Gary Coleman - World-of-Newave.info World-of-Newave.info http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 2008-11-23T19:00:09Z Latest news and articles about Gary Coleman Copyright (c)2004-2008.ยง/Newave SARL. All rights reserved. {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - O'Reilly falsely claimed Coleman "was certified the winner" in MN Senate race Echoing a false claim made by Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-MN) campaign, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed on the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that Coleman "was certified the winner" in the Minnesota Senate race against Democratic challenger Al Franken. O'Reilly added: "Coleman won by a mere 215 votes." In fact, during the November 18 meeting of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie stated that the board was signing a certificate declaring that "[e]xcept for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " Ritchie then explained: "This is the certificate that we are signing one at a time, and it declares the winner in all but four races. And in those four races, they will receive the same process at the end of the recount." Ritchie's office released a statement that day asserting that "Minnesota law triggers automatic recounts when the vote margin between the top two candidates in federal, state, or judicial races is less than one-half of one percent in a general election." It further stated: "The board reviewed and adopted election results with the exception of those requiring automatic recounts." The statement also quoted Ritchie asserting: "Only when this recount is complete in its entirety will we know who is elected." Several news outlets also reported that the board did not certify vote totals or a winner in the Minnesota Senate race. The Star Tribune reported on November 19 that the board "did not certify vote totals in the Senate race." The Pioneer Press reported in a November 19 article that the board "declare[d] winners ... in all but four" Minnesota election contests, including "the U.S. Senate race." The Press quoted Ritchie as saying, "We do not know the winner of four races until the completion of the process." Additionally, the West Central Tribune reported on November 19 that the "Senate race is among the four without a certified winner pending the recount." Additionally, Ritchie reportedly "dismissed" the Coleman campaign's statement that Coleman "was confirmed as the winner" in the race. In the statement, Coleman for Senate Campaign Manager Cullen Sheehan asserted that "Coleman has, for the third time, been named the winner of the 2008 election." Ritchie reportedly said in response, "We certified that on all but four races the winner is known." From the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: O'REILLY: "Factor Follow-up" segment tonight: Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman was certified the winner in his race against Al Franken today. Coleman won by a mere 215 votes. But about 400,000 voters in Minnesota rejected Franken, while voting for Obama. They crossed the ticket to support Coleman, a stunning statistic. From the November 18 meeting of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board: RITCHIE: We will move now to the signing of the certificate, and with -- for the benefit of the audience, I would like to read this. "We, the undersigned, legally constituted state canvassing board, as required by law" -- and I think -- is there a good pen and all of that? Where's that original? Do you want to start it? [inaudible] "As required by law, canvassed on November 18th, 2008, the certified copies of the statements made by the county canvassing boards of the votes cast at the November 4th, 2008, state general election for presidential electors, U.S. Senate, U.S. representatives, state representatives, state constitutional amendment, and state judicial offices. We have also received the report of the 2008 postelection review, held pursuant to law, containing the changes and the number of votes counted by candidates for the offices of presidential electors, U.S. Senate, U.S. representatives in the precincts reviewed in each county of the state pursuant to Minnesota statute section 206.89, we have incorporated the indicated changes into the following report of the votes cast at the 2008 state general election. "We specify in the following report the names of the persons who received votes and the number received by each in the several counties in which they were cast as reported by the county canvassing boards and adjusted by the report of the postelection review. Except for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " This is the certificate that we are signing one at a time, and it declares the winner in all but four races. And in those four races, they will receive the same process at the end of the recount. And the report triggers the counting by hand of the four races, which will begin tomorrow morning. And we have the task today of considering the procedures for the recount plans, which will now be presented by [Minnesota state elections director] Mr. Gary Poser. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/o-reilly-falsely-claimed-coleman-was-certified-20081195331.htm 2008-11-20T00:53:47Z 2008-11-20T00:53:47Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811190019 O'Reilly falsely claimed Coleman "was certified the winner" in MN Senate race {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - Echoing a false claim made by Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-MN) campaign, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed on the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that Coleman "was certified the winner" in the Minnesota Senate race against Democratic challenger Al Franken. O'Reilly added: "Coleman won by a mere 215 votes." In fact, during the November 18 meeting of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie stated that the board was signing a certificate declaring that "[e]xcept for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " Ritchie then explained: "This is the certificate that we are signing one at a time, and it declares the winner in all but four races. And in those four races, they will receive the same process at the end of the recount." Ritchie's office released a statement that day asserting that "Minnesota law triggers automatic recounts when the vote margin between the top two candidates in federal, state, or judicial races is less than one-half of one percent in a general election." It further stated: "The board reviewed and adopted election results with the exception of those requiring automatic recounts." The statement also quoted Ritchie asserting: "Only when this recount is complete in its entirety will we know who is elected." Several news outlets also reported that the board did not certify vote totals or a winner in the Minnesota Senate race. The Star Tribune reported on November 19 that the board "did not certify vote totals in the Senate race." The Pioneer Press reported in a November 19 article that the board "declare[d] winners ... in all but four" Minnesota election contests, including "the U.S. Senate race." The Press quoted Ritchie as saying, "We do not know the winner of four races until the completion of the process." Additionally, the West Central Tribune reported on November 19 that the "Senate race is among the four without a certified winner pending the recount." Additionally, Ritchie reportedly "dismissed" the Coleman campaign's statement that Coleman "was confirmed as the winner" in the race. In the statement, Coleman for Senate Campaign Manager Cullen Sheehan asserted that "Coleman has, for the third time, been named the winner of the 2008 election." Ritchie reportedly said in response, "We certified that on all but four races the winner is known." From the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: O'REILLY: "Factor Follow-up" segment tonight: Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman was certified the winner in his race against Al Franken today. Coleman won by a mere 215 votes. But about 400,000 voters in Minnesota rejected Franken, while voting for Obama. They crossed the ticket to support Coleman, a stunning statistic. From the November 18 meeting of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board: RITCHIE: We will move now to the signing of the certificate, and with -- for the benefit of the audience, I would like to read this. "We, the undersigned, legally constituted state canvassing board, as required by law" -- and I think -- is there a good pen and all of that? Where's that original? Do you want to start it? [inaudible] "As required by law, canvassed on November 18th, 2008, the certified copies of the statements made by the county canvassing boards of the votes cast at the November 4th, 2008, state general election for presidential electors, U.S. Senate, U.S. representatives, state representatives, state constitutional amendment, and state judicial offices. We have also received the report of the 2008 postelection review, held pursuant to law, containing the changes and the number of votes counted by candidates for the offices of presidential electors, U.S. Senate, U.S. representatives in the precincts reviewed in each county of the state pursuant to Minnesota statute section 206.89, we have incorporated the indicated changes into the following report of the votes cast at the 2008 state general election. "We specify in the following report the names of the persons who received votes and the number received by each in the several counties in which they were cast as reported by the county canvassing boards and adjusted by the report of the postelection review. Except for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " This is the certificate that we are signing one at a time, and it declares the winner in all but four races. And in those four races, they will receive the same process at the end of the recount. And the report triggers the counting by hand of the four races, which will begin tomorrow morning. And we have the task today of considering the procedures for the recount plans, which will now be presented by [Minnesota state elections director] Mr. Gary Poser.
Media Matters - O'Reilly falsely claimed Coleman "was certified the winner" in MN Senate race {...} Echoing Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign, Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that Coleman "was certified the winner" in the Minnesota Senate race against Al Franken, adding, "Coleman won by a mere 215 votes." In fact, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board did not certify a winner in the Senate race, having authorized an automatic recount of ballots for that race. {...}
Published: November 20, 2008, 12:53 am - Indexed: November 21, 2008, 1:24 pm - Page Size: 21KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ENTERTAINMENT > PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA} - Actor Coleman 'hits man in car' Former Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman is accused of hitting a man with his truck after arguing with him, police say. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/entertainment/publications-and-media/actor-coleman-hits-man-in-car-20080952112.htm 2008-09-08T16:56:47Z 2008-09-08T16:56:47Z News.Bbc.Co.Uk http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7604846.stm Actor Coleman 'hits man in car' {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Former Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman is accused of hitting a man with his truck after arguing with him, police say.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Actor Coleman 'hits man in car' {...}
Published: September 8, 2008, 4:56 pm - Indexed: September 8, 2008, 11:25 pm - Page Size: 41KB
Category: Arts > Entertainment > Publications and Media

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Attacking Media Matters, O'Reilly falsely claimed he said "Coleman's victory was certified by the state ... which is absolutely true" -- but it's not On the November 20 broadcast of The Radio Factor, host Bill O'Reilly attacked Media Matters for America for highlighting comments he made during the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, when he falsely claimed Sen. Norm Coleman (R) "was certified the winner" in his Minnesota Senate race against Democratic challenger Al Franken. On November 20, O'Reilly claimed: "[W]e said the other day that, in Minnesota, that the election commission had certified the election and that -- what's his name -- Coleman, the senator, had won by 215 votes." Calling Media Matters "the most dishonest website in the country," he further stated: "So, what I said was, Coleman's victory was certified by the state because it was. He had 215 more votes, which is absolutely true. Absolutely true. OK? Rock solid; in stone. That's what they did." In fact, as Media Matters noted when O'Reilly made the false claim earlier, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board did not certify "Coleman's victory"; nor did it certify "the election." Rather, the board signed a statement on November 18 declaring that "[e]xcept for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " Moreover, contrary to O'Reilly's claim that he said "the election commission had certified the election," Minnesota election law states that "[i]f a recount is undertaken by a canvassing board" in elections including those for U.S. senator, "no certificate of election shall be prepared or delivered until after the recount is completed." Minnesota law states in relevant part: 204C.40 CERTIFICATES OF ELECTION. Subdivision 1.Preparation; method of delivery. The county auditor shall prepare an election certificate for every county candidate declared elected by the county canvassing board, and the secretary of state shall prepare a certificate for every state and federal candidate declared elected by either a county canvassing board or the State Canvassing Board. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the secretary of state or county auditor, as appropriate, shall deliver an election certificate on demand to the elected candidate. In an election for United States representative, the secretary of state shall deliver the original election certificate to the chief clerk of the United States House of Representatives. In an election for United States senator, the governor shall prepare an original certificate of election, countersigned by the secretary of state, and deliver it to the secretary of the United States Senate. In an election for state representative or state senator, the secretary of state shall deliver the original election certificate to the chief clerk of the house or the secretary of the senate. The chief clerk of the house or the secretary of the senate shall give a copy of the certificate to the representative-elect or senator-elect. Upon taking the oath of office, the representative or senator shall receive the original certificate of election. If a recount is undertaken by a canvassing board pursuant to section 204C.35, no certificate of election shall be prepared or delivered until after the recount is completed. In case of a contest, the court may invalidate and revoke the certificate as provided in chapter 209. Subd. 2.Time of issuance; certain offices. No certificate of election shall be issued until seven days after the canvassing board has declared the result of the election. In case of a contest, an election certificate shall not be issued until a court of proper jurisdiction has finally determined the contest. This subdivision shall not apply to candidates elected to the office of state senator or representative. In addition to several news outlets also reporting that the state canvassing board did not certify a winner in the Minnesota Senate race, The Associated Press reported on November 19 that "[t]he recount will be done in more than 100 sites across the state over the next 2 1/2 weeks. A month from now, the canvassing board will reconvene to rule on disputed ballots and certify the election." From the November 20 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly: O'REILLY: We have a mandate here where we just simply want to give you the truth and the facts straight up. I mean, that's why we've been successful. We said the other day -- this is interesting, and you guys might learn a lesson from this -- we said the other day that, in Minnesota, that the election commission had certified the election and that -- what's his name -- Coleman, the senator, had won by 215 votes. All right? WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: That's what we reported. WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: Well, Media Matters, the most dishonest website in the country, because they purport to be watchdogs, but of course they only watch conservative people or people they don't like, or traditional people -- they don't watch the left -- they say, "Oh, O'Reilly lied because he said that the state of Minnesota certified Coleman's victory." OK. So, what I said was, Coleman's victory was certified by the state because it was. He had 215 more votes -- WIEHL: Sure. So that's a win. O'REILLY: -- which is absolutely true. WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: Absolutely true. OK? Rock solid; in stone. That's what they did. But these despicable -- that's all I'm going to say. Just despicable. I could say a lot of other things, but I won't. These people take that, all right, put it on their website that O'Reilly lied by saying they certified a victory. They didn't use, in the state of Minnesota, a victory, 'cause there's a recount. All right? But, if you certify an election, where one guy has 215 more votes -- WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: -- that's a win for Coleman, as it stands now. WIEHL: It could change. O'REILLY: And we said, there's going to be a recount. But when you listen to me, I'm going to tell you the truth and give you the facts. Those are going to be twisted and distorted by dishonest people like NBC News. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/attacking-media-matters-o-reilly-falsely-claimed-20081173826.htm 2008-11-21T22:33:55Z 2008-11-21T22:33:55Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811210012 Attacking Media Matters, O'Reilly falsely claimed he said "Coleman's victory was certified by the state ... which is absolutely true" -- but it's not {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - On the November 20 broadcast of The Radio Factor, host Bill O'Reilly attacked Media Matters for America for highlighting comments he made during the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, when he falsely claimed Sen. Norm Coleman (R) "was certified the winner" in his Minnesota Senate race against Democratic challenger Al Franken. On November 20, O'Reilly claimed: "[W]e said the other day that, in Minnesota, that the election commission had certified the election and that -- what's his name -- Coleman, the senator, had won by 215 votes." Calling Media Matters "the most dishonest website in the country," he further stated: "So, what I said was, Coleman's victory was certified by the state because it was. He had 215 more votes, which is absolutely true. Absolutely true. OK? Rock solid; in stone. That's what they did." In fact, as Media Matters noted when O'Reilly made the false claim earlier, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board did not certify "Coleman's victory"; nor did it certify "the election." Rather, the board signed a statement on November 18 declaring that "[e]xcept for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " Moreover, contrary to O'Reilly's claim that he said "the election commission had certified the election," Minnesota election law states that "[i]f a recount is undertaken by a canvassing board" in elections including those for U.S. senator, "no certificate of election shall be prepared or delivered until after the recount is completed." Minnesota law states in relevant part: 204C.40 CERTIFICATES OF ELECTION. Subdivision 1.Preparation; method of delivery. The county auditor shall prepare an election certificate for every county candidate declared elected by the county canvassing board, and the secretary of state shall prepare a certificate for every state and federal candidate declared elected by either a county canvassing board or the State Canvassing Board. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the secretary of state or county auditor, as appropriate, shall deliver an election certificate on demand to the elected candidate. In an election for United States representative, the secretary of state shall deliver the original election certificate to the chief clerk of the United States House of Representatives. In an election for United States senator, the governor shall prepare an original certificate of election, countersigned by the secretary of state, and deliver it to the secretary of the United States Senate. In an election for state representative or state senator, the secretary of state shall deliver the original election certificate to the chief clerk of the house or the secretary of the senate. The chief clerk of the house or the secretary of the senate shall give a copy of the certificate to the representative-elect or senator-elect. Upon taking the oath of office, the representative or senator shall receive the original certificate of election. If a recount is undertaken by a canvassing board pursuant to section 204C.35, no certificate of election shall be prepared or delivered until after the recount is completed. In case of a contest, the court may invalidate and revoke the certificate as provided in chapter 209. Subd. 2.Time of issuance; certain offices. No certificate of election shall be issued until seven days after the canvassing board has declared the result of the election. In case of a contest, an election certificate shall not be issued until a court of proper jurisdiction has finally determined the contest. This subdivision shall not apply to candidates elected to the office of state senator or representative. In addition to several news outlets also reporting that the state canvassing board did not certify a winner in the Minnesota Senate race, The Associated Press reported on November 19 that "[t]he recount will be done in more than 100 sites across the state over the next 2 1/2 weeks. A month from now, the canvassing board will reconvene to rule on disputed ballots and certify the election." From the November 20 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly: O'REILLY: We have a mandate here where we just simply want to give you the truth and the facts straight up. I mean, that's why we've been successful. We said the other day -- this is interesting, and you guys might learn a lesson from this -- we said the other day that, in Minnesota, that the election commission had certified the election and that -- what's his name -- Coleman, the senator, had won by 215 votes. All right? WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: That's what we reported. WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: Well, Media Matters, the most dishonest website in the country, because they purport to be watchdogs, but of course they only watch conservative people or people they don't like, or traditional people -- they don't watch the left -- they say, "Oh, O'Reilly lied because he said that the state of Minnesota certified Coleman's victory." OK. So, what I said was, Coleman's victory was certified by the state because it was. He had 215 more votes -- WIEHL: Sure. So that's a win. O'REILLY: -- which is absolutely true. WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: Absolutely true. OK? Rock solid; in stone. That's what they did. But these despicable -- that's all I'm going to say. Just despicable. I could say a lot of other things, but I won't. These people take that, all right, put it on their website that O'Reilly lied by saying they certified a victory. They didn't use, in the state of Minnesota, a victory, 'cause there's a recount. All right? But, if you certify an election, where one guy has 215 more votes -- WIEHL: Right. O'REILLY: -- that's a win for Coleman, as it stands now. WIEHL: It could change. O'REILLY: And we said, there's going to be a recount. But when you listen to me, I'm going to tell you the truth and give you the facts. Those are going to be twisted and distorted by dishonest people like NBC News.
Media Matters - Attacking Media Matters , O'Reilly falsely claimed he said "Coleman's victory was certified by the state ... which is absolutely true" -- but it's not {...} Attacking Media Matters on his radio show for noting that his previous claim that Sen. Norm Coleman "was certified the winner" in the Minnesota Senate race was false, Bill O'Reilly repeated the falsehood, claiming: "[W]hat I said was, Coleman's victory was certified by the state because it was. He had 215 more votes, which is absolutely true." In fact, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board did not "certif[y]" a "victory" for Coleman or Al Franken, having authorized an automatic recount of ballots for that race; Minnesota election law states that "no certificate of election shall be prepared or delivered until after the recount is completed." {...}
Published: November 21, 2008, 10:33 pm - Indexed: November 23, 2008, 1:25 pm - Page Size: 23KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Time uncritically repeated Coleman camp's "accus[ation]" that MN sec. of state has "breach[ed] neutrality" In a November 17 article, Time's Justin Horwath uncritically repeated an "accus[ation]" by Sen. Norm Coleman's (R) campaign that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has " 'breach[ed] neutrality' by saying that the State Canvassing Board will probably consider taking up ... tossed absentee ballots" in advance of a forthcoming recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. Franken, who, Horwath noted, like Ritchie, "belongs to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor coalition," filed a lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court "seeking to obtain the names of voters' whose absentee ballots were rejected" and "hopes to submit the ballots to the State Canvassing Board for consideration." But in reporting the Coleman campaign's accusation of partisanship by Ritchie, Horwath did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel," as Media Matters for America has documented. Additionally, while Horwath noted that the board "includes two Minnesota Supreme Court Justices and two Ramsey County District Court judges," he did not point out that two of the board's five members -- Eric J. Magnuson and G. Barry Anderson -- were appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Pawlenty. From Horwath's November 17 Time article, "Coleman and Franken: Fighting Over the Minnesota Recount": The recount, which will cost taxpayers roughly $87,000, promises to be arduous. The State Canvassing Board will certify elections results Tuesday and the recount begins Wednesday, when election officials in 110 locations across the state will analyze by hand each of the nearly 3 million ballots to determine voter's intent. (Minnesota uses optical scanners, and many voters haphazardly filled in the intended ovals, didn't do so at all or otherwise improperly marked their ballots.) Thousands of party representatives will literally be peering over their shoulders to challenge any apparent discrepancy. By law, election officials must place any challenged ballots in a separate pile for consideration by the State Canvassing Board. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie chairs the five-member board, which also includes two Minnesota Supreme Court Justices and two Ramsey County District Court judges. On Saturday, the Coleman campaign accused Ritchie, who, like Franken, belongs to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor coalition, of "breaching neutrality" by saying that the State Canvassing Board will probably consider taking up the tossed absentee ballots. Ritchie has vowed to hold regular press conferences during the recount. "The whole world is watching to see if we're living up to our reputation as Minnesota -- our brand," Ritchie says. "Accuracy is the only measurement by which we can determine who won this election." Ritchie does not expect the recount to be completed until at least December 19. If the results are a tie, the contest could be decided by a coin toss. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/time-uncritically-repeated-coleman-camp-s-accus-20081198224.htm 2008-11-18T02:06:44Z 2008-11-18T02:06:44Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811170019 Time uncritically repeated Coleman camp's "accus[ation]" that MN sec. of state has "breach[ed] neutrality" {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - In a November 17 article, Time's Justin Horwath uncritically repeated an "accus[ation]" by Sen. Norm Coleman's (R) campaign that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has " 'breach[ed] neutrality' by saying that the State Canvassing Board will probably consider taking up ... tossed absentee ballots" in advance of a forthcoming recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. Franken, who, Horwath noted, like Ritchie, "belongs to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor coalition," filed a lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court "seeking to obtain the names of voters' whose absentee ballots were rejected" and "hopes to submit the ballots to the State Canvassing Board for consideration." But in reporting the Coleman campaign's accusation of partisanship by Ritchie, Horwath did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel," as Media Matters for America has documented. Additionally, while Horwath noted that the board "includes two Minnesota Supreme Court Justices and two Ramsey County District Court judges," he did not point out that two of the board's five members -- Eric J. Magnuson and G. Barry Anderson -- were appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Pawlenty. From Horwath's November 17 Time article, "Coleman and Franken: Fighting Over the Minnesota Recount": The recount, which will cost taxpayers roughly $87,000, promises to be arduous. The State Canvassing Board will certify elections results Tuesday and the recount begins Wednesday, when election officials in 110 locations across the state will analyze by hand each of the nearly 3 million ballots to determine voter's intent. (Minnesota uses optical scanners, and many voters haphazardly filled in the intended ovals, didn't do so at all or otherwise improperly marked their ballots.) Thousands of party representatives will literally be peering over their shoulders to challenge any apparent discrepancy. By law, election officials must place any challenged ballots in a separate pile for consideration by the State Canvassing Board. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie chairs the five-member board, which also includes two Minnesota Supreme Court Justices and two Ramsey County District Court judges. On Saturday, the Coleman campaign accused Ritchie, who, like Franken, belongs to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor coalition, of "breaching neutrality" by saying that the State Canvassing Board will probably consider taking up the tossed absentee ballots. Ritchie has vowed to hold regular press conferences during the recount. "The whole world is watching to see if we're living up to our reputation as Minnesota -- our brand," Ritchie says. "Accuracy is the only measurement by which we can determine who won this election." Ritchie does not expect the recount to be completed until at least December 19. If the results are a tie, the contest could be decided by a coin toss.
Media Matters - Time uncritically repeated Coleman camp's "accus[ation]" that MN sec. of state has "breach[ed] neutrality" {...} Time repeated an "accus[ation]" by Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has " 'breach[ed] neutrality' by saying that the State Canvassing Board will probably consider taking up ... tossed absentee ballots" in advance of a recount in the Senate race between Coleman and Al Franken. But Time did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." {...}
Published: November 18, 2008, 2:06 am - Indexed: November 18, 2008, 10:30 am - Page Size: 17KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Fox News' Barnes latest media figure to reference discredited Minnesota car ballot story During the November 15 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys, while discussing the Minnesota Senate race, co-host Fred Barnes forwarded the discredited rumor that 32 ballots from Minneapolis were mishandled. Barnes said: "We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, [Democratic candidate Al] Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious." However, a lawyer for Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign, who initially raised questions about those ballots on November 8, reportedly said that same day that he had been assured the ballots were handled properly -- an assertion he reportedly repeated two days later. Indeed, on November 16, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) -- who initially forwarded the car ballot rumor himself -- said that "there's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate." Additionally, Barnes said that "what drives Republicans the most crazy is the guy in charge of the whole recount, and that's the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie [D] ... Republicans just regard it as someone who will do anything to get a Democrat elected, and that -- and that's Franken." However, Barnes did not acknowledge, as Media Matters for America has documented, that Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount, or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." As Media Matters noted, while Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for Coleman, reportedly said on November 8, "We were actually told [ballots] had been riding around in [Minneapolis director of elections Cynthia Reichert's] car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions," The Associated Press reported that same day that Knaak "said a Minneapolis attorney reassured Coleman's campaign that no one but an elected official had access to the 32 ballots and there was no tampering." On November 10, Knaak further reportedly said of the purported incident, "It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." During the November 16 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Pawlenty stated: PAWLENTY: There's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate. There are concerning patterns about the changes before the recount starting favoring Al Franken, and some concerns that were raised. But we have to be clear on this. As of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process. If there is, it'll get rooted out and identified aggressively. Additionally, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on November 15: Earlier this week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty added fuel to the debate when he raised concerns of his own about ballot security, speaking on Fox News about an allegation, now documented as inaccurate, that a Minneapolis election official drove around with 32 absentee ballots in the trunk of her car. Ritchie declined to be critical of Pawlenty, but said he sent a note to Pawlenty thanking him for his support for the overall integrity of the state's election process and providing him with his cell phone number if the governor had any further questions. Asked if Pawlenty wanted to modify his comments, Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said: "Based on ballot security issues reported in news accounts, the governor expressed his concerns. He's glad some of these matters have been clarified." As Media Matters has documented, in addition to Barnes, numerous media figures and outlets have advanced the discredited rumor that the ballots were mishandled, including The Wall Street Journal, NBC correspondent Lee Cowan, MSNBC host Chris Matthews, and Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Brit Hume, and Bill O'Reilly. From the November 15 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys: JEFF BIRNBAUM (guest co-host): Down, Minnesota. The Senate race between incumbent Norm Coleman and funnyman Al Franken couldn't be closer -- enough to trigger an automatic recount. But that hasn't had -- kept either side from questioning the legitimacy of the outcome. It's really -- this is really no good for anybody, basically, this extended problem. There are already new accusations, or renewed accusations, about Norm Coleman perhaps getting too close to a former fundraiser of his. Calls for investigations into whether money was channeled from the fundraiser's company to Norm Coleman and his wife -- charges that are -- are denied by the Colemans. But, nonetheless, this is getting very nasty, and a lot is at stake, of course, in the outcome. But if Norm -- if Coleman wins, it could really be a problem for him even if he does win. BARNES: I'm not worried. I don't think those lawsuits are going to amount to much. But it's clear now who -- which of the parties, whether the Coleman campaign or the Franken campaign, thinks the process is working on their side. We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious. And some other things, too, you know, where he gains. There are all these more Franken votes in certain districts, but no votes for other offices that weren't affected. But what drives Republicans the most crazy is the guy in charge of the whole recount, and that's the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who's an ally of ACORN, and I don't need to describe them. And Republicans just regard it as someone who will do anything to get a Democrat elected, and that -- and that's Franken. I mean, every Republican I know thinks they're going to "discover" more ballots. And, of course, they'll favor Franken. All right. Up, Howard Dean. From the November 16 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday: CHRIS WALLACE (host): All right, I want to ask you both about specific issues involving you. Governor Pawlenty, you've got a dead-even Senate race in Minnesota. And we'll put up the results, which are really quite extraordinary, just a couple of hundred votes out of almost two and a half million. There have been allegations from some Republicans that Democrats are trying to steal this election for Al Franken. Do you have full confidence in the secretary of state, who is a Democrat, and also in the canvassing board, to which -- a five-member board to which you appointed two members? PAWLENTY: Chris, in Minnesota we have a history of clear, transparent, accurate, and fair and legal elections. That's going to happen again here. The canvassing board is five people. They are invited by the secretary of state, not appointed by me. The governor doesn't have a role. But it's four judges -- all of which have good reputations -- and the secretary of state. The canvassing board in the state of Minnesota will render a result. This process will be fair and appropriate. I can assure you of that. WALLACE: Do you -- because there has been some talk in some Republican circles about ballots that were found in -- PAWLENTY: Sure. WALLACE: -- people's trunks. I mean, is -- is there any sign that there has been any fraud? And two, if there is any fraud, will that be sorted out by the canvassing board? PAWLENTY: There's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate. There are concerning patterns about the changes before the recount starting favoring Al Franken, and some concerns that were raised. But we have to be clear on this. As of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process. If there is, it'll get rooted out and identified aggressively. But at the moment, there is no actual evidence of that occurring. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/fox-news-barnes-latest-media-figure-to-reference-20081196517.htm 2008-11-17T16:33:09Z 2008-11-17T16:33:09Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811170006 Fox News' Barnes latest media figure to reference discredited Minnesota car ballot story {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - During the November 15 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys, while discussing the Minnesota Senate race, co-host Fred Barnes forwarded the discredited rumor that 32 ballots from Minneapolis were mishandled. Barnes said: "We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, [Democratic candidate Al] Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious." However, a lawyer for Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign, who initially raised questions about those ballots on November 8, reportedly said that same day that he had been assured the ballots were handled properly -- an assertion he reportedly repeated two days later. Indeed, on November 16, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) -- who initially forwarded the car ballot rumor himself -- said that "there's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate." Additionally, Barnes said that "what drives Republicans the most crazy is the guy in charge of the whole recount, and that's the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie [D] ... Republicans just regard it as someone who will do anything to get a Democrat elected, and that -- and that's Franken." However, Barnes did not acknowledge, as Media Matters for America has documented, that Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount, or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." As Media Matters noted, while Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for Coleman, reportedly said on November 8, "We were actually told [ballots] had been riding around in [Minneapolis director of elections Cynthia Reichert's] car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions," The Associated Press reported that same day that Knaak "said a Minneapolis attorney reassured Coleman's campaign that no one but an elected official had access to the 32 ballots and there was no tampering." On November 10, Knaak further reportedly said of the purported incident, "It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." During the November 16 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Pawlenty stated: PAWLENTY: There's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate. There are concerning patterns about the changes before the recount starting favoring Al Franken, and some concerns that were raised. But we have to be clear on this. As of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process. If there is, it'll get rooted out and identified aggressively. Additionally, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on November 15: Earlier this week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty added fuel to the debate when he raised concerns of his own about ballot security, speaking on Fox News about an allegation, now documented as inaccurate, that a Minneapolis election official drove around with 32 absentee ballots in the trunk of her car. Ritchie declined to be critical of Pawlenty, but said he sent a note to Pawlenty thanking him for his support for the overall integrity of the state's election process and providing him with his cell phone number if the governor had any further questions. Asked if Pawlenty wanted to modify his comments, Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said: "Based on ballot security issues reported in news accounts, the governor expressed his concerns. He's glad some of these matters have been clarified." As Media Matters has documented, in addition to Barnes, numerous media figures and outlets have advanced the discredited rumor that the ballots were mishandled, including The Wall Street Journal, NBC correspondent Lee Cowan, MSNBC host Chris Matthews, and Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Brit Hume, and Bill O'Reilly. From the November 15 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys: JEFF BIRNBAUM (guest co-host): Down, Minnesota. The Senate race between incumbent Norm Coleman and funnyman Al Franken couldn't be closer -- enough to trigger an automatic recount. But that hasn't had -- kept either side from questioning the legitimacy of the outcome. It's really -- this is really no good for anybody, basically, this extended problem. There are already new accusations, or renewed accusations, about Norm Coleman perhaps getting too close to a former fundraiser of his. Calls for investigations into whether money was channeled from the fundraiser's company to Norm Coleman and his wife -- charges that are -- are denied by the Colemans. But, nonetheless, this is getting very nasty, and a lot is at stake, of course, in the outcome. But if Norm -- if Coleman wins, it could really be a problem for him even if he does win. BARNES: I'm not worried. I don't think those lawsuits are going to amount to much. But it's clear now who -- which of the parties, whether the Coleman campaign or the Franken campaign, thinks the process is working on their side. We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious. And some other things, too, you know, where he gains. There are all these more Franken votes in certain districts, but no votes for other offices that weren't affected. But what drives Republicans the most crazy is the guy in charge of the whole recount, and that's the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who's an ally of ACORN, and I don't need to describe them. And Republicans just regard it as someone who will do anything to get a Democrat elected, and that -- and that's Franken. I mean, every Republican I know thinks they're going to "discover" more ballots. And, of course, they'll favor Franken. All right. Up, Howard Dean. From the November 16 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday: CHRIS WALLACE (host): All right, I want to ask you both about specific issues involving you. Governor Pawlenty, you've got a dead-even Senate race in Minnesota. And we'll put up the results, which are really quite extraordinary, just a couple of hundred votes out of almost two and a half million. There have been allegations from some Republicans that Democrats are trying to steal this election for Al Franken. Do you have full confidence in the secretary of state, who is a Democrat, and also in the canvassing board, to which -- a five-member board to which you appointed two members? PAWLENTY: Chris, in Minnesota we have a history of clear, transparent, accurate, and fair and legal elections. That's going to happen again here. The canvassing board is five people. They are invited by the secretary of state, not appointed by me. The governor doesn't have a role. But it's four judges -- all of which have good reputations -- and the secretary of state. The canvassing board in the state of Minnesota will render a result. This process will be fair and appropriate. I can assure you of that. WALLACE: Do you -- because there has been some talk in some Republican circles about ballots that were found in -- PAWLENTY: Sure. WALLACE: -- people's trunks. I mean, is -- is there any sign that there has been any fraud? And two, if there is any fraud, will that be sorted out by the canvassing board? PAWLENTY: There's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate. There are concerning patterns about the changes before the recount starting favoring Al Franken, and some concerns that were raised. But we have to be clear on this. As of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process. If there is, it'll get rooted out and identified aggressively. But at the moment, there is no actual evidence of that occurring.
Media Matters - Fox News' Barnes latest media figure to reference discredited Minnesota car ballot story {...} On Fox News' The Beltway Boys, co-host Fred Barnes echoed the discredited rumor that ballots in the Minnesota Senate race were mishandled, stating: "We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious." In fact, state officials have refuted rumors that the ballots were handled improperly, and a lawyer for Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign, who initially raised questions about those ballots, reportedly said afterward that he had been assured the ballots were not tampered with. {...}
Published: November 17, 2008, 4:33 pm - Indexed: November 18, 2008, 10:30 am - Page Size: 25KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - O'Reilly suggested "fix is in" for Franken on MN recount, despite report that Coleman campaign approved of recount panel During the November 13 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly claimed that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D) was "actively rooting for Al Franken" in the Senate race between Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and that "the fix is in." But O'Reilly did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." During the show, O'Reilly also falsely claimed that "since Election Day, Coleman didn't get -- they didn't find one vote for Coleman." In fact, while Franken has netted more votes during the statewide audit of unofficial election returns, election officials reportedly have tallied additional votes for Coleman during the certification process as well. O'Reilly also repeated the discredited suggestion that election officials may have tampered with votes in an effort to benefit Franken by mishandling 32 absentee ballots from Minneapolis. Previewing an upcoming discussion with Fox News analyst Laura Ingraham, O'Reilly claimed, "The man in charge of the vote count in Minnesota is actively rooting for Al Franken." During the subsequent discussion, O'Reilly claimed, "[I]f the fix is in -- and you just heard the secretary of state -- the fix is in. What does Coleman do?" However, at no point during the discussion did O'Reilly or Ingraham point out that the five-member canvassing board includes two judges appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Pawlenty, or that during the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Pawlenty said, "Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named -- two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's gonna be a fair system." Moreover, the Associated Press reported on November 13 that "Fritz Knaak, Coleman's lead lawyer, said he was comfortable with the board's makeup. 'The people of this state should feel good about who's on the panel,' he said." During the discussion, O'Reilly further claimed of Ritchie, "[T]his guy is the secretary of state. He's in charge of overseeing this thing, and now we've been investigating it. Do you realize that since Election Day -- do you know, that since Election Day, Coleman didn't get -- they didn't find one vote for Coleman. He lost 47 or 67 votes." He later asked Ingraham, "You're not finding any votes for the Republican guy? None?" Ingraham responded, "No, of course not." But while the statewide audit of unofficial election results has resulted in a net narrowing of Coleman's lead, a November 11 Minneapolis Star Tribune article reported that Coleman has received additional votes in some counties as a result of the audit: Monday was the deadline for counties to certify their results. Depending on the unknown number that may not have yet reported them to the state, that 206 figure could still change before the state Canvassing Board meets next week to certify the official total. Only then will the recount begin. Officials with Hennepin County forwarded their tally Monday to the secretary of state's office, showing that, since initial results Wednesday, Franken's total had increased by 55 votes and Coleman's by 27 in the state's largest county. Adjustments in the vote tallies because of misplaced figures and other errors have been limited to 22 of the state's 87 counties, according to an analysis of the fluctuations from Wednesday to Monday. Since the preliminary Election Day numbers, Franken's biggest gains were in Lake County, where he added 246 votes, and in Pine and St. Louis counties, where he picked up 100 in each. Coleman's biggest gain was in Ramsey County, 29 votes, but that was more than canceled out by an additional 41 votes there for Franken. Coleman's biggest drop was 124 votes in Anoka County, where Franken also lost 90 votes. Moreover, O'Reilly claimed that "they're finding votes all over the place -- in the trunks of cars, you know, up in the tree" for Franken, forwarding the discredited rumor that 32 absentee ballots from Minneapolis were mishandled. As Media Matters for America has documented, on November 8 Knaak reportedly said, "We were actually told ballots had been riding around in [Minneapolis director of elections Cindy Reichert's] car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions." However, Knaak reportedly said later on November 8 that he was assured the ballots weren't tampered with, and also reportedly said on November 10 that "[i]t does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." Further, Hennepin County officials have repeatedly said the ballots were sealed and held in a secure location, and Reichert has reportedly said that the claim that the ballots were in her car was false, as was the claim that the ballots sat in a car for days. From the November 13 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: [begin video clip] CONTESSA BREWER (MSNBC anchor): Do you understand why the Coleman campaign is now questioning the integrity of the vote counting? RITCHIE: That's part of their job of trying to win at any price. [end video clip] O'REILLY: The man in charge of the vote count in Minnesota is actively rooting for Al Franken, and now there are charges of election fraud. Laura Ingraham will analyze. [...] O'REILLY: Next on the rundown, Laura Ingraham will react to our discussion and also analyze possible voter fraud in the intense Minnesota Senate race. [...] O'REILLY: But this guy is the secretary of state. He's in charge of overseeing this thing, and now we've been investigating it. Do you realize that since Election Day -- do you know, that since Election Day, Coleman didn't get -- they didn't find one vote for Coleman. He lost 47 or 67 votes. The other guy, Franken, they're finding votes all over the place -- in the trunks of cars -- INGRAHAM: Well, you know -- O'REILLY: -- you know, up in the tree. You know, and, I mean, everybody's watching this, so I don't know, can you -- do you think they can get away with it? INGRAHAM: This is vote counting by David Copperfield. I mean, this is like a David Blaine illusionist finding votes everywhere. Look, this is my rule of thumb, Bill. Anytime a Republican in a race like this is only winning by, let's say, a thousand votes or less, then you can bet that that Republican's going to end up losing that seat. It just always seems to work out this way, that -- that the election officials in the state where there's, you know, some type of dispute, always get into this kind of gray area, and -- and we find now that these votes -- these 504 votes -- came from three precincts -- just three precincts out of the whole state. That's staggering. And as John Lott pointed out, Bill, in a great column he wrote that was in today's New York Post, the -- the numbers of votes they found -- found for -- for Cole -- for Franken, excuse me, since Election Day outpace the number they found for Obama by 2.5, OK? Two-point-nine times as many votes were found for all Democratic officials statewide. O'REILLY: Well, but -- but here's the deal. Here's the deal. INGRAHAM: Something doesn't add up there. It's very strange. O'REILLY: Everything doesn't add up, not something. Everything doesn't add up. You're not finding any votes for the Republican guy? None? INGRAHAM: No, of course not. O'REILLY: You're taking votes away from the guy? And then, all of a sudden, as you pointed out, three -- and what are there, a thousand precincts? More than a thousand. Three, all right, heavily Democratic, they're kicking votes in like this. But here's the deal. If Franken gets in, that puts the Democrats over the 60 magic number. So, that -- that means it's every American, because this is a far-left loon we're looking at right here -- not Bill Clinton, Al Franken. He's a loon, OK? So, if he gets in, every American, every single person in this country is gonna be impacted. And I just -- see, I don't know what you do here. If -- if the fix is in -- and you just heard the secretary of state -- the fix is in. What does Coleman do? Does he take it to the federal level? What does he do? From the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: SEAN HANNITY (co-host): All right. Now, now -- but we have a problem with the secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, do we not? He's a liberal partisan secretary of state. When you look through his record, he has ties to this controversial group we discuss a lot, ACORN. He attended the 2008 Democratic Convention. How much faith and hope and confidence do you have in Ritchie, considering his radical relationships and partisanship -- even connected to MoveOn.org? PAWLENTY: Well, all secretary of states are elected, and they have partisan backgrounds of one party or the other. In this case, the final decisions are made by a canvassing board of five people. It consists of the secretary of state plus four judges. Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named -- two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. HANNITY: All right. PAWLENTY: Two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's gonna be a fair system. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/o-reilly-suggested-fix-is-in-for-franken-on-mn-recount-20081180123.htm 2008-11-15T01:13:22Z 2008-11-15T01:13:22Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811140015 O'Reilly suggested "fix is in" for Franken on MN recount, despite report that Coleman campaign approved of recount panel {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - During the November 13 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly claimed that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D) was "actively rooting for Al Franken" in the Senate race between Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and that "the fix is in." But O'Reilly did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." During the show, O'Reilly also falsely claimed that "since Election Day, Coleman didn't get -- they didn't find one vote for Coleman." In fact, while Franken has netted more votes during the statewide audit of unofficial election returns, election officials reportedly have tallied additional votes for Coleman during the certification process as well. O'Reilly also repeated the discredited suggestion that election officials may have tampered with votes in an effort to benefit Franken by mishandling 32 absentee ballots from Minneapolis. Previewing an upcoming discussion with Fox News analyst Laura Ingraham, O'Reilly claimed, "The man in charge of the vote count in Minnesota is actively rooting for Al Franken." During the subsequent discussion, O'Reilly claimed, "[I]f the fix is in -- and you just heard the secretary of state -- the fix is in. What does Coleman do?" However, at no point during the discussion did O'Reilly or Ingraham point out that the five-member canvassing board includes two judges appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Pawlenty, or that during the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Pawlenty said, "Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named -- two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's gonna be a fair system." Moreover, the Associated Press reported on November 13 that "Fritz Knaak, Coleman's lead lawyer, said he was comfortable with the board's makeup. 'The people of this state should feel good about who's on the panel,' he said." During the discussion, O'Reilly further claimed of Ritchie, "[T]his guy is the secretary of state. He's in charge of overseeing this thing, and now we've been investigating it. Do you realize that since Election Day -- do you know, that since Election Day, Coleman didn't get -- they didn't find one vote for Coleman. He lost 47 or 67 votes." He later asked Ingraham, "You're not finding any votes for the Republican guy? None?" Ingraham responded, "No, of course not." But while the statewide audit of unofficial election results has resulted in a net narrowing of Coleman's lead, a November 11 Minneapolis Star Tribune article reported that Coleman has received additional votes in some counties as a result of the audit: Monday was the deadline for counties to certify their results. Depending on the unknown number that may not have yet reported them to the state, that 206 figure could still change before the state Canvassing Board meets next week to certify the official total. Only then will the recount begin. Officials with Hennepin County forwarded their tally Monday to the secretary of state's office, showing that, since initial results Wednesday, Franken's total had increased by 55 votes and Coleman's by 27 in the state's largest county. Adjustments in the vote tallies because of misplaced figures and other errors have been limited to 22 of the state's 87 counties, according to an analysis of the fluctuations from Wednesday to Monday. Since the preliminary Election Day numbers, Franken's biggest gains were in Lake County, where he added 246 votes, and in Pine and St. Louis counties, where he picked up 100 in each. Coleman's biggest gain was in Ramsey County, 29 votes, but that was more than canceled out by an additional 41 votes there for Franken. Coleman's biggest drop was 124 votes in Anoka County, where Franken also lost 90 votes. Moreover, O'Reilly claimed that "they're finding votes all over the place -- in the trunks of cars, you know, up in the tree" for Franken, forwarding the discredited rumor that 32 absentee ballots from Minneapolis were mishandled. As Media Matters for America has documented, on November 8 Knaak reportedly said, "We were actually told ballots had been riding around in [Minneapolis director of elections Cindy Reichert's] car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions." However, Knaak reportedly said later on November 8 that he was assured the ballots weren't tampered with, and also reportedly said on November 10 that "[i]t does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." Further, Hennepin County officials have repeatedly said the ballots were sealed and held in a secure location, and Reichert has reportedly said that the claim that the ballots were in her car was false, as was the claim that the ballots sat in a car for days. From the November 13 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: [begin video clip] CONTESSA BREWER (MSNBC anchor): Do you understand why the Coleman campaign is now questioning the integrity of the vote counting? RITCHIE: That's part of their job of trying to win at any price. [end video clip] O'REILLY: The man in charge of the vote count in Minnesota is actively rooting for Al Franken, and now there are charges of election fraud. Laura Ingraham will analyze. [...] O'REILLY: Next on the rundown, Laura Ingraham will react to our discussion and also analyze possible voter fraud in the intense Minnesota Senate race. [...] O'REILLY: But this guy is the secretary of state. He's in charge of overseeing this thing, and now we've been investigating it. Do you realize that since Election Day -- do you know, that since Election Day, Coleman didn't get -- they didn't find one vote for Coleman. He lost 47 or 67 votes. The other guy, Franken, they're finding votes all over the place -- in the trunks of cars -- INGRAHAM: Well, you know -- O'REILLY: -- you know, up in the tree. You know, and, I mean, everybody's watching this, so I don't know, can you -- do you think they can get away with it? INGRAHAM: This is vote counting by David Copperfield. I mean, this is like a David Blaine illusionist finding votes everywhere. Look, this is my rule of thumb, Bill. Anytime a Republican in a race like this is only winning by, let's say, a thousand votes or less, then you can bet that that Republican's going to end up losing that seat. It just always seems to work out this way, that -- that the election officials in the state where there's, you know, some type of dispute, always get into this kind of gray area, and -- and we find now that these votes -- these 504 votes -- came from three precincts -- just three precincts out of the whole state. That's staggering. And as John Lott pointed out, Bill, in a great column he wrote that was in today's New York Post, the -- the numbers of votes they found -- found for -- for Cole -- for Franken, excuse me, since Election Day outpace the number they found for Obama by 2.5, OK? Two-point-nine times as many votes were found for all Democratic officials statewide. O'REILLY: Well, but -- but here's the deal. Here's the deal. INGRAHAM: Something doesn't add up there. It's very strange. O'REILLY: Everything doesn't add up, not something. Everything doesn't add up. You're not finding any votes for the Republican guy? None? INGRAHAM: No, of course not. O'REILLY: You're taking votes away from the guy? And then, all of a sudden, as you pointed out, three -- and what are there, a thousand precincts? More than a thousand. Three, all right, heavily Democratic, they're kicking votes in like this. But here's the deal. If Franken gets in, that puts the Democrats over the 60 magic number. So, that -- that means it's every American, because this is a far-left loon we're looking at right here -- not Bill Clinton, Al Franken. He's a loon, OK? So, if he gets in, every American, every single person in this country is gonna be impacted. And I just -- see, I don't know what you do here. If -- if the fix is in -- and you just heard the secretary of state -- the fix is in. What does Coleman do? Does he take it to the federal level? What does he do? From the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: SEAN HANNITY (co-host): All right. Now, now -- but we have a problem with the secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, do we not? He's a liberal partisan secretary of state. When you look through his record, he has ties to this controversial group we discuss a lot, ACORN. He attended the 2008 Democratic Convention. How much faith and hope and confidence do you have in Ritchie, considering his radical relationships and partisanship -- even connected to MoveOn.org? PAWLENTY: Well, all secretary of states are elected, and they have partisan backgrounds of one party or the other. In this case, the final decisions are made by a canvassing board of five people. It consists of the secretary of state plus four judges. Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named -- two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. HANNITY: All right. PAWLENTY: Two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's gonna be a fair system.
Media Matters - O'Reilly suggested "fix is in" for Franken on MN recount, despite report that Coleman campaign approved of recount panel {...} Bill O'Reilly claimed that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D) was "actively rooting for Al Franken" in the Senate race between Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and that "the fix is in." But O'Reilly did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." {...}
Published: November 15, 2008, 1:13 am - Indexed: November 15, 2008, 12:49 pm - Page Size: 26KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Media Matters: The media's Minnesota debacle With only about 200 votes out of nearly 3 million cast separating Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, the race is headed to a recount. Naturally, conservative radio hosts are working themselves into a lather, baselessly accusing Democrats of trying to "steal" the election. That shouldn't surprise anyone. But NBC and The New York Times have also pushed the dubious notion that the Minnesota recount has been plagued by chaos and impropriety. Here's how Meredith Vieira, co-host of NBC's Today, began a report on the Minnesota recount: "If you thought the election debacle in Florida could never happen again, wait until you see the situation in Minnesota." This is nonsense. The "debacle" in Florida wasn't that there was a recount; the "debacle" was an absurdly designed ballot that led to thousands of people who meant to vote for Al Gore voting for Pat Buchanan instead. The "debacle" was that thousands of voters were improperly purged from voter rolls. The "debacle" was that the state's electoral votes were awarded to the candidate for whom fewer voters attempted to cast ballots. None of those factors are present in Minnesota. The Minnesota Senate race is simply in the midst of a recount. Recounts happen. They aren't the illegitimate, anything-goes street fights the media pretend they are; they are a part of how elections work, their process written into law and executed every year. They are necessary, for a perfectly obvious reason: They make it more likely that the candidate who receives the most votes takes office. That is an unequivocally good thing. During that Today segment, reporter Lee Cowan announced that the situation "has some remembering shades of Florida, of butterfly ballots and hanging chads. There are neither of those here." What possible reason could there be for bringing up "butterfly ballots and hanging chads," given that "there are neither of those" present in Minnesota? Whatever the intent, the effect is clear -- it creates the impression that the situation in Minnesota is utter chaos, a "debacle" in the making. Cowan continued: "Still, ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car." That appears to be completely false. Election officials have said the ballots did not "suddenly appear[] out of nowhere," and they were not "unsecured." The claim about unsecured ballots in a car appears to have originated with Norm Coleman's lawyer. Cowan did not attribute the car story to anyone or anything, he simply asserted it as fact. Adopting and repeating Coleman's lawyer's claims as though they are facts is bad enough. What makes it worse is that the lawyer had already backed off the claim. Two full days before Cowan's report, the Coleman lawyer had been quoted saying that "we've heard enough from the city attorney to let go of this. It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." So Cowan offered a sensational and -- by his own acknowledgement -- wholly irrelevant comparison to the "butterfly ballots and hanging chads" of the 2000 recount. Then he made a false assertion of ballots materializing out of thin air, and of unsecured ballots -- an assertion that seems to have been based entirely on the already-retracted claims of a Coleman campaign lawyer. Vieira concluded the segment by referring to the "mess in Minnesota." But there is no mess. There is simply a recount -- a recount that does not involve butterfly ballots or hanging chads, a recount that, despite the best efforts of Vieira and Cowan to convince us otherwise, has not a thing in common with the "debacle" in Florida. Just a simple recount. Today's New York Times similarly promoted the idea of chaos and impropriety in the Minnesota recount -- without actually providing any evidence or examples. The Times reported: If Fritz Knaak has his way, Mr. Franken will never have a shot at solving those problems. A lawyer hired by Mr. Coleman expressly for the recount, Mr. Knaak described himself as "the new gun with the shiny pistol." Citing suspicion over what he called a series of "shenanigans" that have narrowed Mr. Coleman's lead, he has requested the official paper tape with the number of ballots and the time stamp printed out by each ballot machine, in every voting precinct. The Times gave no examples of "shenanigans" or any indication of who is "suspicious" that such "shenanigans" have occurred. Nor did it give any indication that it asked Knaak for examples of either shenanigans or suspicion. Later in the article, the Times reported: Mr. Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, accused the Franken campaign of "a brazen, last minute act of desperation," by asking Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, to reconsider 461 rejected absentee ballots. Mr. Franken's lead lawyer, Marc Elias, called such assertions of ballot stuffing "fanciful and bogus." But there were no "assertions of ballot stuffing" -- none the Times reported, anyway. The Times simply quoted Coleman's campaign manager saying the Franken campaign's request to reconsider previously rejected ballots is an indication of "desperation." That's quite different from making an allegation of "ballot stuffing." Then the Times reported that Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten expressed concerns about the ability of Minnesota's Democratic secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, to act impartially during the recount, without indicating Kersten's own political leanings. As Media Matters Senior Fellow Eric Boehlert explained, "Kersten is a right-winger who smeared Franken right before Election Day as a 'slanderer of Christianity.' " Next, the Times quoted a "Republican researcher" who is "very, very concerned" about Ritchie. Then it quoted Sean Hannity saying "[f]ishy business" is occurring in Minnesota, where Democrats and elections officials are "up to no good." To what "[f]ishy business" was Hannity referring? Were his allegations legitimate? The Times did not say. Finally, the Times quoted the Facebook status of "Noah Rouen, 34," a Minnesota man on a pheasant hunt who, along with his friends, "could not help but hatch a conspiracy theory." If it seems the Times is desperate to find people concerned about the legitimacy of the Minnesota recount -- resorting to quoting vague allegations from hard-right partisans like Sean Hannity and Facebook conspiracy theories -- maybe that's because Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's Republican governor, says there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems." (That quote didn't appear in the Times article; maybe it got cut to make room for the pheasant hunter's Facebook status.) And as Media Matters noted, the Times did not note that Pawlenty said that the bipartisan state canvassing board Ritchie appointed to oversee the recount was "fair" and that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." The news media's tendency to compare any recount to the "butterfly ballots and hanging chads" made famous during Florida's 2000 recount, and to breathlessly report the merest rumor of impropriety, is not merely lazy and absurd and sensationalist. It is also dangerous. It causes people to be frightened and concerned about all recounts -- to be wary of the very concept of recounts. But recounts needn't be like the "debacle" of 2000; in fact, they rarely are. They are far more frequently the best way to ensure that errors in counting do not result in the candidate who received fewer votes taking office. (Indeed, in 2004, a manual recount in the Washington governor's race reversed the results of the initial Election Day tabulations and machine recount.) Sensational and baseless reporting like that produced this week by NBC and The New York Times runs the risk of undermining public confidence in an essential part of the democratic process. Jamison Foser is Executive Vice President at Media Matters for America. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/media-matters-the-media-s-minnesota-debacle-20081199418.htm 2008-11-15T00:38:07Z 2008-11-15T00:38:07Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811140014 Media Matters: The media's Minnesota debacle {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - With only about 200 votes out of nearly 3 million cast separating Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, the race is headed to a recount. Naturally, conservative radio hosts are working themselves into a lather, baselessly accusing Democrats of trying to "steal" the election. That shouldn't surprise anyone. But NBC and The New York Times have also pushed the dubious notion that the Minnesota recount has been plagued by chaos and impropriety. Here's how Meredith Vieira, co-host of NBC's Today, began a report on the Minnesota recount: "If you thought the election debacle in Florida could never happen again, wait until you see the situation in Minnesota." This is nonsense. The "debacle" in Florida wasn't that there was a recount; the "debacle" was an absurdly designed ballot that led to thousands of people who meant to vote for Al Gore voting for Pat Buchanan instead. The "debacle" was that thousands of voters were improperly purged from voter rolls. The "debacle" was that the state's electoral votes were awarded to the candidate for whom fewer voters attempted to cast ballots. None of those factors are present in Minnesota. The Minnesota Senate race is simply in the midst of a recount. Recounts happen. They aren't the illegitimate, anything-goes street fights the media pretend they are; they are a part of how elections work, their process written into law and executed every year. They are necessary, for a perfectly obvious reason: They make it more likely that the candidate who receives the most votes takes office. That is an unequivocally good thing. During that Today segment, reporter Lee Cowan announced that the situation "has some remembering shades of Florida, of butterfly ballots and hanging chads. There are neither of those here." What possible reason could there be for bringing up "butterfly ballots and hanging chads," given that "there are neither of those" present in Minnesota? Whatever the intent, the effect is clear -- it creates the impression that the situation in Minnesota is utter chaos, a "debacle" in the making. Cowan continued: "Still, ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car." That appears to be completely false. Election officials have said the ballots did not "suddenly appear[] out of nowhere," and they were not "unsecured." The claim about unsecured ballots in a car appears to have originated with Norm Coleman's lawyer. Cowan did not attribute the car story to anyone or anything, he simply asserted it as fact. Adopting and repeating Coleman's lawyer's claims as though they are facts is bad enough. What makes it worse is that the lawyer had already backed off the claim. Two full days before Cowan's report, the Coleman lawyer had been quoted saying that "we've heard enough from the city attorney to let go of this. It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." So Cowan offered a sensational and -- by his own acknowledgement -- wholly irrelevant comparison to the "butterfly ballots and hanging chads" of the 2000 recount. Then he made a false assertion of ballots materializing out of thin air, and of unsecured ballots -- an assertion that seems to have been based entirely on the already-retracted claims of a Coleman campaign lawyer. Vieira concluded the segment by referring to the "mess in Minnesota." But there is no mess. There is simply a recount -- a recount that does not involve butterfly ballots or hanging chads, a recount that, despite the best efforts of Vieira and Cowan to convince us otherwise, has not a thing in common with the "debacle" in Florida. Just a simple recount. Today's New York Times similarly promoted the idea of chaos and impropriety in the Minnesota recount -- without actually providing any evidence or examples. The Times reported: If Fritz Knaak has his way, Mr. Franken will never have a shot at solving those problems. A lawyer hired by Mr. Coleman expressly for the recount, Mr. Knaak described himself as "the new gun with the shiny pistol." Citing suspicion over what he called a series of "shenanigans" that have narrowed Mr. Coleman's lead, he has requested the official paper tape with the number of ballots and the time stamp printed out by each ballot machine, in every voting precinct. The Times gave no examples of "shenanigans" or any indication of who is "suspicious" that such "shenanigans" have occurred. Nor did it give any indication that it asked Knaak for examples of either shenanigans or suspicion. Later in the article, the Times reported: Mr. Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, accused the Franken campaign of "a brazen, last minute act of desperation," by asking Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, to reconsider 461 rejected absentee ballots. Mr. Franken's lead lawyer, Marc Elias, called such assertions of ballot stuffing "fanciful and bogus." But there were no "assertions of ballot stuffing" -- none the Times reported, anyway. The Times simply quoted Coleman's campaign manager saying the Franken campaign's request to reconsider previously rejected ballots is an indication of "desperation." That's quite different from making an allegation of "ballot stuffing." Then the Times reported that Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten expressed concerns about the ability of Minnesota's Democratic secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, to act impartially during the recount, without indicating Kersten's own political leanings. As Media Matters Senior Fellow Eric Boehlert explained, "Kersten is a right-winger who smeared Franken right before Election Day as a 'slanderer of Christianity.' " Next, the Times quoted a "Republican researcher" who is "very, very concerned" about Ritchie. Then it quoted Sean Hannity saying "[f]ishy business" is occurring in Minnesota, where Democrats and elections officials are "up to no good." To what "[f]ishy business" was Hannity referring? Were his allegations legitimate? The Times did not say. Finally, the Times quoted the Facebook status of "Noah Rouen, 34," a Minnesota man on a pheasant hunt who, along with his friends, "could not help but hatch a conspiracy theory." If it seems the Times is desperate to find people concerned about the legitimacy of the Minnesota recount -- resorting to quoting vague allegations from hard-right partisans like Sean Hannity and Facebook conspiracy theories -- maybe that's because Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's Republican governor, says there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems." (That quote didn't appear in the Times article; maybe it got cut to make room for the pheasant hunter's Facebook status.) And as Media Matters noted, the Times did not note that Pawlenty said that the bipartisan state canvassing board Ritchie appointed to oversee the recount was "fair" and that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." The news media's tendency to compare any recount to the "butterfly ballots and hanging chads" made famous during Florida's 2000 recount, and to breathlessly report the merest rumor of impropriety, is not merely lazy and absurd and sensationalist. It is also dangerous. It causes people to be frightened and concerned about all recounts -- to be wary of the very concept of recounts. But recounts needn't be like the "debacle" of 2000; in fact, they rarely are. They are far more frequently the best way to ensure that errors in counting do not result in the candidate who received fewer votes taking office. (Indeed, in 2004, a manual recount in the Washington governor's race reversed the results of the initial Election Day tabulations and machine recount.) Sensational and baseless reporting like that produced this week by NBC and The New York Times runs the risk of undermining public confidence in an essential part of the democratic process. Jamison Foser is Executive Vice President at Media Matters for America.
Media Matters - Media Matters: The media's Minnesota debacle {...}
Published: November 15, 2008, 12:38 am - Indexed: November 15, 2008, 12:49 pm - Page Size: 18KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - NY Times reports GOP "strongly questioning" MN Sec. of State Ritchie's "objectivity" -- but not GOP praise of his bipartisan canvassing board appointments In a November 14 article about the upcoming recount of ballots cast in the Minnesota Senate race, The New York Times reported that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, "who is in charge of the recount" in the race between Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and challenger Al Franken (D), "lamented the campaigns' 'hand grenades at each other.' " The Times added: "But as a well-known Democrat, he has not eluded those grenades, with Republicans strongly questioning his objectivity." The Times also reported that a five-member "state canvassing board will meet Dec. 16 to review all challenged ballots." However, in reporting that Republicans are "strongly questioning his objectivity," the Times did not note that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, said that the board Ritchie named was "fair" and that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." In a November 12 press release, the Secretary of State's office announced the five members of the State Canvassing Board: Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie today announced the members of the State Canvassing Board. By Minnesota law, representation must include two Minnesota Supreme Court justices, two district court judges and the board is chaired by the Secretary of State. Canvass board members named are Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson and Justice G. Barry Anderson. Chief Judge Kathleen R. Gearin and Assistant Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary have also been tapped from the Second Judicial District to serve on the board. Ritchie made his selections based upon recommendations made by Chief Justice Magnuson and Chief Judge Gearin. Magnuson and Anderson were appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Pawlenty. The Associated Press reported of them: ERIC MAGNUSON: A former law firm colleague of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Magnuson was appointed by Pawlenty to the Minnesota Supreme Court in June as its chief justice. Magnuson, 57, a noted appellate lawyer, sealed the governor's hold on the seven-member court as his fourth appointee. He worked with Pawlenty at the now-defunct Rider Bennett law firm and screened potential judicial appointees for Pawlenty from 2003 to 2008. Magnuson is viewed as a friend to social conservatives. G. BARRY ANDERSON: A former attorney for the state Republican Party, Anderson has served on the state Supreme Court since Pawlenty put him there in 2004. Anderson, 54, served on the state Court of Appeals for six years and has declined partisan endorsements in his judicial elections. He was city attorney in Hutchinson, Minn., from 1987 to 1998. Anderson specialized in civil trials before his judicial career began. In a November 13 article the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported: They're the Minnesota General Election Canvassing Board, and, after a hand recount of 2.92 million ballots, they will scrutinize some fraction of those ballots in an attempt to focus -- amid the circus of mass media scrutiny and political maneuvering, and through the scribble of errant pen strokes on bubble forms -- whether each voter wanted to re-elect Republican Sen. Norm Coleman or to replace him with Democrat Al Franken. [...] State law defines the canvassing board as two state Supreme Court justices, two district judges and the secretary of state. Ritchie asked Magnuson and Gearin to pick two from their respective pools. They picked themselves and their next-highest-ranking jurist. Politically, the panel is diverse. Magnuson and Anderson were appointed by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Gearin was elected in a nonpartisan race in 1986 and declined to say with what party, if any, she aligns herself. Cleary was appointed by Independence Party Gov. Jesse Ventura. That mix is pleasing to Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. "These are some of our very best judges," he said. "I look at that and say, 'This is going to be fair.' " Jacobs also noted that Ritchie and the canvassing board have little to do with the bulk of the recount process. The AP reported on November 13 that "Fritz Knaak, Coleman's lead lawyer, said he was comfortable with the board's makeup. 'The people of this state should feel good about who's on the panel,' he said." Similarly, during the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Pawlenty said of the board: "In this case, the final decisions are made by a canvassing board of five people. It consists of the secretary of state plus four judges. Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named, two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court ... two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's going to be a fair system." Additionally, the Times stated that Knaak has been "[a]ccusing the Franken campaign of using 'shenanigans' to narrow Mr. Coleman's lead" during the pre-recount audit of votes in the Minnesota Senate race. However, the Times did not note, as Media Matters for America has documented, that Pawlenty has said that there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems" in counting the votes. Nor did the Times note that with regard to one issue that Knaak raised, he subsequently said he's been assured there weren't any purported shenanigans. On November 8, Knaak said of the discredited rumor that ballots were left in Minneapolis director of elections Cindy Reichert's car: "We were actually told ballots had been riding around in her car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions." However, Knaak also reportedly said that same day that he was assured the ballots weren't tampered with. On November 10, Knaak further stated: "It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." From the November 14 New York Times article: The state canvassing board will meet Dec. 16 to review all challenged ballots, and hopes to conclude its work by Dec. 19, Mr. Ritchie said, although he made no promises. Both campaigns are scrambling to assemble recount teams -- soliciting online donations, rounding up hundreds of volunteers and deploying legions of lawyers. The Coleman team recently got $5,000 from the political action committee of Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential hopeful. The Franken's campaign is asking supporters to house volunteers who will travel across the state during the recount. "The office is actually more crowded than it's ever been at any time in the campaign because we have to mount this so quickly," said Mr. Franken, who has appealed to major supporters for financial and legal help. "I'm sort of anxious to get to work, with multiple problems facing the country. It's weird to not be able to do that." If Fritz Knaak has his way, Mr. Franken will never have a shot at solving those problems. A lawyer hired by Mr. Coleman expressly for the recount, Mr. Knaak described himself as "the new gun with the shiny pistol." Citing suspicion over what he called a series of "shenanigans" that have narrowed Mr. Coleman's lead, he has requested the official paper tape with the number of ballots and the time stamp printed out by each ballot machine, in every voting precinct. In interviews, Mr. Coleman has said he had hoped taxpayers would be spared the expense of a recount, which Mr. Ritchie's office estimated at 3 cents a ballot, or about $87,000, not including each campaign's expenses. As the recount nears, brickbats from the candidates, their surrogates and ordinary voters are coming fast and furious. Mr. Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, accused the Franken campaign of "a brazen, last minute act of desperation," by asking Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, to reconsider 461 rejected absentee ballots. Mr. Franken's lead lawyer, Marc Elias, called such assertions of ballot stuffing "fanciful and bogus." Mr. Ritchie, who is in charge of the recount, lamented the campaigns' "hand grenades at each other." But as a well-known Democrat, he has not eluded those grenades, with Republicans strongly questioning his objectivity. In a statement on Wednesday, the Coleman campaign cited "concerns about" Mr. Ritchie's "ability to act as an unbiased official." From the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: SEAN HANNITY (co-host): All right. Now, for -- but we have a problem with the secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, do we not? He's a liberal partisan secretary of state. When you look through his record, he has ties to this controversial group we discuss a lot, ACORN. He attended the 2008 Democratic convention. How much faith and hope and confidence do you have in Ritchie considering his radical relationships and partisanship, even connected to MoveOn.org? PAWLENTY: Well, all secretaries of states are elected, and they have partisan backgrounds of one party or the other. In this case, the final decisions are made by a canvassing board of five people. It consists of the secretary of state plus four judges. Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named, two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court -- HANNITY: All right -- PAWLENTY: -- two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's going to be a fair system. http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/ny-times-reports-gop-strongly-questioning-mn-sec-20081112615.htm 2008-11-15T00:28:44Z 2008-11-15T00:28:44Z Mediamatters.Org http://mediamatters.org/items/200811140013 NY Times reports GOP "strongly questioning" MN Sec. of State Ritchie's "objectivity" -- but not GOP praise of his bipartisan canvassing board appointments {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - In a November 14 article about the upcoming recount of ballots cast in the Minnesota Senate race, The New York Times reported that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, "who is in charge of the recount" in the race between Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and challenger Al Franken (D), "lamented the campaigns' 'hand grenades at each other.' " The Times added: "But as a well-known Democrat, he has not eluded those grenades, with Republicans strongly questioning his objectivity." The Times also reported that a five-member "state canvassing board will meet Dec. 16 to review all challenged ballots." However, in reporting that Republicans are "strongly questioning his objectivity," the Times did not note that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, said that the board Ritchie named was "fair" and that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." In a November 12 press release, the Secretary of State's office announced the five members of the State Canvassing Board: Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie today announced the members of the State Canvassing Board. By Minnesota law, representation must include two Minnesota Supreme Court justices, two district court judges and the board is chaired by the Secretary of State. Canvass board members named are Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson and Justice G. Barry Anderson. Chief Judge Kathleen R. Gearin and Assistant Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary have also been tapped from the Second Judicial District to serve on the board. Ritchie made his selections based upon recommendations made by Chief Justice Magnuson and Chief Judge Gearin. Magnuson and Anderson were appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Pawlenty. The Associated Press reported of them: ERIC MAGNUSON: A former law firm colleague of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Magnuson was appointed by Pawlenty to the Minnesota Supreme Court in June as its chief justice. Magnuson, 57, a noted appellate lawyer, sealed the governor's hold on the seven-member court as his fourth appointee. He worked with Pawlenty at the now-defunct Rider Bennett law firm and screened potential judicial appointees for Pawlenty from 2003 to 2008. Magnuson is viewed as a friend to social conservatives. G. BARRY ANDERSON: A former attorney for the state Republican Party, Anderson has served on the state Supreme Court since Pawlenty put him there in 2004. Anderson, 54, served on the state Court of Appeals for six years and has declined partisan endorsements in his judicial elections. He was city attorney in Hutchinson, Minn., from 1987 to 1998. Anderson specialized in civil trials before his judicial career began. In a November 13 article the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported: They're the Minnesota General Election Canvassing Board, and, after a hand recount of 2.92 million ballots, they will scrutinize some fraction of those ballots in an attempt to focus -- amid the circus of mass media scrutiny and political maneuvering, and through the scribble of errant pen strokes on bubble forms -- whether each voter wanted to re-elect Republican Sen. Norm Coleman or to replace him with Democrat Al Franken. [...] State law defines the canvassing board as two state Supreme Court justices, two district judges and the secretary of state. Ritchie asked Magnuson and Gearin to pick two from their respective pools. They picked themselves and their next-highest-ranking jurist. Politically, the panel is diverse. Magnuson and Anderson were appointed by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Gearin was elected in a nonpartisan race in 1986 and declined to say with what party, if any, she aligns herself. Cleary was appointed by Independence Party Gov. Jesse Ventura. That mix is pleasing to Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute. "These are some of our very best judges," he said. "I look at that and say, 'This is going to be fair.' " Jacobs also noted that Ritchie and the canvassing board have little to do with the bulk of the recount process. The AP reported on November 13 that "Fritz Knaak, Coleman's lead lawyer, said he was comfortable with the board's makeup. 'The people of this state should feel good about who's on the panel,' he said." Similarly, during the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Pawlenty said of the board: "In this case, the final decisions are made by a canvassing board of five people. It consists of the secretary of state plus four judges. Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named, two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court ... two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's going to be a fair system." Additionally, the Times stated that Knaak has been "[a]ccusing the Franken campaign of using 'shenanigans' to narrow Mr. Coleman's lead" during the pre-recount audit of votes in the Minnesota Senate race. However, the Times did not note, as Media Matters for America has documented, that Pawlenty has said that there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems" in counting the votes. Nor did the Times note that with regard to one issue that Knaak raised, he subsequently said he's been assured there weren't any purported shenanigans. On November 8, Knaak said of the discredited rumor that ballots were left in Minneapolis director of elections Cindy Reichert's car: "We were actually told ballots had been riding around in her car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions." However, Knaak also reportedly said that same day that he was assured the ballots weren't tampered with. On November 10, Knaak further stated: "It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." From the November 14 New York Times article: The state canvassing board will meet Dec. 16 to review all challenged ballots, and hopes to conclude its work by Dec. 19, Mr. Ritchie said, although he made no promises. Both campaigns are scrambling to assemble recount teams -- soliciting online donations, rounding up hundreds of volunteers and deploying legions of lawyers. The Coleman team recently got $5,000 from the political action committee of Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential hopeful. The Franken's campaign is asking supporters to house volunteers who will travel across the state during the recount. "The office is actually more crowded than it's ever been at any time in the campaign because we have to mount this so quickly," said Mr. Franken, who has appealed to major supporters for financial and legal help. "I'm sort of anxious to get to work, with multiple problems facing the country. It's weird to not be able to do that." If Fritz Knaak has his way, Mr. Franken will never have a shot at solving those problems. A lawyer hired by Mr. Coleman expressly for the recount, Mr. Knaak described himself as "the new gun with the shiny pistol." Citing suspicion over what he called a series of "shenanigans" that have narrowed Mr. Coleman's lead, he has requested the official paper tape with the number of ballots and the time stamp printed out by each ballot machine, in every voting precinct. In interviews, Mr. Coleman has said he had hoped taxpayers would be spared the expense of a recount, which Mr. Ritchie's office estimated at 3 cents a ballot, or about $87,000, not including each campaign's expenses. As the recount nears, brickbats from the candidates, their surrogates and ordinary voters are coming fast and furious. Mr. Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, accused the Franken campaign of "a brazen, last minute act of desperation," by asking Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, to reconsider 461 rejected absentee ballots. Mr. Franken's lead lawyer, Marc Elias, called such assertions of ballot stuffing "fanciful and bogus." Mr. Ritchie, who is in charge of the recount, lamented the campaigns' "hand grenades at each other." But as a well-known Democrat, he has not eluded those grenades, with Republicans strongly questioning his objectivity. In a statement on Wednesday, the Coleman campaign cited "concerns about" Mr. Ritchie's "ability to act as an unbiased official." From the November 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: SEAN HANNITY (co-host): All right. Now, for -- but we have a problem with the secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, do we not? He's a liberal partisan secretary of state. When you look through his record, he has ties to this controversial group we discuss a lot, ACORN. He attended the 2008 Democratic convention. How much faith and hope and confidence do you have in Ritchie considering his radical relationships and partisanship, even connected to MoveOn.org? PAWLENTY: Well, all secretaries of states are elected, and they have partisan backgrounds of one party or the other. In this case, the final decisions are made by a canvassing board of five people. It consists of the secretary of state plus four judges. Those folks were named today. The four judges that were named, two of them I appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court -- HANNITY: All right -- PAWLENTY: -- two others have good reputations in Minnesota, so I think it's going to be a fair system.
Media Matters - NY Times reports GOP "strongly questioning" MN Sec. of State Ritchie's "objectivity" -- but not GOP praise of his bipartisan canvassing board appointments {...} The New York Times reported that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, "who is in charge of the recount" in the Minnesota Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, "lamented the campaigns' 'hand grenades at each other,' " adding: "But as a well-known Democrat, he has not eluded those grenades, with Republicans strongly questioning his objectivity." But the Times did not note that Minnesota Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote overseeing the recount was "fair" and that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign also reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." {...}
Published: November 15, 2008, 12:28 am - Indexed: November 15, 2008, 12:49 pm - Page Size: 25KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Conservative radio hosts accuse Dems of "trying to steal" MN Senate election -- but there's no evidence, according to GOP governor In recent days, several conservative talk radio hosts have accused Democrats of "trying to steal" the Minnesota senatorial election for Democratic challenger Al Franken over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R). They offer no evidence to back up their accusation, and, according to the state's Republican governor, there is none. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said on November 12 on Sean Hannity's radio show that there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems" in counting the votes. Also, on the November 12 edition of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity asked Pawlenty: "Do you suspect there's been cheating going on?" Pawlenty replied: "Sean, we don't have any direct evidence of that, and when you make an allegation -- not you, but anybody -- of fraud in an election, it's a very serious matter, so you gotta have specific evidence to back it up." The following conservative talk radio hosts have baselessly accused Democrats of trying to "steal" the election: Mark Levin: On the November 11 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Levin described Franken as a "spiteful troll," and said: "I see he and his fellow hoods are trying to steal the election in Minnesota." Rush Limbaugh: On the November 12 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, during a discussion with a caller about the upcoming Georgia run-off between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin, Limbaugh stated: "At this point, people in Georgia have gotta take this very seriously. Because the Democrats are trying to steal Minnesota, and they're gonna, they're -- he's [Chambliss] gotta win this runoff in Georgia." Chris Baker: On the November 13 broadcast of his Minneapolis-based radio program, Baker asserted that "the left" have "become the fascists that they have claimed to be the watchdog to protect people from." He added: "And it's really frightening, especially with the coming political situation. I mean, once the Norm Coleman election is stolen, and they get rid of [Sen.] Ted Stevens [R-AK], and they maybe get rid of Saxby Chambliss, with a supermajority, these people are gonna run amok, and it's all over and we're all gonna be in irons." From the November 11 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Mark Levin Show: LEVIN: Well, speaking of the spiteful troll, aka Al Franken, I see he and his fellow hoods are trying to steal the election in Minnesota. May I say a brief prayer out loud? Dear God, I think we've had about all we can take in this last election. Please, please, not a Senator Al Franken. What would the Founding Fathers say? My God, please. All right, now, I would be remiss if I didn't thank our new affiliate in Nacogdoches, Texas -- KSFA. There we go. Let's go to Katie, Oxford, New Jersey. From the November 12 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' Rush Limbaugh Show: CALLER: I'm a little frustrated. Well, that's not true; I'm very frustrated. I kind of feel like my vote is being extorted down here. You know, Georgia conservatives screamed bloody murder over the bailout, and Saxby Chambliss refused to vote with us. He went up there and -- and did what he wanted to do -- whatever he wanted to do, which is, you know, even come clean down here and admitted -- LIMBAUGH: I know, I know. I know it. He voted for the gang of whatever on the offshore drilling. He made a tactical mistake there. At this point, people in Georgia have gotta take this very seriously. Because the Democrats are trying to steal Minnesota, and they're gonna, they're -- he's gotta win this runoff in Georgia. If -- if -- if we lose these two they're up to 59. CALLER: I know, Rush. I am -- I'm in total agreement with you there. And I continue to write and write and write letters over to their campaign begging them for just one humble moment to admit that the bailout was a really bad idea, and that it's down the tubes further than anybody could have imagined, and just to admit that he's in Washington to represent me. LIMBAUGH: Not gonna do it. He's not gonna -- he's not gonna do it. From the November 13 broadcast of KTLK's The Chris Baker Show: BAKER: See, we've -- we've come to a point where if you have an opinion that opposes the left, sorry, you must be silenced and shut down. LANGDON PERRY (KTLK host): Right. BAKER: I don't hear conservatives asking for people to be thrown out of their job on a regular basis. I don't hear conservatives on a regular basis say that people should be ostracized, culled from the herd. But, man, you get these people all wound up, and they, you know, they burst into a church over the weekend. PERRY: The left, I think, has become much more the party of "you can't say that" or "you can't do that." BAKER: They have become the fascists that they have claimed to be the watchdog to protect people from. And it's really frightening, especially with the coming political situation. I mean, once the Norm Coleman election is stolen, and they get rid of Ted Stevens and they maybe get rid of Saxby Chambliss, with a supermajority, these people are gonna