Coleman vs Franken

True...

This is the same thing Coleman is doing. He is only requesting certain ballots be allowed and they are from heavy GOP areas. I do agree that the FL hand count should have been all counties, however, the problem was with the punch ballots which were only used in those heavily Democratic areas. So there was no need to hand count the Republican areas since they didn't use the ballots in question.

Then we should say the same about MN. All the votes were counted twice so let the person with the most votes win. Why are we letting judges decide the election?

FYI... I didn't nor would I vote for Gore, I'm just making sure the facts are accurate. I voted for Bush but would whether he win with no controversy. From what you guys are saying, had they finished the hand count Bush still would have won and we would not be discussing that election. I just think they should have removed all doubt and finished counting the ballots. I don't care about Gore but it would have made the voters feel like their votes were all included in the totals.

 

Bush is the one who took the count to court. Why are you blaming Gore for setting the precedent when it was Bush who initially took the election to court?

As far as finishing the recount, how would you feel if a recount with your vote in it was stopped. I'm not saying it would have made them happy but we wouldn't be having this conversation today.

 

If you would look at the SCOTUS decision you will note that they sided with Gore regarding having the recount. The drawback was that it had to be done by midnight on the night the decision was made. So the SCOTUS ruled that Gore was well within the law requesting the recount as he did.

Now I will agree with you that he should have asked to have all districts recounted. That is my opinion with which I think you agree.

However, we both have to note his reason for not doing that. THE PUNCH BALLOTS IN QUESTION WERE ONLY USED IN THE DEMOCRATIC AREAS WHERE THE RECOUNTS WERE REQUESTED. I hope but not sure that was part of why the SCOTUS sided with Gore in saying the punch ballot system was faulty.

 

You are right... I am wrong...

It was the FL SC that sided with Gore, the SCOTUS voted party lines, 5 to 4, to overturn FL decision declaring, "The Court contends that the recount was not treating all ballots equally, and was thus a violation of the Constitution's equal protection and due process guarantees."

This in and of itself was not a big deal. It simply meant Gore would have to request all FL ballots be recounted. What was not fair in their ruling was that the midnight 12/12 deadline was absolute and could not be adjusted.

However, my point still stands. If the FL SC, the highest legal minds FL has to offer ruled that Gore was well within his rights, who are you to say, "I blame Gore for not following the laws in place. He refused to accept the results."

According to the FL SC he was well within the law.

 

If they were wrong then Coleman needs to end this contest and bow out respectfully. He is in court for the same reasons.

Yep, but don't think shady election tactics are limited to one party.

 

Ok, Gore lost on a 5/4 party line vote... Happy?

 

I never said Bush was a bad guy, I responded to a post that said, "As I said, Gore set a pecedent that is now being used far too frequently. We've allowed the lawyers to get involved at every stage, even before the ballots begin to be counted.. I simply pointed out it was Bush who took the election to court.

I have no problem with recounts. You never heard me say one thing against a recount. I say we should recount until a winner is declared. I don't like to see elections go to court. This means judges decide election instead of the people. I believe we have liberals and conservatives jointly overseeing the counting and the winner is the winner.

Not sure why you're drawing this conclusion, I voted for Bush. I just don't like to see a recount stopped. I understand Gore only asked to have democratic areas recounted but as I explained, those were the only places the punch ballots were used. I think a better solution would have been for Bush to request all other counties recounted. That was better than going to court.

I think we loose with both of those candidates but I didn't vote in MN. This is their Representative. I do believe the people have spoken and they should seat the winner. Now the case goes to the MN supreme court which consist of 5 Republicans (one of which gave money to Coleman), 1 IND and one undeclared. So you think this is who should speak for all the people of MN? You think Franken can get a fair deal in this situation?

The only thing Franken has on his side is two of the judges were election officials. It would be nice to see them reverse their own decisions.

 

I only mentioned the SCOTUS because of the coincidental party line vote which supports my argument that no election should be decided in court. How is it the voice of the people speaking when the court decides the election with a party line decision?

But I will agree with you, it should have never gone to the FL SC. I believe the parties should have to plead their case to the election board and let the winner win.

 

My friend Candy,

I thought you might find this article interesting. It reminded me of how Coleman's disputes are to toss out ballots in heavily democratic precincts and include more ballots in republican-leaning precincts.

Please don't pretend Gore is the only one whose challenges are skewed in his favor. However, Gore had more justification since punch ballots were only used in Democratic precincts.