Minneapolis TV Station Latches on to Mighty Thin Gruel to Get Franken Into Senate

November 6th, 2008 12:09 PM

Somebody claims they heard something at a Minnesota voting precinct. And that certain someone just so happened to have also been a reporter for a small leftwing newspaper. And upon that very thin gruel, TV station reporter Esme Murphy of WCCO in Minneapolis is claiming that the senate voting results in that state could be overturned. It's pretty ridiculous but let us allow Ms Murphy to make her absurd case:

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― Allegations have surfaced of voter irregularities involving a paid staffer of Sen. Norm Coleman, and the ramifications could have a profound effect on the outcome of Coleman's race against Al Franken.

A reporter for the Minnesota Independent, a progressive online publication, was working on a story about voter turnout when she overheard that Republican poll challengers monitoring voting at the precinct had brought in Mahamoud Wardere to help voters translate.

Yeah, there's a real "unbiased" source. The Minnesota Independent.

The Coleman campaign confirmed that Wardere is a paid member of their staff.

"I made some calls, found out his name and I confronted him and I said, 'Are you Wardare?' And he said, 'Yes, I am,'" said Priesmeyer. "At that poin I said, 'Are you working for Norm Coleman's campaign?' And he said, 'No, I am on vacation today.'"

However, Priesmeyer said voters told her that translators were telling them to vote for Coleman.

"I had already spoken to at least three people who told me that translators were telling them to vote for Norm Coleman," she said.

Just a neutral third party who happened to be working for a leftwing newspaper conveniently heard all this.

The issue could end up being the basis of a legal challenge. According to Prof. Joe Daly of Hamline University, state election law has a provision that if there is a deliberate, serious or material violation of state election law, a district court judge must gather the evidence and present it to the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, who would then decide the merits of the allegations.

The Senate could even revoke the results of the election and decide who would be seated as senator.

Would that be the same Professor Joe Daly of Hamline University who donated  $2300 to a Democrat Farm Labor candidate for Senate last year? Another "unbiased" source there.

The Somali Justice Advocacy Center says they have gotten complaints about Wardare urging voters to vote for Coleman. But Omar Jamal says he has also gotten complaints of voters being pressured to vote for Franken, admitting he had heard complaints centering on both candidates.

But the allegations about Franken don't count. Only hearsay from a reporter for a leftwing sheet is permissible.