The Al Franken attorneys rested their case in Minnesota today. Now there is an expected few days of closing arguments and statements and the judges begin deliberation. Meanwhile Franken has picked-up a few more votes and is now around 270 votes ahead of Norm Coleman. The whole contested election issue may come to a screeching halt when there is a decision by the court. The election contest process works on a “loser pays” system. If Coleman loses he will owe all legal costs of Team Franken and that is estimated to be between $1 and $3 Million.
As we expected ex-Hillsborough Co Florida election supervisor Buddy Johnson may have used taxpayer’s money in his campaign for re-election. During last years primary election he was being trashed by a local community activist. He appears to have then sent $16,000 to this activist who suddenly became one of his most vocal supporters….
- National: Young Voters Condemn Restrictive Photo ID Laws
http://futuremajority.com/node/5431 - National: Senate Rules Committee Testimony – Voter Registration: Assessing Current Problems
http://rules.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=CommitteeSchedule.Hearing&Hearing_ID=c33b5ae8-aee8-413e-85db-a256ce6169f6 - National: Voting machine debate deja vu all over again
http://www.examiner.com/x-1818-Denver-Election-Reform-Examiner~y2009m3d11-Voting-machine-debate-dejavu-all-over-again - National: Absentee ballot woes not unique to Minnesota, survey finds
http://www.startribune.com/local/41149137.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUZ - FL: Press Release – New ACLU Report Highlights Florida’s Failure to Address Continued Voter Disfranchisement Problems; Provides Solutions
http://www.aclufl.org/news_events/index.cfm?action=viewRelease&emailAlertID=3713 - FL: Hillsborough County – Buddy Johnson used taxpayer money to pay activist Michelle Patty
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/article982962.ece - FL: Hillsborough County – Buddy Johnson’s chief of staff issues critical report of Supervisor of Elections office
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2009/03/buddy-johnsons.html - FL: Elections staff was paralyzed with fear of bad publicity, top aide to Buddy Johnson aide says
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/article983493.ece - MN: Franken to rest case today
Orders push Franken’s lead toward the 270-vote range.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/41152662.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUs - MN: Media begins countering claim that Coleman site was hacked
http://minnesotaindependent.com/28900/media-begins-countering-claim-that-coleman-site-was-hacked - MN: Coleman’s legal woes mount
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19946.html - MN: Minnesota Sen. Coleman Deals with Donor Data Breach
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Minnesota-Senator-Coleman-Deals-With-Donor-Data-Breach/ - MN: Franken to rest case today
Orders push Franken’s lead toward the 270-vote range.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/41152662.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl - MN: Franken calling final witness in Senate trial, Coleman begins rebuttal
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/12/senate_trial/ - MN: Beyond the Norm: Coleman’s data leak disaster
http://weblog.infoworld.com/robertxcringely/archives/2009/03/beyond_the_norm.html - MN: Wikileaks fights back against Coleman campaign
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2009/03/wikileaks_answe.php - MN: Franken rests
http://minnesotaindependent.com/28951/franken-rests - MN: Franken Legal Team Officially Rests Its Case
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/franken-legal-team-officially-rests-its-case.php - MN: Closing arguments to start in Senate trial
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/41152662.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUt:aDyaEP:kD:aUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU - MN: Minnesota Closing Arguments Tomorrow — How Long Until The Very End?
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/minnesota-closing-arguments-tomorrow—-how-long-until-the-very-end.php - MS: Flowers: Voter ID fight will continue
http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2009/03/11/news/local/doc49b5c11157669361543939.txt - NY: Obama’s Omnibus Appropriations Act May Save Lever Voting System
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-s-Omnibus-Appropriat-by-Rady-Ananda-090311-910.html - OH: Editorial – Voting should be secure, as well as easy to do
http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/page/content.detail/id/513282.html?nav=5006 - OK: Oklahoma House passage sends voter ID bill to Senate
http://newsok.com/lawmakers-send-voter-identification-measure-to-senate/article/3352513 - SC: Georgetown County – Pawleys Island voting precincts debated
http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/816596.html - TX: Fort Worth woman, 98, proves photo ID not always easy to get
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1253127.html - TX: Obama defends oversight of election laws as Texas lawmakers near voter-ID bill
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-obamavote_12nat.ART.State.Edition1.4aa3a0b.html - TX: Texas Senate committee approves voter ID bill, will face tougher test in House
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-voterid_12tex.ART.State.Edition1.4ac2bc8.html - TX: Voter-ID debate soon shifting to the Texas House
http://www.star-telegram.com/topstories/story/1253335.html - TX: GOP activists pressure House on voter ID
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/gop-activists-pressure-house-o.html - VA: Fairfax County – Touch-Screen Failure in VA’s ‘Hotly Contested’ Special Election Results in Republican ‘Victory’
https://bradblog.com/?p=6980
**”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**
Please review and confirm if the following statement is correct “The election contest process works on a “loser pays” system. If Coleman loses he will owe all legal costs of Team Franken and that is estimated to be between $1 and $3 Million.”
It is my understanding that if Coleman lost, he could be responsible for court costs. If the judges felt the suit was frivolous, they could also require Coleman to pay Franken’s legal bills.
Further, if Coleman does appeal to a higher court, then he could be liable for Franken’s legal bills … and that the Franken team could ask that funds be put in escrow once Coleman starts the appeal. At that time is when Coleman would be faced with reality … will the MN-Supreme Court agree to overturn the Election Court’s decisions (which back up multiple reviews include reviews in which two MN-Supreme Court justices did determine that Franken was the winner.)
As it appears now, Franken will come out of the Election Court Contest with an even greater margin … still not overwhelming, but more than he had after the State Canvassing Board stated the margin was 225. Coleman’s arguments are weak and he will not appeal.