Will they be screaming about unfair, stolen elections now?
Posted on January 5, 2009
For the past eight years, liberals have screeched and moaned about how President Bush STOLE THE ELECTIONS!!!11!!!1!!!1!!! This, of course, is a load of crap, as President Bush actually did win the election. I’m sure that all those people were only concerned about making sure the voices of the people were heard, not anger over someone they disagree with winning office.
And considering how much liberals love fairness and upholding democracy, shouldn’t they be more concerned about a real, live, honest-to-God stolen election going on right now?
I haven’t commented much on the drama going on in Minnesota, with the race for the Senate between Norm Coleman and Al Franken. Why bother? I knew from the beginning what the outcome would be. No matter who the people actually voted for, Al Franken would be declared the winner. And that’s exactly what will happen, because there is no other allowable outcome beyond a Franken victory. It doesn’t matter whether or not Minnesotans want him; all that matters is that some crazy guy wants to be a Senator and he’s got a (D) next to his name. Every single outcome of the recount, no matter what they find, will benefit Al Franken, as the Wall Street Journal is noticing.
Under Minnesota law, election officials are required to make a duplicate ballot if the original is damaged during Election Night counting. Officials are supposed to mark these as “duplicate” and segregate the original ballots. But it appears some officials may have failed to mark ballots as duplicates, which are now being counted in addition to the originals. This helps explain why more than 25 precincts now have more ballots than voters who signed in to vote. By some estimates this double counting has yielded Mr. Franken an additional 80 to 100 votes.
This disenfranchises Minnesotans whose vote counted only once. And one Canvassing Board member, State Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson, has acknowledged that “very likely there was a double counting.” Yet the board insists that it lacks the authority to question local officials and it is merely adding the inflated numbers to the totals.
In other cases, the board has been flagrantly inconsistent. Last month, Mr. Franken’s campaign charged that one Hennepin County (Minneapolis) precinct had “lost” 133 votes, since the hand recount showed fewer ballots than machine votes recorded on Election Night. Though there is no proof to this missing vote charge — officials may have accidentally run the ballots through the machine twice on Election Night — the Canvassing Board chose to go with the Election Night total, rather than the actual number of ballots in the recount. That decision gave Mr. Franken a gain of 46 votes.
Meanwhile, a Ramsey County precinct ended up with 177 more ballots than there were recorded votes on Election Night. In that case, the board decided to go with the extra ballots, rather than the Election Night total, even though the county is now showing more ballots than voters in the precinct. This gave Mr. Franken a net gain of 37 votes, which means he’s benefited both ways from the board’s inconsistency.
There’s lots more, but from that alone I think you get the picture. And of course, liberals aren’t decrying this election, even though it’s undoubtedly stolen. Breaking the law and stealing elections is perfectly acceptable, provided it benefits the right people.
And as for the wimps on our side, I’d love to see them actually grow a backbone and put up a fight. Coleman says he’ll sue, but what happens when that doesn’t work? It’ll be back to the GOP standard of rolling over and playing dead.
It’s a great time for politics in America, isn’t it?
Hat Tips: Ace and Hot Air Headlines
Cross-posted from Cassy’s blog. Stop by for more commentary or follow her on Twitter!
» Filed Under Elections, News, US Senate, Voter/Election Fraud
Trackback URL
Comments
65 Responses to “Will they be screaming about unfair, stolen elections now?”
Affiliations
The Giants
-
Donate
Suggestions
Our Store
Click the design to visit our store and help Stop the ACLU!
More blogs about the ACLU
WHHHAAAHHHH!!! WHHHHAAAAHHHH!!! WHHAAAHHHH!!!
Sit back and chill. No matter which candidate won this, the results were so close that there would be a lawsuit from the other side. Wait for the dust to settle. Meanwhile, Coleman’s people were saying when the early returns had him winning that Franken should do the honorable thing and just concede. I’m wondering if we now hear the same bushwah from the Franken camp when Coleman’s lawyers file their lawsuit.
As a swing voter I find it all funny. I mean to take democracy in the USA seriously but I can’t. Ok dems push for popular vote insted of the electorial college on the presidential office. Bush would have lost the 1st election.
GOP don’t whine about the popular vote ok!
The essential point here is that all of this is being done in the sunshine according to law with both sides fully represented utilizing a leagally established process that all sides have agreed to follow. The critical difference between here and Florida is that neither side has requested (or insisted as Bush’s handlers did) that the recount be stopped before it was completed. Its a complete count. Both sides have had their opportunity to argue each and every ballot before the panel created by law to hear this dispute. You may not agree with each decision (do we ever?), but the process is open and fair. There are no GOP zeolots (or Democratic one either) screaming outside of the recount locations. A far cry from 2000 wouldn’t you say.
Finally, your comments about the GOP just “rolling over and playing dead” if the courts ruling goes against Coleman means what? We are a country ruled by law. What options are you implicitly suggesting????
You are missing some critical points here, Cassy. First, the issue here is the recount that happened BY LAW when the vote was so close. Franken didn’t CALL for a recount, the recount was required by law. Second, in Florda in 2000, there were widespread reports of voters being turned away from the polls in Democrat-heavy districts. There have been no such reports in Minnesota. Third, in Florida in 2000, there were issues with the butterfly ballot being unreadable and the process of poking holes in it being problematic for older people (of which Florida has more than its share). Fourth, in Florida in 2000, the recount was stopped before coming to its conclusion by the Supreme Court 5-4 party line decision, whereas in Minnesota, the recount has gone on to its conclusion as defined by state law. Fifth, the Supreme Court decision said that the person who was certified by the Florida Secretary of State should be declared the winner, regardless of the results of any recounting that had been done up to that point, whereas in Minnesota the results of the recount are overruling the initial count. Finally, the person who appointed the Elections Board and the Secretary of State in Minnesota is not Al Franken’s brother.
great point, Chredon.
I think the most important point made here is that the canvassing boards have been inconsistent in their methods other than for the fact that they have benefited Franken.
Indeed, any election this close will always be messy and full of controversy no matter who wins.
The Court picking the President worked out well , did it not?
Wow, the flawed, self serving logic in this post is so silly it’s more of an argument FOR the dems than against. Franken would win no matter what because he’s crazy and has a (D), are you serious? Thanks for making this ACLU member feel better. Keep it up.
I have to believe George Bunyea is goading us. Surely he cannot believe GW was anything but a disaster for the United States and all it stands for.
No, the supreme court did not do well!
I live in Florida during the first Bush election, so here are some facts
The Supreme Court did not allow the recount in Florida to go to its conclusion, and set a deadline for Gore that was unatainable.
Second, having been living in the Panhandle, it was widely publicize that a large number of minority voters were denied access to the voting booth for reasons that were never explained.
I was but 26 years old, holder of a Masters Degree in Political Science from FSU, and can tell you that the ballot was extremely confusing, and it was difficult to punch the holes properly.
It has always been my opinion that the Supreme Court dictated the elections, not the people.
So goes our democratic system - and we pay the price today.
I love that the responses are far superior in tone, logic and fact than the hysterical post that precedes them. The Wall Street Journal’s innuendo filled, factually hollow attempt to discredit the results speaks for itself. But then most of the WSJ’s idiotorial page is equally repellent.
What Credon said.
This is like the “contaversy” about Gore conceding or not. A telephone call between candidates is not a legal issue. In that case, had the recount given Gore the election, the electoral college would have made him president no matter what he said.
Wasn’t it the republican in this case who called upon Franken to not follow the law on election night, like he had any choice in the matter?
Of course the democratic party is going to push for votes in their favor to be counted and not for votes against them. Duh. I’m sure given the situation being reversed that the republicans would act differently.
The FACT is that when running an election with this many votes, there is no such thing as a “perfect” count. Any QA engineer will tell you that “100% inspection is 85% effective”, meaning that the best inspectors will make mistakes.
Statistically, this election is a dead tie. If you counted 100 times, 50 would go one way, 50 the other, assuming an “honest” count.
If we were sensible and understood basic concepts in math like this, we could save a lot of time, money and agravation and flip a coin in these cases. The result would be just as valid.
BTW - “disenfranchisement” is when a certain group of people are purposely excluded from voting or having their vote count. Just because the situation worked out that some votes were not counted and most of those went a certain way, they were not “disenfranchised”, they just did not get counted. Please reserve that word for when it actually happens, you cheapen the crime using it here. (Much like when crying discrimination when a criminal nominates you for the senate, but I digress.)
The article makes a great point. When people’s votes aren’t being counted this is called disenfranchisement. Also, in Chredon’s post about “widespread reports of voters being turned away” please find those reports and what agency reported it. Now I can state that in Penn. that members of the Black Panther party were standing outside a voter station intimidating voters to vote for Barack with video evidence. What evidence can you produce for the alleged “turning away voters”? Use facts not widespread reports. The article simply points out the fact that when voters believed their votes weren’t being counted it was disenfranchisement, but because it is a Republican being screwed it isn’t that big of a deal. That is called double standard. Problem here is that there is undisputable facts to back it up. The sad fact that there are this many idiots to support another idiot which is looking to make a mockery of our country is disheartening.
There will always be disputed elrction results, especially by horses’ rumps like “Stop the ACLU”. You never seem to get upset when someone of your ilk gets in trouble and the ACLU comes in to rescue your sorry butt.
“It’s a great time for politics in America, isn’t it?”
Yes it is. 100% agreement.
The George Bush GOP led nightmare is over.
And I have yet to see one shred of evidence, one tiny shred, that the recount was in any way tainted.
Due process has been followed as per law. The statutes have decided this vote, not political partisanship.
Has anyone noticed that as states have begun diallowing the use of Diebolds electronic voting machines, and have mandated paper trails, democrats have begun winning elections again, and that exit polls no closely match what the actual votes are?
Strange that discontinuing the use of machines made by pro-republican corporations, tied with family ties (two brothers were prominent in the companies hiearchy) should have such an effect.
Oh and has anyone figured out how two democratic strongholds in florida voted landslide republican in 2000 and 2004, using these same electronic machines???
C’mon, it’s Minnesota. It’s not like it’s an important state like California. The state that has directly influenced the regulations concerning vehicles, causing the higher polluting, lower mileage mess our cars are in today. Keep your eye on the prize, people. (Sarcasm is a lost art)
BTW, a subcompact in 1986 got 50 MPG and had a carbon footprint of 4.6 metric tons a year. In 2006 an updated version of the same car got 32 MPG and had a carbon footprint of 7.2 metric tons a year. Thanks California, less mileage and more pollution. If only Minnesota could influence us in such a positive way… (yeah, sarcasm again)
Let Al Franken have a shot at it, he might actually do something we remember. The other guy is an empty suit, from what I have read. Not unlike the new “Junior Senator” from Illinois… (No sarcasm here, just in case you were confused)
I don’t blame America for voting Democrat. The “new” Republican party had an opportunity to make America better and failed. Now a Democrat America has the opportunity. What are they going to do to make America greater? I hope I am wrong in the direction I believe they will take us, because I don’t see much promise from this group for the future. Higher taxes, more give-outs, weaker military, and increase in immorality. Don’t tell me tax break, show me, and not for the people that don’t pay taxes.
Republicans are unhappy with the Minnesota recount results. Too bad.
Right wingers have been whining and complaining loudly for years about anything that doesn’t go their way. But Republicans have lost virtually all of their power in the last two election cycles because the voters decided to kick them out of office (please note that the WSJ article stated that the Republicans claimed 80 to 100 duplicate ballots were counted twice, but Franklin won by 250 votes).
So now they can continue to cry and bitch and say outrageous things all day long on the radio and the internet and on TV; but at this point, nobody cares. Because they are out of power, all of their insults and name calling can and should be ignored, and treated as background noise that is unpleasant but unimportant.
Here’s a tip for all of you bullies on the right who think political dialogue consists of feigning outrage and shouting insults and distorting the truth in order to get what you want: try engaging in civil, reality-based debate to advance your objectives. Otherwise, you can just keep on shouting until you are blue in the face.
HaHA. I saw those “intimidating” Black Panthers on fox news, what a joke. They werent telling anyone how to vote. Are you afraid of them because they are black? IF that’s the case, then all the senior citizens working the polls in California could be seen as intimidating people into voting old. (McCain).
It is so clear that people will pick the cause that supports their candidate/party. There does no seem to be any chicanery going on in Minnesota, and in fact the courts reccommended contesting the results with a lawsuit. Nothing like Florida. If anything this blogger should be asking the Republican to throw in the towel becasue he lost. No, another big hypocrite.
I really wish we had a legitmate third party. This country needs a clean slate.
The other guy is an empty suit, from what I have read. Not unlike the new “Junior Senator” from Illinois… (No sarcasm here, just in case you were confused)
Please let me know what the Junior Senator from Illinios did during his time. I would like for you to list all the legislation that he proposed and got through for the greater good of America. Obama is nothing like Kennedy, and he is just another empty suit. There isn’t much of a record to speak of, because he didn’t do anything. Another dirty politician to smooze those that will move him along the ranks, and will look out only for his better interest. At no time during the campaign did I believe that his concern is for America. Everything he proposed went against what he voted while his brief stay in the Senate.
I really wish we had a legitmate third party. This country needs a clean slate.
This is true, but I merely stated fact that Black Panther members were intimidatingly standing outside the voter lines. I could care less if he was black. Race means absolutely nothing to me. But where are the factual widespread reports of turning voters away.
Its amazing how many dems can’t punch a hole in a piece of paper, fill in a circle , or press a button next to a name.
The fact that every recount has benefitted Franken makes it questionable. How did Coleman lead by 700+ votes on election night and now Franken leads by 225? That’s a pretty big swing to me….
The duplicate vote “errors” lead me to believe that there should be a runoff in the questioned districts. But we all know that’s not gonna happen.
What an ignorant blog. If the owners of this site truly want to stand up to the ACLU, they should consider populating their staff (such as it is) with a better variety of properly informed writers. How embarrassing it must be to have this article represent such a valid view point.
Wow, tons of socialfacistleftoid trolls came running to this blog to atack attack attack.
Face it Obamatrons, the hell you asked for is here. Obama’s new age Red Guard will be visiting all of us soon. And you feared the Patriot Act? Wait and see, morons. Uncle Hussian has your back.
ever heard of sos, george sorus and company droping thousands of dollars to sectary of states, dems, of course to be elected like jenn brunner in ohio who did here best to get hussain obama elected. no i.d. no residents no nothing just vote all you want these people make me want to puke
nice job shinney i agree
Wow…All the right side vitriol and spew! The simple fact is the GOP - and Coleman - only benefit when the votes ARE NOT COUNTED! As the vote is tallied, more ballots cast equal a Dem win. The GOP - and Coleman - have been using dirty voting machines and legal contortions to advance their cause of incompetence and corruption.
Geez, the right side had over eight years to get it right, and they didn’t. The voters threw them out. Easy concept, easy execution.
Why is it that the right side always wants to limit who can vote? Maybe they are scared of the actual results? probably so…
Yeah Obamasocialists, lets just let everyone vote - illegal aliens, prisoners, dead people, ACORN canvassers voting dozens of times, why not? they’re the Demosocialists natural constituents!! They couldn’t win without voter fraud!!
quit whining. Jesus, 8 years of an unchecked, bush run disaster and you’re whining about this???
Time to move on.
Its pretty funny that on a blog for right wingers most of the responses are “socialfacistleftoid”, to use Shiny’s idiotic term. Does anyone get the feeling that the conservative movement that brought us to the brink of disaster has died an ugly and long overdue death? If it wasn’t for all the socialfacistleftoids, there wouldn’t even be any replies to this garbage.
These posts just prove that certain democrats seem comfortable with voter fraud, and are thus not concerned about the duplicate votes. This hypocrisy breeds resentment in those of us who take the United States Constitution and the rule of law seriously.
If Coleman had stolen the election, whole college courses would be taught on it for the next hundred years at our illustrious liberal universities - so Kevin, we aren’t moving on - the fight has just begun - and it’s going to get alot uglier.
Why is it that the right side always wants to limit who can vote? Maybe they are scared of the actual results? probably so…
If limit who can vote means limiting votes to actual, live people and citizens of the United States…what’s the issue?
We should all be more concerned with the taxpayer-funded ACORN fiasco that tainted Obama’s election. A grassroots ‘get the vote out’ organization - explicitly pro-Dem - having millions funneled to them by said party?? Jesus Christ! How this never became a huge issue is beyond me.
That any of you dolts are supporting a 3rd rate comic for the Senate is tragic. Of course you had a washed up actor/wrestler as governor… HAHAHA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucac/20081218/cm_ucac/oneplusoneequals20extravotesforfranken;_ylt=AmxG6jZmJpkgoRC8oJB59s07vTYC
I’ve never had the pleasure of knowing about your obviously fine organization before. How very, very fortunate I feel to be living in a land where committed individuals like yourselves are selflessly toiling to protect people from having civil liberties. I do hope that you will endeavor to protect us from life and the pursuit of happiness as well.
I guess Rush was right, they insisted on counting and counting and counting until the idiot Franken won, so what else is new?
Well there you have it two new very UNQUALIFIED PEOPLE in the senate. And they said Palin was not qualified, YOU KNOW?
Republicans are against “unelected judges” overturning the “will of the people”….unless of course they think it will help them
Maybe Rush can make a “parody” about greedy big nosed jews to go along with this recount
What a SHAM! You know what? All you LIBS are going to be sorry for what you have done to this country. You are a bunch of miserable worms. You have cheated this Senate Election and the people of Minnesota should be angry. Your Election officials should all be investigated and the dirty ones thrown in Jail. They should keep the failed elected officials behind the Freddie and Fannie scandal company. Go ahead- keep it up. There are still enough of us that you can’t run over, and we will fight you to the end before we let you sell this country out. As for Obama, he can form any Army he wants.
The Conservative people of this great nation will be ready to defend our Liberty against any enemy, foreign or domestic… From the court rooms to the streets. All you Libs better live and let live and quit forcing your Marxist agendas upon this great nation. We must unite the right and fight! Our liberty is at stake! Wake up people! They want to control us. NO BAIL OUTS!
Ive been watching this fiasco in minnesota since election night. The outcome has not suprised me at all and to tell the truth I really dont care who wins as there are not many differences in politicains any more. I tend to vote for the one that doesnt want to rob me as much. I find it apalling when any elected person thinks I should have to work for 4 months to pay my taxes and then all the other taxes we have to pay along with it. We do need a third party that represents the people not the special interests as the parties we have now. I hate both parties but especially the one that likes to tell me that I have to support all the lazy people in this country that want to be taken care of.
I don’t understand the point of this blog
Franken won, Coleman lost, game over. This recount was as transparent as physically possible; you could even see every single one of the disputed ballots online for yourself! Each side had their say, and the reason that the election night totals were different is OBVIOUSLY because they re-looked at these disputed ballots and then added them back to the total count! So move on, people. Stop comparing this to Bush V. Gore 2000, they’re completely different. That recount was never even finished due to Bush’s lawyers and the SCOTUS.
And to those who don’t like the fact that Franken won- he was elected by the people. Did the people get to choose McCain’s VP slot? No, and if they could choose they definitely would not have chosen Palin. McCain and Palin lost, Franken won.
Game over? Libs are shameful in their disregard of logic. Stop feeling and START thinking!!!
Why would anyone in this country want to vote for Al Franklin? The guy has no political experience whatsoever and is a piss poor comedian. Who is the next candidate for the Democratic party? Carrot Top, Chris Rock or Adam Sandler. Franklin’s election as a Senator would show just how twisted our Democracy has become and how desperate Democrats are for viable candidates. Franklin couldn’t even run a successful radio show about politics, so why elect him? I honestly believe that many Democrats would vote for Hitler as president or senator as long as he was liberal and supported far-left liberal policies. Honestly, if the media reported that Barack Obama had killed his gay lover to stop him from going public, with damning public evidence or even an Obama confession, before the election and after the primary, I think at least two thirds of all the Democrats would still have voted for him. That says alot about most Democrats’ respect for this country. These people constantly fight against US interests, which weakens our country from the inside, while supporting European and Asian policies. The truth is that Democrats caused many innocent American soliders to be killed in Iraq by publicly attacking the war in the media, which has led to the strengthening of our enemies’ resolve in both wars, all in an effort to regain political power in this country. There is also alot of evidence that major Democratic contributors, such as George Soros and the various union pension funds, have profitted from the current financial crisis and have consistently put their money against the US, causing higher oil prices, a declining US dollar, the artificial increase in value of CDO debt which was then followed by the bursted bubble leading to the current financial crisis and destroying mortgage and debt values across all categories, and of course their systematic short-selling of every major US financial institution. Democrats have colluded with these sharks in order to secure victory in the elections. They have weakened our country in every way possible and we fell for it. Where were Republicans when we needed them?
Its great to see all these rightwingers crying the election was stolen when a full lawfull recount took place in Minnesota, but when Bush stole the election in 2000 and the roightwing supreme court stopped a lawfull recount for Florida (that many say would of shown Al Gore wining) all these same rightwingers were calling the Dems sore losers and cry babys etc.
Well now the shoe is on the other foot my you rightwingers, so how does it feel.
Paybacks a bitch isn’t it.
Try holding down the shift key consistently when trying to enter multiple exclamation points, i.e., !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not !!!!!!!!!!111!!!11111
Boo hoo, Huckle Cat!!! Is the US a third world nation that cannot hold proper elections? Why don’t you have a non-partisan electoral body that is independent from the political parties? This way, a lot of the crap that happens would be limited. The right wingers crying foul is a bit rich. The world would have been spared 8 years of a mental midget completely unqualified for the job if the Supreme Court didn’t play partisan politics back in 2000.
Who didn’t know when it went to a recount Franklen would win at least the democraps are getting better in Wa.state it took them 3 trys to hatch enough votes to win the people of minasoda got what they deserve a fool for fools
Hey Repug’s
Just a little note to use your own words “GET OVER IT” you lost. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave the USA for anywhere else you like. Try voting with your feet they are as smart as the rest of you’l.
Al Franklen will be a great senator for Minisota, he will work hard to make a great contribution to this country. Coleman lost. End of story
For further clarification of the failure of the wall street journal to report the truth:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/did-wall-street-jorunal-fire-their-fact.html
Are you serious “Minisota”.
Enough said.
There is no way in this modern day of electronics for a person to have a 700+ vote lead by voters, then a 200+ vote deficit conducted by subjective individuals. Any and all individuals that are found to have purposely manipulated this outcome should be prosecuted and jailed if necessary.
All you Libs, I suppose If you want more of my tax dollars to spend may I recommend starting with a spelling class, and then maybe move on to the Constitution and study that to. Then get back to me and we can have an intelligent discussion.
The additional votes gained by both candidates in the re-count came from counting ballots that were improperly rejected.
The re-count was mandatory under Minnesota law, due to the narrow margin of “victory” for Coleman.
The ballots that Coleman now wants counted have been identified as properly rejected twice by a transparent, bi-partisan committee.
His challenge is legal and proper, I agree with him taking it to court, as every legal means to a fair election should be explored by both sides.
But probably futile, as the ballots were already dtermined to be properly rejected on two seperate occasions.
If there is any hypocracy in this situation, it is from Coleman, who urged Franken to forego a legally mandated re-count in the interests of public civility…but now is combating the results of the re-count in court.
Not that I blame him…I’m sure Franken would do the same.
I’m not thrilled with Franken either, but considering Coleman’s record, I’d rather have a carp out of water as our senator…it would flip-flop less than Coleman has. Most people can at least settle on what party they want to belong to and wether or not the they and the President are BFF.
I hope that Franken might be marginally better than a carp out of water.
Oh, and the thing in the quote about how officials might have run the ballot through twice on election night is not possible. The machines collect the ballots inside when they are fed through. There is no way that they could have been fed through twice on election night.
Something does perplex me, though…
Even if Colman wins his lawsuit, and was awarded every single point he’s bringing…and every single vote he wanted added counted in his favor, and every single vote he wanted rejected came off of Franken’s total, he would STILL lose.
It seems a little weird that he is persueing it.
So, we’ve got some ballots that were not counted due to them being improperly submitted absentee ballots that Coleman wants counted, despite the fact that they do not comply with rules meant to protect against voter fraud…that have been reviewed and still found wanting a second time. Coleman’s lawsuit to get them counted will not pass, or if it does it will open the door to wide-spread voter fraud. You can call it disenfranchisement if you want to, but there has to be SOME process to ensure the security of the absentee ballots.
We’ve got some ballots that were not counted by the machines because the people didn’t fill in the little circles, but instead drew a line through them, or an “X” or whatever, but when they were hand-counted in the re-count it was clear who they intended to vote for (those votes were not counted in the original, because the number was within the margin of error. They were required to be counted in the manditory re-count. I don’t think that there is any argument about these. They seem to have benefitted Franken marginally more, probably due to the large number of first-time voters that went Democratic.
And there are the 133 votes that were lost since election night. It makes sense that the canvassing board would go with the machine total on election night, as the machines are heavily monitored, and their internal collection chamber is inacessable to people at the polling site. By comparison, the hand-count security conditions were somewhat less secure.
Franken is a joke, a real bad joke. I think even most democrats will realize the stupidity of this idiot soon enough. Did you see the recent poll where a majority of minnesota residents dont approve of him. I think they should have another election to get this thing settled. Do you think Franken would go for that!