1. Appellants did not establish that, by requiring proof that statutory absentee voting standards were satisfied before counting a rejected absentee ballot, the trial court's decision constituted a post-election change in standards that violates substantive due process.
2. Appellants did not prove that either the trial court or local election officials violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.
3. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded additional evidence.
4. Inspection of ballots under Minn. Stat. § 209.06 (2008) is available only on a showing that the requesting party cannot properly be prepared for trial without an inspection. Because appellants made no such showing here, the trial court did not err in denying inspection.
5. The trial court did not err when it included in the final election tally the election day returns of a precinct in which some ballots were lost before the manual recount.
After a trial spanning nearly three months, the judicial panel dismissed Coleman's central argument that the election and its aftermath were fraught with systemic errors that made the results invalid.
"The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the Nov. 4, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately," the panel said in its unanimous decision.
The panel concluded that Franken, a DFLer, "received the highest number of votes legally cast" in the election. Franken emerged from the trial with a 312-vote lead, the court ruled, and "is therefore entitled to receive the certificate of election." more this way»
I cannot believe this one. Seems Norm Coleman, the very much FORMER Senator from Minnesota who wants to run again for his old seat, has just completely compromised his donors' credit card information. This was discovered last January and yet Coleman only alerted his donors to the fact that their credit card info was now public knowledge until now. [UPDATE: Daily Kos has a good, if a bit over done, explanation of just how stupid and irresponsible Coleman and his campaign was.]
...scrutiny by web enthusiasts exposed a bigger problem for the campaign: an unprotected database that contained information on campaign donors, including names, email and home addresses, credit card numbers and the three-digit security codes. On Tuesday, donors received an email from the website Wikileaks alerting them that the site has revealed some of the database information.
“We understand that Norm Coleman became aware of the leak in January,” the note reads, in part... more this way»
The latest Republican to get caught in a scandal is Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. He seems to be getting hit with a bunch of scandals all at once. Of course this will come as no suprise to those who know that Coleman is good buddies with Alaska's Ted Stevens, currently indicted for corruption and who I have dubbed the most corrupt politician in America. Seems some of Ted Stevens' greedy mentality has rubbed off on Norm Coleman.
The Minnesota Senate race is a close one this year pitting Air America's Al Franken against shameful Bush-Republican Norm Coleman. Here are a couple of powerful videos from Al Franken's website showing how people view Norm Coleman.
First, Iraq War vet Sam Scott calls Norm Coleman's attacks "the same old shameful Washington politics" and tells Minnesotans why he's proud to stand with Al Franken.
Next, after the Star Tribune and KSTP-TV blasted ads from the Coleman campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee as false and misleading, the Al Franken for Senate campaign today released a new television ad featuring Minnesota women expressing their disgust and outrage at the depths to which Norm Coleman has sunk. more this way»
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The truth is that as a woman, a woman of color, and specifically an African American woman, the insults come so fast and furious that there’s always the danger of becoming overwhelmed and de-sensitized.
Sad to say, but I’m used to hearing black and brown women being call “bitch†“ho†“skank†“skeazer†“gold digger†or some variation of all of the above in popular songs and music videos. “Norbit,†Eddie Murphy’s current movie, may be the most recent example of a black man putting on a dress and playing the fat, ignorant, loud, brown-skinned black woman as an object of ridicule and revulsion, you can bet it won’t be the last. And check out “Flavor of Love,†VH1’s hit show in which women demean themselves in an effort to get Flava Flav - brought beneath low since his high as a member of the seriously political rap group Public Enemy - to choose them.
What these three have in common is that they demean black women, earn handsome profits for their corporate sponsors, and for the most part exist devoid of criticism.
