TPMDC Mark Ritchie
MN-GOV
Local Fox Reporter Indignantly Grills MN Sec Of State Over Recount (VIDEO)
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D)
If there's a close election in Minnesota...then Fox News is all over it, and going after the Democrats. Check out this amazing interview that Heidi Collins, formerly of CNN and now an anchor on the local Fox station in her native Twin Cities area, did with Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie on Wednesday night. Among the suspicious points she raises against Ritchie regarding the gubernatorial recount is that...his office was prepared for a recount!
In the race to succeed Repubican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton currently leads Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer by slightly under 9,000 votes, a percentage gap of 0.42% out of about 2.1 million votes. Though this figure is within the 0.5% margin that would trigger a mandatory hand recount, past experience from the state's long-running 2008 Senate recount and legal contest -- in which the margins were only ever a few hundred votes out of 2.9 million ballots -- would suggest that the outcome is highly unlikely to switch to the Republicans.
Collins opened the interview by playing a video clip of state GOP chair Tony Sutton blaming Ritchie for the recount, and saying that it should be "a process that's dominated by an ACORN activist who happens to be the Secretary of State."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, MN-GOV, Mark Dayton, Mark Ritchie, Recount, Tom Emmer
MN-GOV
Minnesota Sec. of State Proposes Recount Schedule For Gov. Race
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D)
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's (D) office has released a proposed schedule for the expected gubernatorial recount -- and the state could be cutting it close on this one.
As the Star-Tribune reports, the schedule calls for a State Canvassing Board meeting on November 23, to certify the initial election results and determine the need for any recounts. As of right now, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton's lead over Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer is slightly under the 0.5% margin that would trigger a mandatory hand recount.
The recount would then begin on November 29, with a deadline of December 7 for local officials to finish sorting and counting the ballots. The canvassing board would then meet on December 8-10 to sort through any disputed ballots, and then certify the results on December 14.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, MN-GOV, Mark Dayton, Mark Ritchie, Recount, Tom Emmer
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