On 07-16-10, DAVE DRUM said to TIM RICHARDSON:

DD>Which has bugger-all to do with the subject at hand.


TR> I cannot imagine under what logic someone like Al Franken would be left
TR> in office, were it to be shown he was put there by fraudulent voting.

DD>I recall no serious claims or charges that Franken's election was
DD>fraudulent. Long winded, dragged out past the point of reasonability by
DD>his opponent, yeah. But, I can't recall any responsible charges of voter
DD>fraud.

FOXNews.com - Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in
Minnesota, Study Finds

January 13, 2010


U.S. Senate


Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study
Finds


By Ed Barnes


Published July 12, 2010| FoxNews.com


AP


A study finds that at least 341 convicted felons voted illegally in the
election that made former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken a U.S.
senator in 2008.The six-month election recount that turned former "Saturday
Night Live" comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by
convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.


That's the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a
conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in
largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate
race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent
Sen. Norm Coleman.


The final recount vote in the race, determined six months after Election Day,
showed Franken beat Coleman by 312 votes -- fewer votes than the number of
felons whose illegal ballots were counted, according to Minnesota Majority's
newly released study, which matched publicly available conviction lists with
voting records.


Furthermore, the report charges that efforts to get state and federal
authorities to act on its findings have been "stonewalled."


"We aren't trying to change the result of the last election. That legally
can't be done," said Dan McGrath, Minnesota Majority's executive
director. "We
are just trying to make sure the integrity of the next election isn't
compromised."


He said his group was largely ignored when it turned over a list of hundreds
of names to prosecutors in two of the state's largest counties, Ramsey and
Hennepin, where fraud seemed to be the greatest.


A spokesman for both county attorneys' offices belittled the information,
saying it was "just plain wrong" and full of errors, which
prompted the group
to go back and start an in-depth look at the records.


"What we did this time is irrefutable," McGrath said. "We
took the voting
lists and matched them with conviction lists and then went back to the records
and found the roster lists, where voters sign in before walking to the voting
booth, and matched them by hand.


"The only way we can be wrong is if someone with the same first, middle and
last names, same year of birth as the felon, and living in the same community,
has voted. And that isn't very likely."


The report said that in Hennepin County, which in includes Minneapolis, 899
suspected felons had been matched on the county's voting records, and the
review showed 289 voters were conclusively matched to felon records. The
report says only three people in the county have been charged with voter fraud
so far.


A representative of the Hennepin County attorney's office, who declined to
give her name, said "there was no one in the office today to talk about the
charges."


But the report got a far different review in Ramsey County, which contains St.
Paul. Phil Carruthers of the Ramsey County attorney's office said his agency
had taken the charges "very seriously" and found that the
Minnesota Majority
"had done a good job in their review."


The report says that in Ramsey, 460 names on voting records were matched with
felon lists, and a further review found 52 were conclusive matches.


Carruthers attributed differences in the numbers to Minnesota Majority's lack
of access to nonpublic information, such as exact birth dates and other court
records. For example, he said, "public records might show a felon was given 10
years probation, but internal records the county attorney has might show that
the probation period was cut to five and the felon was eligible to vote."


Carruthers said Ramsey County is still investigating all the names and has
asked that more investigators be hired to complete the process. "So far we
have charged 28 people with felonies, have 17 more under review and have 182
cases still open," he said. "And there is a good chance we may
match or even
exceed their numbers."


McGrath says the report shows that more still has to be done.


"Prosecutors have to act more swiftly in prosecuting cases from the 2008
election to deter fraud in the future," he said, "and the state has to make
sure that existing system, that flags convicted felons so voting officials can
challenge them at the ballot, is effective. In 90 percent of the cases we
looked  at, the felons weren't flagged."


"If the state had done that," he said, "things might be very
different today."

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