — and objections — offered by either side.

“We’re incredibly optimistic about how the vote will play out,” said Evan Stavisky, a consultant working with the Gennaro campaign. “Every day for the last several years, this district has become more and more Democratic.”

I talked to a member of the Gennaro campaign last night and he was equally upbeat about the way things are going. With approximately 8,000 paper ballots to count, a 5,251 to 4,749 split or greater is all Jim Gennaro needs to oust Padavan from the seat he's held since 1972. It isn't a terrible hurdle to overcome and all eyes will be on the process as each ballot is examined. Expect many challenges from both sides and hopefully a decent level of attention paid by the press as well.

Gennaro-Padavan Coming Down To The Wire

The State Senate has already been wrested from Republican hands, but we still have a race in Queens that is too close to call. Senate District 11 has been in Frank Padavan's hands since 1972, but Councilman Jim Gennaro gave one of the strongest challenges Northeast Queens has seen in decades. Having Barack Obama at the top of Row A (or Row E) didn't hurt either. Despite Frank's good constituent work and ability to pull in the pork, the people of Queens made this written-off race a nail biter.

From Capitol Confidential:

The final remaining question mark in the Senate fight for the majority - the Queens race between Sen. Frank Padavan and James Gennaro - won’t be resolved anytime soon, from what it seems.

There are thousands of paper affidavit ballots that haven’t been counted, and there are plans to recanvass the voting machines this week, going into next week, according to Gennaro consultant Evan Stavisky.

At last count, Padavan had 41,820 votes to Gennaro’s 41,097 votes - a margin of just 723 votes.

I've heard from the Gennaro campaign (one that I've helped out btw) that the margin is 580, but the key is the absentee voters and paper ballot voters. The Gennaro camp is very positive about the results of those uncounted ballots, as well as the recount of the machines. A Gennaro victory is not only good for the people of Northeast Queens, but all of New York by making it harder for the not-so-Democratic Democrats also known as the "Gang of Four."

Norm Coleman Talks Nervously About A Recount

On the day after, there are plenty of races still unsettled. One is up in Minnesota between Senator Norm Coleman and his challenger Al Franken. The vote at the moment is within 0.04 percent. Norm says he thinks a recount prevents the healing process from starting, but if I were a betting man, I'd stake a lot of chips on the fact that Norm would be whining his ass off for a recount if the margin was ten times the amount it is now.