CEIMN in the News

By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune

Last year's U.S. Senate race, will be simplified and streamlined before next year's election.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced Friday that he is changing the administrative rules that govern absentee ballots. And, he said, the new ballots are "more user-friendly and easy to understand."

After a 30-day public comment period that begins Monday, the rules will take effect next March, according to Ritchie's office.

St. Paul Legal Ledger, Capitol Report, By Charley Shaw, Capitol Report Staff

With oral arguments set to begin Monday in the Minnesota Supreme Court appeal of the contested U.S. Senate election between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, the day Minnesota’s second senator will be seated still appears far off.

So, is Minnesota’s election process faulty?

Report Highlights lessons learned in the Minnesota audit and recounts.

The Economist

WASHINGTON, DC, is focused on 2009 and John McCain’s candidacy seems a distant memory. Minnesota, however, is stuck in 2008. Al Franken, a Democratic challenger, and Norm Coleman, the incumbent Republican, continue to battle for a Senate seat. On February 3rd, three months after the election, a court ruled that 4,800 ballots might be recounted.

By MIKE KASZUBA, Star Tribune

State senators and voting rights activists on Friday criticized the Minnesota Supreme Court's decision to give the two campaigns in the U.S. Senate recount the authority to throw out disputed absentee ballots, and one senator said support was building to change state law to prevent that from happening in future recounts.

By Bill Salisbury, Pioneer Press
bsalisbury@pioneerpress.com

Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount exposed several flaws in the state's election system, and a legislative committee Friday started considering ways to improve how Minnesotans vote.

A recount to count on, St. Paul Pioneer Press
By Mark Halvorson

As nonpartisan election integrity advocates with front-row seats at the U.S. Senate recount, we believe Minnesotans can be confident the process has been methodical and fair. The intense scrutiny given to each step of the process and to each vote in the Senate recount has provided an incredible civics lesson for Minnesotans and the nation.

By Curt Brown, Star Tribune

By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE, Star Tribune

It's a recount debate that seemingly pits the right to vote against the rule of law: When, if ever, do you count absentee ballots that were rejected by mistake and should have been included in the Election Day results to begin with?

DFLer Al Franken, who has trailed Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in every tally except his own, wants those ballots included in the U.S. Senate recount. Every vote lawfully cast should be counted, Franken recount attorney Marc Elias said.