Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Republicans dust off their debunked claims of voter fraud to divert attention from current slate of out-of-touch candidates

St. Paul (July 15, 2010) - In a last-ditch effort to detract attention from Tom Emmer's abominable town hall with servers yesterday, the Republican Party of Minnesota today called on county attorneys to do something they're already doing. State Chair Brian Melendez released this statement:

"The 2008 election and recount was held up to the highest level of scrutiny, and passed the test. Let's look at the facts: Twelve judges - including the Supreme Court of Minnesota - found no evidence of fraud in the election. Senator Coleman's attorneys found no evidence of fraud. Governor Pawlenty admitted that there was no evidence of fraud. And leaders across the United States were impressed by the recount's meticulous attention to detail and its transparency.

"Today's latest political stunt by the Republican Party of Minnesota is about only two things: supporting Governor Pawlenty's national ambitions, and diverting attention from Tom Emmer's out-of-touch views and ongoing gaffes. If the Republicans would rather return to debunked claims about the 2008 election than talk about their candidates, things must be even worse for them than we thought."

Background:

County attorneys are already looking into the Republican claims, and have found them inaccurate.

"In reality, that has not been proven. And the actual number of felons who voted illegally will likely be much lower based on reviews from prosecutors who received Minnesota Majority's lists in the form of spread sheets in February.

"We received about 480 names from Minnesota Majority," Ramsey County's lead prosecutor Phil Carruthers told KARE Wednesday, "About 270 were clearly inaccurate and were rejected right from the get-go."

He said a quick review revealed the names and birthdates didn't match, or that the felons in question were no longer barred from voting.

"They were ruled out usually because they had the wrong identity of a person," Carruthers explained, "Or because the person no longer was on probation, and thus their civil rights had been restored."
[KARE 11, 7/15/10]

Sen. Coleman's lawyers admitted they found no evidence of voter fraud.

Hatch: We had litigation when I was Attorney General where people would sue on that Issue (photo-ID), and I think it's important that people have a right to vote. And the idea that a neighbor can vouch for who you are, you bring a utility bill is important. I don't think we've seen voter fraud in this state. I haven't heard of it. I mean, for all the talk about a photo ID, well, let's see where the problem is. If we haven't seen it, don't worry about it.

Knaak: There was a lot of criticism and a lot of suspicion, let's say, that was generated in the senate race, the fact of the matter is, to echo what Mike said, we were looking for fraud, and we didn't see it. So the bottom line is even though I like the idea, just because it's nice to have that verification, under the current system we haven't been seeing widespread fraud of any sort. And if it could happen anywhere, conceivably because of our relatively broad and generous standards, in any regard, it could happen here.

[Almanac, 2/5/10]

In opening arguments before the Minnesota Supreme Court on June 1, 2009, Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg stated in court, "There was no election fraud. There was no voter fraud." [Talking Points Memo, 6/1/09]

Governor Pawlenty previously admitted there was no evidence of voter fraud in the 2008 election.

"When asked about any fraud that may have occurred during the 2008 election, Governor Pawlenty stated, ‘On those matters, we need to see evidence. [...] I know there are concerns or theories in that regard, but as far as I know we have not been presented with the evidence. If there were such evidence, it probably would have been presented in the Coleman v. Franken lawsuit.'" [Star Tribune, 10/7/09]