home

Why Every Vote Matters

By TChris, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 08:52:46 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

Update: The gap has been narrowing throughout the day. The latest report shows Coleman leading by 476 votes.

original post:

In Minnesota's senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken:

With 100 percent of the 4,130 precincts reporting, Coleman had an unofficial margin of 601 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast. Recounts are required in races with a winning margin of less than one half of 1 percent.

The recount probably won't be completed until early December.

< Joe Lieberman, GOP Freshman Senator | Equality For Me, But Not For Thee >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Why Every Vote Matters | 16 comments (16 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    This result (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by eric on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 11:17:16 AM EST
    ruins my day, on a day when I should be very happy.  And it also makes me mad because this didn't need to happen.  You see, here in Minneapolis, our congressperson, Keith Ellison, went all out for Al.  He basically turned his entire campaign into a giant voter registration effort for Obama and Franken.

    Not so in St. Paul.  Over there, Rep. Betty McCollum really screwed things up.

    I hope Betty can sleep at night when the Senate is one vote short of doing the right thing.

    I was watching this one closely (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by blueaura on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    Not just because I needed either Coleman or Franken to be declared the winner for my election Bingo card! ;-)

    Actually I donated to Franken's campaign after carefully studying his positions on his website. I hope he can still pull this off.

    Every vote does indeed count.

    Good Lord (none / 0) (#1)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:20:33 AM EST
    This is the one race I woke up this morning wondering about......December huh?  Bleh

    In 2006 (none / 0) (#2)
    by Steve M on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:23:50 AM EST
    we had very good luck in winning the VA and MT Senate races by a hair.  That was obviously critical in terms of giving us a majority in the Senate and the right to run the committees and set the agenda.

    If we end up getting some bad luck in the close races this year to compensate for the good luck we had in 2006, it's annoying but I'll still take the tradeoff.  The majority is still a lot bigger than it was, and it's going to be quite a bit harder for the Republicans to engage in obstructionism when you have a Democratic President setting the agenda.

    ya think? (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by cpinva on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:57:34 AM EST
    and it's going to be quite a bit harder for the Republicans to engage in obstructionism when you have a Democratic President setting the agenda.

    it didn't stop the republicans, from 92-94, when both houses had a dem majority, from obstructing clinton's agenda.

    they (republicans) aren't going to just roll over and play dead, they'll use every tool at their disposal to forestall any progress by an obama administration, and a dem majority congress. they'll lie, cheat and steal to get their way.

    i'll make book on it.

    Parent

    Yes (none / 0) (#14)
    by Steve M on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 11:48:43 AM EST
    I think it is tougher to obstruct when the other party has the bully pulpit.  I did not say it was impossible, although it's clear to me that the political climate is far different today than it was in 92-94.

    Parent
    Martin headed to runoff in GA (none / 0) (#3)
    by Xclusionary Rule 4ever on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:38:57 AM EST
    Secy of State website in GA shows Chambliss at 49.9%, requiring a runoff.  Every vote matters.

    But (none / 0) (#9)
    by cpa1 on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 10:07:17 AM EST
    Will the African Americans come out again to vote for Martin in Georgia?  Let's see if Obama can motivate them.


    Parent
    The Obama voters (none / 0) (#16)
    by Xclusionary Rule 4ever on Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 03:21:49 PM EST
    I have spoken to don't know anything about Jim. Conservative christians are going to come out in droves for Saxby, who uses all the right "code words."  The haters are writhing in agony down here over Obama winning.  : )
    Martin has tried hanging the Fair Tax around Saxby's neck, which might work.  I heard Martin speak in Gainesville (GA) a month ago, and he's not a great speaker.  But he has integrity and a great story and deserves to beat Chambliss, who is a fascist twit.
    My yard sign is up, my bumper sticker is in place, and I gave him several hundred dollars.  If only we could buy him a charisma injection . . .  

    Parent
    I read somewhere this morning about allegations (none / 0) (#4)
    by easilydistracted on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:40:43 AM EST
    of some voter registration issues that could benefit Franken??

    Yeah... but even if true (none / 0) (#6)
    by Exeter on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:53:36 AM EST
    I don't think there is a recourse in those situations. Let's say person X says they couldn't register vote or couldn't vote, they don't then let person X vote after the election, do they?  

    Parent
    The article was a vague on the purported facts (none / 0) (#10)
    by easilydistracted on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 10:19:32 AM EST
    No, I'd say they wouldn't now be able to vote.  But I suspect there could be considerable impact on provisional ballots that are generally cast by voters not on the registered roles.  And now that I think about it, I seem to recall from my days in MN that it is one of those rare states that permits one to register to vote on election day itself, which could be the source of the controversy.  

    Parent
    As a follow-up... (none / 0) (#12)
    by easilydistracted on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 10:46:54 AM EST
    MN is one of those states that permits same day registration and voting.  According to a statement on Franken's website, some polling locations yesterday ran out of new voter registration forms.

    Parent
    It was only a partial cleansing (none / 0) (#5)
    by cpa1 on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:49:12 AM EST
    I wonder if the Franken/Coleman vote included absentee ballots?

    Ted Stevens is coming back or even worse than a wounded Stevens, that sing songy idiotic voice of Sarah Palin might be in the Senate.  I wonder if the totals include the absentee ballots. Also, the other criminal in Alaska won, Congressman Don Young:

    Look at these projections from www.electionprojection.com :

    10/30/08 Research 2000 Begich 58% - Stevens 36%
    10/28/08 Rasmussen Stevens 44% - Begich 52%
    10/19/08 Ivan Moore Begich 46% - Stevens 45%
    10/16/08 Research 2000 Begich 48% - Stevens 46%
    10/10/08 RATING CHANGE: Weak Stevens to Weak Begich
    10/06/08 Ivan Moore Begich 49% - Stevens 45%

    10/30/08 Research 2000 Berkowitz 53% - Young 44%
    10/19/08 Ivan Moore Berkowitz 51% - Young 43%
    10/16/08 Research 2000 Berkowitz 50% - Young 44%
    10/10/08 RATING CHANGE: Weak Berkowitz to Mod Berkowitz
    10/06/08 Ivan Moore Berkowitz 51% - Young 42%

    Something also tells me that Saxbe Chambliss and the Georgia GOP machine played some dirty tricks in that race.

    Crybaby and lying pig Gordon Smith who really really really looked at the issues before he voted to impeach Bill Clinton, has a 15,000 vote lead with another approx 130,000 votes (based upon the # of precincts reporting) due from Eugene County, Oregon.

    Yea but (none / 0) (#7)
    by cpa1 on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 09:54:17 AM EST
    Will the African Americans come out again to vote for Martin?  Let's see if Obama can motivate them.

    AP Reverses Projection (none / 0) (#11)
    by WS on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 10:27:36 AM EST
    The AP reversed their projection of a Coleman win.  The recount will decide who wins the MN Senate.  

    Why Every Vote Matters | 16 comments (16 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment