MN Recount News

I've been following the Minnesota recount quite closely. If you have as well, then you may have seen that Norm Coleman lost a recent decision by a three judge panel. So now Democrats, and even some Republicans, are asking for Coleman to accept defeat. Under normal circumstances I would tend to agree with that sentiment. But there is one major problem, the entire recount process has been a shining example of unconstitutionality. I've blogged about much of this stuff already, but here are just a few highlights of inconsistancies:

1. Franken got 519 additional votes after the recount from 3 Minnesota precincts. All other candidates in all other races across the entire state (4127 precincts) there was a total of 486 changed votes.
2. Some precincts used recount tallies, not election night totals, for their final numbers which resulted in additional votes for Franken.
3. Other precincts used the election night tallies rather than the recount totals, which in this case too resulted in additional votes for Franken.
4. Some more conservative counties threw out absentee ballots if they were witnessed by un-registered voters. More liberal counties counted all ballots without regard for whether the witness was registered or not.

#1 above represents a statistical improbability. #2-4 are in direct opposition to the equal-protection clause in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. In essence, not everyone's vote was treated equally across the state. 90% of Coleman's case is based on equal protection violations, yet to this point no seems to care. The Secretary of State and his canvassing board didn't care, and now the recent three judge panel claims it didn't have the authority to rule on equal protection. The Wall Street Journal has a piece that does about as good a job as any in describing the current situation.

• Minnesota's Missing Votes - WSJ

But the facts are irrelevant I guess, as that is the only reason these articles could have been written:

• Norm Coleman's a Sore Loser - Media Matters
• Its Over, Norm. O.K.? - NYTimes
• Poll: Minnesotans Want Coleman to Succeed - Politico
• DNC to Coleman: 'Enough is Enough' - LATimes