Minnesota Senate

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Hannity ignored Coleman ballot challenges to accuse Franken of "stealing an election"

On the December 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity asserted that in the Minnesota Senate recount, challenger Al Franken (D) "has been trying to challenge ballots that are clearly for [incumbent Sen.] Norm Coleman [R]," adding, "That is stealing an election." Subsequently, Hannity aired several examples of ballots that the Franken campaign has contested and said to former Rep. John Kasich (R-OH): "I'm gonna put up on the screen -- and I want Al Franken to sue me, because for him to challenge these ballots that are so clearly, you know, for Norm Coleman, I think it shows that he's trying to steal the election." However, Hannity did not display any of the published examples of ballots that the Coleman campaign has challenged that appear to be marked for Franken or another candidate besides Coleman. Later, former Hillary Clinton campaign adviser Kiki McLean said to Hannity: "Sean, I'd like to know that you actually spent the time looking at the ballots that Norm Coleman has tried to have dismissed. Have you?" She also said: "My question to you is have you reviewed all the ballots that Norm Coleman has tried to throw out?" Hannity replied: "I've reviewed a number of them, but I don't see any that are this obvious." But Hannity again did not show his viewers any of the ballots Coleman has challenged. As Media Matters for America has noted, a Minnesota Public Radio article, originally published November 19, provided some examples of ballots that the Coleman campaign has challenged along with reporting on the reason for the challenge: The Coleman campaign challenged this ballot [on November 19], arguing the voter didn't intend to vote for Franken, because of the small dot inside the bubble next to Dean Barkley's name.

Ignoring Coleman's ballot challenges, Hannity claimed Franken is challenging ballots in MN to "litigate his way into the Senate seat"

On the November 24 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, while discussing the Minnesota Senate race between Democratic candidate Al Franken and incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, which is now in a recount, co-host Sean Hannity said of Franken: "I have all of these different ballots that he's questioning that clearly are Norm Coleman ballots, clearly, and he's questioning them because he's trying to litigate his way into the Senate seat." However, in claiming that Franken is "trying to litigate his way" into the Senate through ballot challenges, Hannity is ignoring a central fact: as of November 24, Franken and Coleman have challenged nearly the same number of ballots. According to the office of the Minnesota secretary of state, as of 8 p.m. CST on November 24, Coleman had challenged 1,400 ballots, while Franken had challenged 1,401 ballots. Additionally, while Hannity said Franken is challenging ballots that "clearly are Norm Coleman ballots," he did not mention that Coleman is challenging ballots that appear to be marked for Franken, as Media Matters for America documented. The Bemidji Pioneer reported on November 22: Franken recount attorney Marc Elias waved copies of 10 southeastern Minnesota ballots, citing them as examples of frivolous Coleman challenges. Most of the ballots showed the voter marked the oval next to Republican John McCain's name in the presidential race, and then picked Democrat Franken in the Senate contest. Coleman recount observers apparently challenged the ballots because they thought a voter would not pick both McCain and Franken. But Elias said that in his view each of the ballots was "a textbook example of how to fill out an optical scan ballot." When a reporter handed Coleman Campaign Manager Cullen Sheenan copies of two of the ballots, even he agreed it looked like Franken was the voters' choices. From the November 24 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes: HANNITY: There's a very important runoff December 2nd in the state of Georgia. If Al Franken -- and I argue -- and I have all of these different ballots that he's questioning that clearly are Norm Coleman ballots, clearly -- MORRIS: Right. Right. HANNITY: -- and he's questioning them because he's trying to litigate his way into the Senate seat. And my question is: So, if Saxby Chambliss doesn't win in Georgia, this gives them their magic number of 60. MORRIS: Yeah. The Republican Party is dead at that point. It has no role at all to play because you won't have 60. You'll have 60 votes in the Senate for the Democrats. And I've been pushing very, very hard for a group called GOPTrust.com that is running $1 million of ads in Georgia to elect Chambliss and defeat the Democrat. Now, in the last couple of days, some of the liberals have lashed back at me, claiming that somehow I'm getting paid by this group, but the fact is that all they've done is buy ads on my website, like they buy ads in The New York Times. And I'm no more in cahoots with them than The New York Times is. And this has all been fully disclosed in their disclosure statements. But I won't be intimidated by those groups. It is crucially important that every American who cares about the free enterprise system go online as soon as this show is over and [co-host] Alan [Colmes] makes his announcement, and get online to GOPTrust.com and give Chambliss the money he needs to win. Your whole future depends on it. COLMES: But are you fundraising for Chambliss by doing that? MORRIS: Yes, darned right I am, and give to Chambliss, too. When the whole future of the country is at stake on this, darned right I'm fundraising for him.

Scarborough again baselessly claimed Franken can "steal" votes in Minnesota Senate race

On the November 21 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-host Joe Scarborough declared that Minnesota Democrat Al Franken "only needs to steal 130 more votes to win" his Senate race against incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R), which is currently undergoing a recount. Scarborough similarly asserted on November 19, "If Al Franken can steal enough votes in Minnesota, that's get -- that gets Democrats to 59" Senate seats. In neither case did Scarborough offer any evidence of any wrongdoing by Franken or any willingness on Franken's part to do anything wrong to win. As Media Matters for America noted, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) stated as recently as November 16 that "[a]s of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process." Media Matters can find no evidence that Pawlenty has since revised his assessment. According to a November 15 Minneapolis Star-Tribune article, Pawlenty also said "he had complete confidence in the integrity of the recount that will be overseen by the state Canvassing Board" and quoted him stating: "That five-person Canvassing Board ... will run a fair and appropriate process, and they will render a fair and appropriate result." Scarborough also falsely asserted on the November 21 edition of Morning Joe, "all the votes that were mis -- miscast were all miscast for the same guy, huh?" In fact, during the recount, some votes that were originally counted for Franken have been reassigned to Coleman, and vice versa (precinct by precinct results from the recount can be found here). Additionally, shortly after Scarborough said Franken can win by "steal[ing]" votes, MSNBC analyst Pat Buchanan replied: "Look, you've got a station wagon up in the Iron Range that's hold -- got more of them in there, I'm sure, Joe." Later in the broadcast, Scarborough similarly said, "Buchanan says Al Franken can steal 130 votes easily. He said he can usually hide 130 votes in the back of a station wagon." Buchanan and Scarborough were echoing the widely discredited rumor that 32 absentee ballots from Minneapolis were mishandled in the course of being transported by car, an allegation that has been dismissed by both the Coleman campaign and Pawlenty. Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for Coleman, reportedly said on November 8, "We were actually told [ballots] had been riding around in [Minneapolis director of elections Cynthia Reichert's] car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions." However, the Associated Press reported that same day that Knaak "said a Minneapolis attorney reassured Coleman's campaign that no one but an elected official had access to the 32 ballots and there was no tampering." On November 10, Knaak reportedly said of the purported incident, "It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." Similarly, Pawlenty -- who also initially forwarded the car-ballot rumor -- said on the November 16 broadcast of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday that "[t]here's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate." From the November 21 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe: ANDREA MITCHELL (guest co-host): And in Minnesota, Republican Senator Norm Coleman's edge over Democrat Al Franken faded somewhat in the second day of a statewide recount. According to the secretary of state in Minnesota, Franken now trails Coleman by just 129 votes out of nearly 3 million cast. SCARBOROUGH: All right, so, Pat Buchanan, Al Franken only needs to steal 130 more votes to win that thing, and you've got to be thinking, "That's child's play." BUCHANAN: Look, you've got a station wagon up in the Iron Range that's hold -- got more of them in there, I'm sure, Joe. MITCHELL: These are the good government guys in Minnesota. They don't work that way, you know -- SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, these are the good government guys, but they're -- that all the votes that were mis -- miscast were all miscast for the same guy, huh? And again, Buchanan's thinking, "This is child play. I can steal 130 votes" -- MITCHELL: This is Michael -- now this is - SCARBOROUGH: -- "by the time I went to get a beer." MITCHELL: This is Walter Mondale country. These guys are reformers. SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, they are, reform -- whatever. BUCHANAN: I can find those, easy, Joe. SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, 130's nothing. Nothing, nothing. [...] MITCHELL: And in Minnesota, Republican Senator Norm Coleman's edge over Democrat Al Franken faded somewhat in the second day of a statewide recount. According to Minnesota's secretary of state, Franken now trails by only 129 votes out of nearly 3 million cast. SCARBOROUGH: All right. And Buchanan says Al Franken can steal 130 votes easily. He said he can -- MITCHELL: Out of the Iron Range. SCARBOROUGH: -- usually hide 130 votes in the back of a station wagon.

O'Reilly falsely claimed Coleman "was certified the winner" in MN Senate race

Echoing a false claim made by Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-MN) campaign, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed on the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that Coleman "was certified the winner" in the Minnesota Senate race against Democratic challenger Al Franken. O'Reilly added: "Coleman won by a mere 215 votes." In fact, during the November 18 meeting of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie stated that the board was signing a certificate declaring that "[e]xcept for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " Ritchie then explained: "This is the certificate that we are signing one at a time, and it declares the winner in all but four races. And in those four races, they will receive the same process at the end of the recount." Ritchie's office released a statement that day asserting that "Minnesota law triggers automatic recounts when the vote margin between the top two candidates in federal, state, or judicial races is less than one-half of one percent in a general election." It further stated: "The board reviewed and adopted election results with the exception of those requiring automatic recounts." The statement also quoted Ritchie asserting: "Only when this recount is complete in its entirety will we know who is elected." Several news outlets also reported that the board did not certify vote totals or a winner in the Minnesota Senate race. The Star Tribune reported on November 19 that the board "did not certify vote totals in the Senate race." The Pioneer Press reported in a November 19 article that the board "declare[d] winners ... in all but four" Minnesota election contests, including "the U.S. Senate race." The Press quoted Ritchie as saying, "We do not know the winner of four races until the completion of the process." Additionally, the West Central Tribune reported on November 19 that the "Senate race is among the four without a certified winner pending the recount." Additionally, Ritchie reportedly "dismissed" the Coleman campaign's statement that Coleman "was confirmed as the winner" in the race. In the statement, Coleman for Senate Campaign Manager Cullen Sheehan asserted that "Coleman has, for the third time, been named the winner of the 2008 election." Ritchie reportedly said in response, "We certified that on all but four races the winner is known." From the November 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: O'REILLY: "Factor Follow-up" segment tonight: Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman was certified the winner in his race against Al Franken today. Coleman won by a mere 215 votes. But about 400,000 voters in Minnesota rejected Franken, while voting for Obama. They crossed the ticket to support Coleman, a stunning statistic. From the November 18 meeting of the Minnesota State Canvassing Board: RITCHIE: We will move now to the signing of the certificate, and with -- for the benefit of the audience, I would like to read this. "We, the undersigned, legally constituted state canvassing board, as required by law" -- and I think -- is there a good pen and all of that? Where's that original? Do you want to start it? [inaudible] "As required by law, canvassed on November 18th, 2008, the certified copies of the statements made by the county canvassing boards of the votes cast at the November 4th, 2008, state general election for presidential electors, U.S. Senate, U.S. representatives, state representatives, state constitutional amendment, and state judicial offices. We have also received the report of the 2008 postelection review, held pursuant to law, containing the changes and the number of votes counted by candidates for the offices of presidential electors, U.S. Senate, U.S. representatives in the precincts reviewed in each county of the state pursuant to Minnesota statute section 206.89, we have incorporated the indicated changes into the following report of the votes cast at the 2008 state general election. "We specify in the following report the names of the persons who received votes and the number received by each in the several counties in which they were cast as reported by the county canvassing boards and adjusted by the report of the postelection review. Except for the offices of U.S. senator, state senator District 16, state representative Districts 12b and 16a, the candidates who received the highest number of votes cast for each office voted on in more than one county is hereby declared 'elected.' " This is the certificate that we are signing one at a time, and it declares the winner in all but four races. And in those four races, they will receive the same process at the end of the recount. And the report triggers the counting by hand of the four races, which will begin tomorrow morning. And we have the task today of considering the procedures for the recount plans, which will now be presented by [Minnesota state elections director] Mr. Gary Poser.

Fox News' Barnes latest media figure to reference discredited Minnesota car ballot story

During the November 15 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys, while discussing the Minnesota Senate race, co-host Fred Barnes forwarded the discredited rumor that 32 ballots from Minneapolis were mishandled. Barnes said: "We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, [Democratic candidate Al] Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious." However, a lawyer for Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign, who initially raised questions about those ballots on November 8, reportedly said that same day that he had been assured the ballots were handled properly -- an assertion he reportedly repeated two days later. Indeed, on November 16, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) -- who initially forwarded the car ballot rumor himself -- said that "there's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate." Additionally, Barnes said that "what drives Republicans the most crazy is the guy in charge of the whole recount, and that's the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie [D] ... Republicans just regard it as someone who will do anything to get a Democrat elected, and that -- and that's Franken." However, Barnes did not acknowledge, as Media Matters for America has documented, that Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named to certify the vote and oversee the recount, or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." As Media Matters noted, while Fritz Knaak, a lawyer for Coleman, reportedly said on November 8, "We were actually told [ballots] had been riding around in [Minneapolis director of elections Cynthia Reichert's] car for several days, which raised all kinds of integrity questions," The Associated Press reported that same day that Knaak "said a Minneapolis attorney reassured Coleman's campaign that no one but an elected official had access to the 32 ballots and there was no tampering." On November 10, Knaak further reportedly said of the purported incident, "It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." During the November 16 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Pawlenty stated: PAWLENTY: There's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate. There are concerning patterns about the changes before the recount starting favoring Al Franken, and some concerns that were raised. But we have to be clear on this. As of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process. If there is, it'll get rooted out and identified aggressively. Additionally, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on November 15: Earlier this week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty added fuel to the debate when he raised concerns of his own about ballot security, speaking on Fox News about an allegation, now documented as inaccurate, that a Minneapolis election official drove around with 32 absentee ballots in the trunk of her car. Ritchie declined to be critical of Pawlenty, but said he sent a note to Pawlenty thanking him for his support for the overall integrity of the state's election process and providing him with his cell phone number if the governor had any further questions. Asked if Pawlenty wanted to modify his comments, Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said: "Based on ballot security issues reported in news accounts, the governor expressed his concerns. He's glad some of these matters have been clarified." As Media Matters has documented, in addition to Barnes, numerous media figures and outlets have advanced the discredited rumor that the ballots were mishandled, including The Wall Street Journal, NBC correspondent Lee Cowan, MSNBC host Chris Matthews, and Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Brit Hume, and Bill O'Reilly. From the November 15 edition of Fox News' The Beltway Boys: JEFF BIRNBAUM (guest co-host): Down, Minnesota. The Senate race between incumbent Norm Coleman and funnyman Al Franken couldn't be closer -- enough to trigger an automatic recount. But that hasn't had -- kept either side from questioning the legitimacy of the outcome. It's really -- this is really no good for anybody, basically, this extended problem. There are already new accusations, or renewed accusations, about Norm Coleman perhaps getting too close to a former fundraiser of his. Calls for investigations into whether money was channeled from the fundraiser's company to Norm Coleman and his wife -- charges that are -- are denied by the Colemans. But, nonetheless, this is getting very nasty, and a lot is at stake, of course, in the outcome. But if Norm -- if Coleman wins, it could really be a problem for him even if he does win. BARNES: I'm not worried. I don't think those lawsuits are going to amount to much. But it's clear now who -- which of the parties, whether the Coleman campaign or the Franken campaign, thinks the process is working on their side. We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious. And some other things, too, you know, where he gains. There are all these more Franken votes in certain districts, but no votes for other offices that weren't affected. But what drives Republicans the most crazy is the guy in charge of the whole recount, and that's the Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who's an ally of ACORN, and I don't need to describe them. And Republicans just regard it as someone who will do anything to get a Democrat elected, and that -- and that's Franken. I mean, every Republican I know thinks they're going to "discover" more ballots. And, of course, they'll favor Franken. All right. Up, Howard Dean. From the November 16 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday: CHRIS WALLACE (host): All right, I want to ask you both about specific issues involving you. Governor Pawlenty, you've got a dead-even Senate race in Minnesota. And we'll put up the results, which are really quite extraordinary, just a couple of hundred votes out of almost two and a half million. There have been allegations from some Republicans that Democrats are trying to steal this election for Al Franken. Do you have full confidence in the secretary of state, who is a Democrat, and also in the canvassing board, to which -- a five-member board to which you appointed two members? PAWLENTY: Chris, in Minnesota we have a history of clear, transparent, accurate, and fair and legal elections. That's going to happen again here. The canvassing board is five people. They are invited by the secretary of state, not appointed by me. The governor doesn't have a role. But it's four judges -- all of which have good reputations -- and the secretary of state. The canvassing board in the state of Minnesota will render a result. This process will be fair and appropriate. I can assure you of that. WALLACE: Do you -- because there has been some talk in some Republican circles about ballots that were found in -- PAWLENTY: Sure. WALLACE: -- people's trunks. I mean, is -- is there any sign that there has been any fraud? And two, if there is any fraud, will that be sorted out by the canvassing board? PAWLENTY: There's a news report in Minnesota that the ballot-in-the-trunk story has now been retracted, that it wasn't accurate. There are concerning patterns about the changes before the recount starting favoring Al Franken, and some concerns that were raised. But we have to be clear on this. As of this moment, there is no actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in the process. If there is, it'll get rooted out and identified aggressively. But at the moment, there is no actual evidence of that occurring.

Media Matters: The media's Minnesota debacle

With only about 200 votes out of nearly 3 million cast separating Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, the race is headed to a recount. Naturally, conservative radio hosts are working themselves into a lather, baselessly accusing Democrats of trying to "steal" the election. That shouldn't surprise anyone. But NBC and The New York Times have also pushed the dubious notion that the Minnesota recount has been plagued by chaos and impropriety. Here's how Meredith Vieira, co-host of NBC's Today, began a report on the Minnesota recount: "If you thought the election debacle in Florida could never happen again, wait until you see the situation in Minnesota." This is nonsense. The "debacle" in Florida wasn't that there was a recount; the "debacle" was an absurdly designed ballot that led to thousands of people who meant to vote for Al Gore voting for Pat Buchanan instead. The "debacle" was that thousands of voters were improperly purged from voter rolls. The "debacle" was that the state's electoral votes were awarded to the candidate for whom fewer voters attempted to cast ballots. None of those factors are present in Minnesota. The Minnesota Senate race is simply in the midst of a recount. Recounts happen. They aren't the illegitimate, anything-goes street fights the media pretend they are; they are a part of how elections work, their process written into law and executed every year. They are necessary, for a perfectly obvious reason: They make it more likely that the candidate who receives the most votes takes office. That is an unequivocally good thing. During that Today segment, reporter Lee Cowan announced that the situation "has some remembering shades of Florida, of butterfly ballots and hanging chads. There are neither of those here." What possible reason could there be for bringing up "butterfly ballots and hanging chads," given that "there are neither of those" present in Minnesota? Whatever the intent, the effect is clear -- it creates the impression that the situation in Minnesota is utter chaos, a "debacle" in the making. Cowan continued: "Still, ballots have suddenly appeared out of nowhere, including some found unsecured in an election worker's car." That appears to be completely false. Election officials have said the ballots did not "suddenly appear[] out of nowhere," and they were not "unsecured." The claim about unsecured ballots in a car appears to have originated with Norm Coleman's lawyer. Cowan did not attribute the car story to anyone or anything, he simply asserted it as fact. Adopting and repeating Coleman's lawyer's claims as though they are facts is bad enough. What makes it worse is that the lawyer had already backed off the claim. Two full days before Cowan's report, the Coleman lawyer had been quoted saying that "we've heard enough from the city attorney to let go of this. It does not appear that there was any ballot-tampering, and that was our concern." So Cowan offered a sensational and -- by his own acknowledgement -- wholly irrelevant comparison to the "butterfly ballots and hanging chads" of the 2000 recount. Then he made a false assertion of ballots materializing out of thin air, and of unsecured ballots -- an assertion that seems to have been based entirely on the already-retracted claims of a Coleman campaign lawyer. Vieira concluded the segment by referring to the "mess in Minnesota." But there is no mess. There is simply a recount -- a recount that does not involve butterfly ballots or hanging chads, a recount that, despite the best efforts of Vieira and Cowan to convince us otherwise, has not a thing in common with the "debacle" in Florida. Just a simple recount. Today's New York Times similarly promoted the idea of chaos and impropriety in the Minnesota recount -- without actually providing any evidence or examples. The Times reported: If Fritz Knaak has his way, Mr. Franken will never have a shot at solving those problems. A lawyer hired by Mr. Coleman expressly for the recount, Mr. Knaak described himself as "the new gun with the shiny pistol." Citing suspicion over what he called a series of "shenanigans" that have narrowed Mr. Coleman's lead, he has requested the official paper tape with the number of ballots and the time stamp printed out by each ballot machine, in every voting precinct. The Times gave no examples of "shenanigans" or any indication of who is "suspicious" that such "shenanigans" have occurred. Nor did it give any indication that it asked Knaak for examples of either shenanigans or suspicion. Later in the article, the Times reported: Mr. Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, accused the Franken campaign of "a brazen, last minute act of desperation," by asking Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, to reconsider 461 rejected absentee ballots. Mr. Franken's lead lawyer, Marc Elias, called such assertions of ballot stuffing "fanciful and bogus." But there were no "assertions of ballot stuffing" -- none the Times reported, anyway. The Times simply quoted Coleman's campaign manager saying the Franken campaign's request to reconsider previously rejected ballots is an indication of "desperation." That's quite different from making an allegation of "ballot stuffing." Then the Times reported that Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten expressed concerns about the ability of Minnesota's Democratic secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, to act impartially during the recount, without indicating Kersten's own political leanings. As Media Matters Senior Fellow Eric Boehlert explained, "Kersten is a right-winger who smeared Franken right before Election Day as a 'slanderer of Christianity.' " Next, the Times quoted a "Republican researcher" who is "very, very concerned" about Ritchie. Then it quoted Sean Hannity saying "[f]ishy business" is occurring in Minnesota, where Democrats and elections officials are "up to no good." To what "[f]ishy business" was Hannity referring? Were his allegations legitimate? The Times did not say. Finally, the Times quoted the Facebook status of "Noah Rouen, 34," a Minnesota man on a pheasant hunt who, along with his friends, "could not help but hatch a conspiracy theory." If it seems the Times is desperate to find people concerned about the legitimacy of the Minnesota recount -- resorting to quoting vague allegations from hard-right partisans like Sean Hannity and Facebook conspiracy theories -- maybe that's because Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota's Republican governor, says there is "no actual evidence that there's been any fraud or problems." (That quote didn't appear in the Times article; maybe it got cut to make room for the pheasant hunter's Facebook status.) And as Media Matters noted, the Times did not note that Pawlenty said that the bipartisan state canvassing board Ritchie appointed to oversee the recount was "fair" and that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." The news media's tendency to compare any recount to the "butterfly ballots and hanging chads" made famous during Florida's 2000 recount, and to breathlessly report the merest rumor of impropriety, is not merely lazy and absurd and sensationalist. It is also dangerous. It causes people to be frightened and concerned about all recounts -- to be wary of the very concept of recounts. But recounts needn't be like the "debacle" of 2000; in fact, they rarely are. They are far more frequently the best way to ensure that errors in counting do not result in the candidate who received fewer votes taking office. (Indeed, in 2004, a manual recount in the Washington governor's race reversed the results of the initial Election Day tabulations and machine recount.) Sensational and baseless reporting like that produced this week by NBC and The New York Times runs the risk of undermining public confidence in an essential part of the democratic process. Jamison Foser is Executive Vice President at Media Matters for America.