On Today, NBC's Cowan repeated as fact discredited rumors about ballots in Franken-Coleman race
SUMMARY: In a report on NBC's Today about the Minnesota Senate race, Lee Cowan repeated the discredited rumor that "ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car." In fact, according to election officials quoted in news reports, the ballots did not "suddenly appear[] out of nowhere," and they weren't "unsecured." Cowan also aired a statement by Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for Sen. Norm Coleman, apparently critical of the handling of the ballots in question, but he didn't report previous statements in which Knaak reportedly said he felt assured that the ballots weren't compromised.
During the November 13 edition of NBC's Today, correspondent Lee Cowan said that the pre-recount audit of votes in the Minnesota Senate race "has some remembering shades of Florida, of butterfly ballots and hanging chads" and then repeated the discredited rumor that "ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car." In fact, according to election officials quoted in news reports, the ballots did not "suddenly appear[] out of nowhere," and they weren't "unsecured." Moreover, while Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for Sen. Norm Coleman, reportedly said on November 8, "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," he also reportedly said that same day 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."
Although Cowan interviewed Knaak for the segment and aired a clip of Knaak apparently stating of the absentee ballots, "It was sort of the classic, very Minnesotan, I suppose, 'Well you just have to trust us.' I don't think so," Cowan did not mention the statements in which Knaak reportedly said he felt assured that the ballots weren't compromised. Nor did Cowan give any indication that he had contacted Minnesota election officials about the ballots.
As Media Matters for America has documented, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported of the absentee ballots in question: "On Election Day, officials attempted to deliver absentee ballots that arrived as part of a late mail delivery to the appropriate precinct. But some precincts had closed by the time they got there, and the ballots were returned to a secure location before being counted according to state law." Additionally, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on November 9 that the "32 Minneapolis ballots were part of the normal delivery of absentee ballots late in the polling day, according to Election Director Cindy Reichert. She said they were retained when they couldn't be delivered because some polling places had shut down for the day. She said the ballots were kept sealed until other election duties were completed and were being counted Saturday afternoon, with results to be delivered to the state on Monday."
From the November 13 edition of NBC's Today:
MEREDITH VIEIRA (co-host): If you thought the election debacle in Florida could never happen again, wait until you see the situation in Minnesota. Just over 200 votes separate Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken in the race for the Senate. A recount gets under way next week, and NBC's Lee Cowan has more. Good morning, Lee.
COWAN: Good morning, Meredith. It was the razor-thin margin in this race here in Minnesota that forced this recount, which is gonna be the largest in Minnesota's history. Nearly 3 million ballots were cast; they now all have to be recounted by hand starting next week, and both campaigns are bringing in a whole lot of observers and a whole lot of lawyers.
[begin video clip]
COWAN: Election night in Minnesota after a long and nasty race. The winner? Well, no one.
FRANKEN: I believe that when all the votes are counted, we're gonna win this thing.
COLEMAN: Save your energy, OK? Keep being hopeful. I'm very -- feeling very good right now.
COWAN: Republican incumbent Norm Coleman was ahead by a mere 725 votes that night. But Saturday Night Live favorite Al Franken was catching up.
FRANKEN: What? You -- you thought this was going to be easy?
COWAN: By the next morning, Coleman's lead had dwindled to 477 votes; by the end of last week, 336. And by Wednesday, Franken was behind by just 206 votes.
MARC ELIAS (Franken campaign lawyer): I mean, think about that. Seven one-thousandths of a percent is the margin between these two.
COWAN: But Norm Coleman's lawyers aren't happy.
KNAAK: It seems actually very odd to us.
COWAN: It has some remembering shades of Florida, of butterfly ballots and hanging chads. There are neither of those here. Still, ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car. Count them or not?
KNAAK: It was sort of the classic, very Minnesotan, I suppose, "Well, you just have to trust us." I don't think so.
COWAN: The race turned Minnesota nice into Minnesota mean, and hand-to-hand recount of millions of ballots is sure to make it worse.
ELIAS: They're licking their wounds, and I understand their natural impulse to run out and say, "Oh, no, no, no, stop counting, stop counting." But that isn't the way democracy happens.
COWAN: And now that it's not really over, voters are scrambling for a silver lining.
"CJ" (Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist): The only good thing about the recount is that there are no TV commercials, because we're tired of the commercials.
COWAN: Still, the reality is --
JOHN LOTT (University of Maryland visiting senior research scientist): I would imagine it's gonna be a very emotional thing for a while.
[end video clip]
COWAN: And the very real possibility, Meredith, is that by the time the next Congress convenes, Minnesota may have only one sitting U.S. senator, because they're still trying to figure this out. The counting may be over, but the legal challenges may just be beginning. Meredith.
VIEIRA: All right, Lee Cowan. A mess in Minnesota. Thank you very much.
Do you think Palin would approve of this kind of gotcha journalism? ;)
Do you think Palin would approve of this kind of gotcha journalism? ;)
You betcha!!! :-)
Yeah Wolf,
He's your typical cowardly "journalist" just reciting what's handed to him by corporate.
No doubt they miss the horse race, I mean election, so they just try to keep it going. Seems like solid "business" practice. =>
Watch for the wingnuts to do the same thing -- they will (as usual) ignore what they don't like and selectively spout what they do like, thereby "proving" voter fraud.
Pathetic.
Good news. Let's continue to ignore the aging infrastructure. Carry on.
Do you have a link to that report?
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/34404129.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUs
Thanks. Apologies, but I still don't buy the reason given as the only problem. Problem is this was designed 40 years ago and as the report states, it was increased loads that the design couldn't handle. Better forsight would have been welcome, but seems to me that if ivestigators were doing their job these issues would have been identified and the bridge scheduled for a makover. I seem to recall that this bridge was listed in a report?
40 years ago was early in my engineering career, but as I recall for quite a few years in the 60s, we designed everything with a fairly low safety factor, especially when using steel, because so much of our material was going to the War effort. (you all remember that other war built on lies that led to 58,000 US Military deaths).
That's a very good point, Oscar!
And whose job is it to inspect bridges for possible design flaws? Hmm?
Bridge inspectors?
Bingo. Give the guy a prize.
And whose job is it to inspect bridges for possible design flaws? Hmm?
I'm sure a lot of people in conservative talk radio would want to blame that bridge collapse on Bill Clinton.....
Original designs should have passed by Engineers in the MN Dept of Transportation and even perhaps the Federal Highway Administration, depending on the sources of funding. Normal upgrades, inspections should have been reviewed by the controlling authority. One of the problems is that 40 years ago, as now, there are not enough structural engineers in the US to handle the load. Especially 40 years ago, when all the calculations, etc were pretty much done by hand, without the wonderful design tools now available with computers, etc.
Has anybody bothered to stand back and really look at the transcript for that Viera/Cowen story? Look at it...read it carefully and closely. It has quotes from all sorts of people, but virtually nobody utters more than two sentences at any one time throughout the entire thing and if you really start counting how many of those little snippets contain facts as opposed to opinions or feelings, the ONLY thing you can find of substance is that Franken's margin of loss is steadily narrowing. Nothing else. That's it Everything else is just plain filler and to me, this is a classic example of the general emptiness and uselessness of most TV journalism today. Except for Frontline or longer PBS stories, TV journalists never carry stories of more than about two minutes max, they try to get lots of people in to them to make VERY short statements, and in the end you really have not gained any useful insights.
Where is a summary of just where these ballots go after election day. Where is the story trying to get at the truth of the trail (or lack of it) of security used to ensure ballot integrity? Who does the counting and how is it verified? You don't find any of that....just sweeping allusions to hints of suggestions that this MIGHT be another Florida chad-fest.
The stats say it all.
While everyone involved in this "misplaced ballots" scenario seems to be satisfied that no tampering was done, legally the handling of these ballots does not meet a "chain of custody" inspection. Very sloppy indeed.
Read the actual local coverage, Oscar. You don't know what you're talking about.
I said, and apparently you jumped to the wrong conclusion. that everyone seems satisfied no tampering was involved. However, the chain of custody was broken in that the ballots were out of the direct control of the responsible person for a period of time. Is that not correct? Unless that responsible party slept in the trunk with the ballots, they were, from a legal standpoint, unsecure for a period of time. Everyone, on inspection, feels they were not tampered with in this instance, but the handling has left the opening that is being exploited by certain persons.
So when the mailman picks up an absentee ballot, is he part of the chain of custody? What about the sorter in the post office?
Absentee ballots are sealed and signed and are designed to resist tampering.
... the handling of these ballots does not meet a "chain of custody" inspection. Very sloppy indeed. - oscar
The handling of those ballots was the same as the handling of many millions of ballots across the country. Where, specifically, do you believe there was sloppy handling and why was it sloppy?
Here's an article interviewing the person most knowledgeable. Please show me where her actions were sloppy.
No, there was nothing sloppy or suspicious going on, unless you want to include the Coleman camp's making false charges as suspicious.
So if we pick up Steven's seat, and Frankin wins in Minnisota, that puts us at what - 58? Oh sweet bisquits...
60 if you count Georgia and leadership doesn't throw Lieberman overboard.
Last I heard Lieberman announced he was planning to caucus with the Republicans--somebody please tell me he's changed his mind.
Which is why we should keep Lieberman in the caucus, as repulsive as he is. Different votes will require getting people like Olympia Snowe or other remaining moderates on the GOP side. Putting together majorities ain't always pretty.
Naw, I don't think so. Sometimes principles are more important than power.
You'll see how fast those "60 seats" won't mean anything when the blue dogs start to howl.
Lieberman has to go, or at least be required to apologize, on Meet the Press for his mistake in supporting John McCain and throwing Barack under the bus.
We need to correct Lieberman's behavior like a misbehaving teenager. Reward his good behavior, but only after he cleans his room and apologizes for breaking the window and hitting his sister.
Either that or do what ignorant people used to do with puppies: Rub his nose in his own excrement. (By the way, this does not work with puppies and can be harmful, but I would love to see it done with Lieberman just for my own satisfaction).
At the end of this Media Matters article there is a comment by a "John Lott" who is said to be a research assistant.
Does anyone know if that's the infamous John Lott who made up all the gun data for his "studies" and then became the well-known sockpuppet Mary Rosh?
Just askin'...
At the end of this Media Matters article there is a comment by a "John Lott" who is said to be a research assistant.
Does anyone know if that's the infamous John Lott who made up all the gun data for his "studies" and then became the well-known sockpuppet Mary Rosh?
Just askin'...
One and the same - John Lott is a right-wing professional liar and Faux News suck-up.
"One and the same - John Lott is a right-wing professional liar and Faux News suck-up."
Are you serious? Wow, so it is true - any disgraced RWnut can find lifetime employment on FOX News.