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It’s official: Coleman loses 3 in OTC
County wraps up recount in two days
Published Friday, November 21, 2008
In general elections Otter Tail County generally votes GOP.
But when it comes to Senate recounts, it appears that the county gave a nod to Democratic candidate Al Franken.
Franken gained three votes in a recount of Otter Tail County ballots, completed at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Government Services Center in Fergus Falls. In the final tally, incumbent U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman had five fewer votes compared to election night tallies and Franken had two fewer votes.
In a more the big picture, that means Norm Coleman will have three fewer votes in the close Senate race that by the end of the day Thursday showed there were only 136 votes separating the candidates, and hundreds more challenged ballots.
In Otter Tail County, there were six challenged ballots for both Coleman and Franken.
Those 12 challenged ballots will be forwarded to the Secretary of State’s Office in St. Paul by Otter Tail County Auditor Wayne Stein. Making the final determination on those dozen ballots will be the responsibility of the State Canvassing Board.
“We’re pleased with the recount process and the work performed on Wednesday and Thursday,” Stein said. “The few changes shows we have a good voting process and good people working at the polling places throughout the county.”
The final tally from Otter Tail County shows Coleman with 17,195 votes and Franken with 10,736.
County DFL Chairperson Maryjane Westra, Fergus Falls, when informed about Franken gaining three votes in Otter Tail County, said she agrees with most political analysts that the election will go down to the wire.
“Many of us (DFLers) agree that Franken has a good chance of pulling this off,” Westra said. “With only a difference of 200 or so votes, anything can happen. There’s no doubt that he (Franken) benefited from the nationwide support of Democratic candidates.”
County Republican Chairperson Brent Frazier, Pelican Rapids, thought the process went well. He was among those representing GOP volunteers at the county Government Services Center in Fergus Falls.
One member of a three-person recount team, Lynne Olson, assistant to the Fergus Falls city administrator, said it was exciting being part of history.
“The nationwide focus on Minnesota, and being part of a recount process that doesn’t happen very often, really did make being part of a (recount) team very special,” she said. “The recount went better than most of us expected.”
Olson said their three-person team, which also included Jim Fish and Dick Portmann, went through an estimated 4,000 ballots over two days. Their team reviewed ballots from seven of the larger precincts in Otter Tail County, including the City of Fergus Falls and Parkers Prairie.
“Representatives from each of the parties (Republicans and Democrats) were very professional,” she said. “They, like us, were all volunteers representing many areas of the county.”
With national significance, both the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee dispatched representatives to the Government Services Center in Fergus Falls. The GOP had representatives from Tennessee and elsewhere and the Democrats had volunteers from Montana and others states.
Statewide, workers in 87 counties began the recount Wednesday of more than 2.9 million ballots in the tight U.S. Senate contest between Coleman and Franken. The recount is required under state law because the votes cast for Coleman and Franken differed by less than one-half of 1 percent.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by akmscott (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 12:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This Franken thing is very suspicious!I think there needs to be more investigation.
Posted by BobWilliams (Bob Williams) on November 21, 2008 at 1 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by Gassy (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 1:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Only in Minnesota will people vote for someone just because he or she has been on TV. Wake up people, when we are all broke and wonder why 75% of our paychecks go to the governement to support welfare programs that aren't absolutely beneficial don't blame the GOP.
Posted by Granny (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 1:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that the votes were electronically counted the first time.
Gassy I think since the country gave a cheerleader a chance at trying to be a President for 8 years that its time some one else had a chance to see how they could do.
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm not sure which I find more bothersome, someone stealing an election or someone claiming someone has stolen an election when they have no proof to back up their claims. Both are an attempt to completely undermine this great country and the values it is build upon.
Posted by watermelon (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 2:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
AmyO, either way you look at it....it's part of our political process and a legal right for a recount to be done when the votes are that close to each other. In reality, our voting system is _very_ inefficient and hundreds upon thousands of votes are not counted, lost etc....In a normal election, no one bats an eye to the margin of error when there is such a large margin of victory. But when this happens, all the finger pointing starts and we really start to see how many votes NEVER get counted. Makes a mockery of the system, doesn't it?
Posted by earlhofert (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 3:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ha! "Only in Minnesota will people vote for someone just because he or she has been on TV. "
I'm putting that on my list of "Dumbest Things Said on the Fergus Journal Website"
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Stealing an election is NOT part of our political process. And baseless allegations of election fraud shouldn't be either. In our political process elections are conducted fairly and honestly and unless you have proof of an election being conducted in any other way you should not make allegations claiming or insinuating that they are. I'm all for the recount. I think it's necessary and important. I just think people who attempt to cast doubt on the process we have set up to conduct the recount for absolutely no reason would really do us all and our country a great service by simply keeping their mouths shut.
Posted by BobWilliams (Bob Williams) on November 21, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Question nothing.
Let's just trust the government to do the right thing.
Absurd.
Posted by theweasel (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 8:47 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 9:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Williams,
If I were to "question" whether or not you were a murderer and to call for an investigation looking into the matter, would you be okay with that?
To question whether the recount is being conducted fairly is one thing, but given the fact Coleman and Franken have hundreds of attorneys and on-lookers at all recounting locations (this among various other measures taken to assure us as citizens a fair and honest recount) do you really think it is responsible for people to continue to cry foul when they have absolutely no proof or evidence to support their claim?
If so, that in my opinion would be absurd.
Posted by DevoBill (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles...
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
http://www.startribune.com/local/3499209...
"Nonetheless, Bezenek [Wilkin County Auditor] said he wasn't concerned about the integrity of the recount results, noting that he closely watched Vertin's table on Saturday because it had many of the precincts with the most voters...
...By the end of the recount in Wilkin county, there were 18 challenged ballots, 11 by Coleman and seven by Franken.
Otherwise, the results did not change from Nov. 4, when Coleman won in the county with 1,814 votes to Franken's 1,074."
DevoBill, was that your attempt at providing the "proof" or "evidence" of election fraud that I mentioned above? Or just another example of people claiming fraud when there is no evidence of any fraud taking place? The lack of elaboration makes a little difficult to tell.
Posted by DevoBill (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 1:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hi AmyO,
What do you make of it?
Do Auditors have anything to loose while conducting a recount?
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 24, 2008 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What do I make of it? Well, if the article had said that this woman was a recount observer working for Franken in Ottertail County and then went to Wilkin County where she participated in the recounting of ballots, then had gone on to say that there was any kind of change in favor of Franken in Wilkin County or had even gone on to say that there was a higher number of challenges made by Franken in Wilkin County then were made by Coleman, I would say that there may be a legitimate reason to make an allegation that some kind of misconduct has taken place there. But that's not what the article said, it said there was no change in the Wilkin County vote total and that 11 ballots were challenged by the Coleman people and 7 were challenged by the Franken people. To me, that says there is no basis to make any allegations that election fraud has taken place in either Ottertail County or Wilkin County.
Do you see it differently?
Posted by DevoBill (anonymous) on November 25, 2008 at 12:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amy,
Since there are cameras in every bank why don't they let you count out your own money. Why would Franken want there to be any possibility of this recount looking shady.
Posted by AmyO (anonymous) on November 25, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You seem to be very good at answering direct questions with more questions and not answers. It seems from your responses that (just like the first post on this thread), you feel it is appropriate and justified to insinuate that Franken is stealing this election by tampering with the recount process. I also gather that the limited breadth of your responses means that you, just like everyone else, have absolutely no basis for making these claims or insinuations.
If any of this is incorrect, please feel free to correct me. Otherwise, have a nice day, DevoBill. I don't believe you are interested in any kind of meaningful dialogue on this topic.
Posted by DevoBill (anonymous) on November 25, 2008 at 9:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amy,
Sorry for not being more engaging. I have very little time, and I will be traveling this week and have very limited i-net.
Just the fact this person was there should be enough for Coleman to drag this out longer. Fraud or not it may demand further investigation. Unless just the reports in the rags of this are enough to satisfy all parties. I find it highly unethical for the Wilkin Auditor to allowed this to happen. There should be some sanction for the grave error in the direct scope of his duties. I'm surprised the recount there is not suspended.
Does anyone here know this lady? What does she say about it, other than what was printed?
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