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Al Franken Calling for Recount
Share / Recommend - Comment - Print - Wednesday, Nov 05 2008, 9:42AM
Here is a statement from Al Franken's campaign calling for a recount. He is within 1,100 votes of incumbent Senator Norm Coleman.
A STATEMENT FROM AL FRANKENThe Secretary of State's office reports that all but nine of Minnesota's 4,130 precincts have reported in. And this race is too close to call, with a margin of just about 1100 votes out of 2.9 million cast. That's four one-hundredths of one percent of the vote. And we expect that when those final nine precincts are counted this morning, that 1100-vote margin will shrink into the hundreds.
Under Minnesota state law, we will now enter into an automatic statewide canvass and recount. It will be the first one since 1962, when I was 11 years old. I remember that year very clearly for two reasons. The recount between Elmer L. Anderson and Karl Rolvaag. And the Gophers were in the Rose Bowl that year.
And we have twice as many ballots to count this time.
Let me be clear: Our goal is to ensure that every vote is properly counted.
The process, dictated by our laws, will be orderly, fair, and will take place within a matter of days. We won't know for a little while who won this race, but at the end of the day, we will know that the voice of the electorate was clearly heard.
There is reason to believe that the recount could change the vote tallies significantly.
Our office and the Obama campaign have received reports of irregularities at various precincts around the state. For instance, some polling places in Minneapolis ran out of registration materials. Our team has been working on those issues for several hours already, and they will continue to do so this morning as the recount process begins.
Let me be clear: This race is too close to call, and we do not yet know who won. We are lucky enough to live in a state with built-in protections to ensure that in close elections like these, the will of the people is accurately reflected in the outcome.
This has been a long campaign, and it's going to be a little longer before we have a winner. Senator Coleman, Senator Barkley, and I have done a lot of talking. Minnesotans have waited a long time to have THEIR say. And thanks to our state's laws, we will eventually understand precisely what they have said.
We'll watch this with interest.
-- Steve Clemons
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Reader Comments (4) - post a comment
All the best, Mr. Franken; I hope you win this Senate seat.
-- Erin Medlicott
former online communications manager, Biden For PResident
Last night the AP "called" the election for Coleman. This morning at 8:30 am they "un-called" it.
We won't know the winner of this one for several weeks.
"Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the recount won't begin until mid-November at the earliest and will probably stretch into December. It will involve local election officials from around the state."
Does Franken have any connections to either IL or DE? He could be appointed if he loses MN.
Al should get glasses that look less goofy. Palin specks would have been worth 2,000 votes, at least.
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