Nov 12, 2008 10:59 pm US/Central
Reality Check: Real Story Behind Recounts
(WCCO)
It may look suspicious how much the U.S. Senate vote totals are going up and down, but it's really not that unusual.
The night that Sen. Norm Coleman defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale in the 2002 U.S. Senate race he piled up more than 1,062,000 votes.
But when all the ballots were certified two weeks later, Coleman had 54,000 more votes.
It's TRUE.
Between election night voting numbers, and two weeks later when the State Canvassing Board certified official results, Coleman gained 54,429 votes. Mondale's vote total also went up 63,192 votes, but not enough to beat Coleman.
It's what happens in Minnesota elections. We just don't pay attention when the race isn't close.
IN FACT....
In the 2006 U.S. Senate election, both candidates ended up losing votes. On election night, Sen. Amy Klobuchar's vote count showed an easy win with almost 1.3 million votes. Mark Kennedy had 836,000 votes.
But two weeks later the official results showed Klobuchar lost 666 votes and Kennedy lost 3520.
HERE'S WHY it happens.
After Election Day, county auditors compare voting machine numbers with paper ballots cast by rechecking vote totals and correcting arithmetic. They count absentee ballots -- adding and subtracting for all the candidates.
This year, the claims that Franken's getting all the extra votes and Coleman's getting none is not true.
The REALITY…
Just like other years, the vote totals are fluctuating for all the same reasons. Franken is winning some and Coleman is winning others.
However, Franken is winning more and Coleman's lead has shrunk to a couple hundred votes to make this the closest U.S. Senate race in Minnesota history.
That's Reality Check.
To check the resources for this Reality Check click on the links below.
AP 2002 Senate Election Results
MN Secretary of State: Final Statewide Results for 2002 U.S. Senator
AP 2006 Senate Election Results
MN Secretary of State: Final Statewide Results for 2006 U.S. Senator
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