Posted by
Always To The Right on Saturday, November 29, 2008 2:13:28 PM
The setback at the Canvassing Board has forced Al Franken to face
the fact that he didn’t get enough valid votes to beat Norm Coleman in
Minnesota’s Senate Race. With the rejection of his bid to get the
panel to add in thousands of rejected absentee ballots, there seems
little chance that the remaining 15% of ballots left in the recount
will produce the kind of change that 85% has not. What’s a surly,
self-absorbed DFL candidate to do?
Sue
Going to court was always inevitable. Gone are the days when the
loser of a close election would have the class to accept a tough loss
and wish the winner well. The recount is automatic in this case, and a
good idea, but the notion that courts should determine winners and
losers is antithetical to democracy.
More worrisome is this statement from Harry Reid:
The board’s decision drew a response from the Senate’s
top Democrat, Majority Leader Harry Reid, who called it a “cause for
great concern.”
“As the process moves forward, Minnesota authorities must ensure
that no voter is disenfranchised,” Reid said in a statement. “A
citizen’s right to have his or her vote counted is fundamental in our
democracy.”
The Senate does have the authority to determine the winner of any
Senate election, as does House for its elections, but they rarely use
that power. Reid’s comment threatens the efforts of Minnesota to
provide a non-partisan, fair, and legitimate election. In fact, it
sounds like an extortion attempt to push state officials into a
particular decision that would violate the law in order to produce a specific partisan result.