Recounts

The 2008 Minnesota recount for U.S. Senator is providing the American public an exemplary model for the resolution of close or inconclusive elections, by conducting an open, public hand recount of all the legally cast ballots.

We're opening up this new Recounts section under the Topics menu to cover recount-related stories around the country.
Coverage of the 2008 MN Senate recount features live and replay video of the MN recount provided by a citizen journalism website, http://www.uptake.org. The video feed will resume coverage of the MN recount board when it reconvenes Monday, Jan. 5. An official determination of the Senate winner is expected to be announced.

Complementing the live Minnesota recount coverage is the article "Seating Franken and Burris: Memo to Congress" by frequent EDA contributor Michael Collins, who provides a thoroughly resourced explanation of the state laws and U.S. Constitution governing the conduct of election recounts, interim appointments, and the seating of members of the U.S. Senate.

Collins observes that "the laws and rules that Congress should follow are fairly straight-forward and the underlying principals are clear" -- yet Republican senators are threatening to block the seating of Al Franken as U.S. Senator for Minnesota, while Democratic senators are threatening to reject the appointment of Roland Burris as U.S. Senator for Illinois, as though they are under no obligation to abide by clearly articulated law and can override electoral process at will.


We will be adding articles about recounts occurring around the country to this Recount section of the website. Send in your leads and recommendations, or post articles directly to the editorial queue using the Add Content to Public Pages" link under the Create Content menu in the lefthand column.