Minnesota Senate Race Cost keeps rising
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The Franken and Coleman cost keeps increasing. Isn’t there a better use for the money being wasted on all of this. We already had one recount done at a cost and now Coleman isn’t happy with the results and takes it to court. We are tying up courts and on TV they said it could take another 1 to 3 months. What will all the cost be once it is over. During that time they could have been trying to solve our Economy problems but no we are spending a ton of money on a fight over the recount. When will it end? Read the article that was written about some of the costs:
We have a Senate winner and a 200K bill
Barring a successful challenge in court, Al Franken is the winner of Minnesota’s drawn out U.S. Senate race. But Sen. Norm Coleman’s camp said the fight has only just begun. With legal battles to likely ensue, the state may not have a Senator to represent them just yet. But taxpayers do have a bill for the 62-day recount.
Originally, the Secretary of State put a $75,000 price tag on the recount costs. It has since doubled. “This is going to cost somewhere around $200,000 or a little more,” said Mark Ritchie. Much of the cost went back to reimbursing local state election officials for their time and a huge chunk of money was spent on overnight shipping services and printing costs.
The day after the election, Coleman himself was quick to criticize Franken for wanting to spend taxpayer money to even conduct a recount. “It’s up to him whether it’s worth the taxpayer dollars it will take to conduct it,” Coleman had said on Nov. 4. Now citing claims of missing, double-counted, and uncounted rejected absentee ballots—Coleman’s campaign sent out an email Monday night, asking for more donations to help fund the legal fight. “Lots of money: That’s a safe bet.
It’s going to be expensive, but we know that it’s not taxpayer expense. We’re at the part of the process where it’s the parties that bear the brunt of it,” said Fritz Knaak, attorney for the Coleman campaign. Coleman’s camp has seven days to file a challenge in the recount.
Officials close to the Senator told 5 EYEIWTNESS NEWS the challenge could come in less than 24-hours.
Source
| Updated at: 01/05/2009 10:18:13 PM |
| By: Nicole Muehlhausen, Web Producer |
at kstp.com
What will the cost be of the recount?
So sad. How do you measure all the cost of the recount and the court costs and valuable time wasted by so many people. They should have to live with the results of a recount if one is completed.
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