The results of this past primary election for the DFL (Democratic Farmer-Labor) Party nomination for governor is an interesting case to examine in Minnesota politics.  The last election saw a blatant disregard for the democratic process.  We witnessed ballots counted twice, some areas ignored their absentee ballots and others (liberal precincts) had theirs counted.  The Franken-Coleman recount was an embarrassment to the state and the far left Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, an ACORN trainer, has assured us the process has been fixed.  However, I believe in Reagan’s ‘trust, but verify’ strategy in regards to rivals and opponents.  Therefore, I’ve done a little digging into the numbers from the past two polls and the final results.  To say they are disturbing is an understatement. 

If you average out the last two polls for governor taken in the state, we find some interesting numbers.  The Survey USA and StarTribune polls average for Dayton was 41.5%.  Kelliher, the Democratic party endorsed candidate had 28.5% and the other contender, Matt Entenza had 19.5%.  This leaves 10.5% of those polled for the primary as undecideds.  Now, I don’t blindly believe polls nor do I have absolute faith that polls are as accurate as actual votes, but I do believe they are at least in the same ballpark.  What I found was a strange landslide that cannot be explained without some concerns.

Dayton won the nomination with 41.33% of the vote.  Kelliher, the party machine candidate, got 39.75% and Entenza finished with 18.21%.  These numbers are so surprising because compared with the most recent poll averages, Kelliher got every single undecided vote in the state of Minnesota.  Not a single voter, who had not made up their minds, voted for either of the other candidates.  In fact, Entenza lost ground and Dayton came out ever so slightly down.

Now, this is certainly possible in an election where there is a shift in opinion or a complete collapse of a rival candidate but nothing like that occurred here.  The polls showed Dayton and Entenza increasing their voter preference numbers and Kelliher had slipped a little.  There was no new information that shocked the conscience nor was there a significant move by Democratic electoral groups.  Kelliher had several unions and the DFL machine, but Dayton had the big players of Minnesota politics, Education Minnesota, and the government worker unions, AFSME and MAPE in his pocket.  So, without any contributing factors, how did Kelliher manage to surge into a place where she almost bumped off Dayton?

There is, of course, the Minnesota Cemetery/Felon/Vacant Lot vote to consider.  Minnesota Majority has been sounding the alarm for two years about the fraudulent Franken election.  They have found dead people voted, felons voted, and a surprising number of vacant lots listed on election forms.  The ‘vote-early-and-often’ crowd in the Socialist wing of the Democratic Party are not afraid of doing whatever it takes to swing an election.  Corrupting an election to obtain the ‘right’ result is not beneath them at all.  We have innumberable ‘voter advocacy’ groups and ‘education advocacy’ and ‘environmental advocacy’ groups all peopled with committed left-wingers who are determined to make elections swing as their leaders tell them.  These groups are all supported by tax dollars from both the state and federal governments.  But, we are told they are just bringing important issues to public awareness.  Please.

We can be fairly certain that the 2008 election of Stuart Smalley the Carpetbagger was tainted.  But, now we can see an instance where the taint is spreading into their own midst.  When The Party dictates a particular outcome, it will use whatever means necessary to make that happen.  It will even cheat its own members. 

There is no certain way for me to prove this skullduggery is afoot.  I am not a journalist or a governmental oversight committee or even a valiant lawyer ready to cut his teeth on some meaty corruption.  But, I can see the results and when, without other reasons, one party machine candidate gets every single undecided vote, and more, I begin to be suspicious.  When I hear and read about the dirty dealings that were allowed to occur in an election and continue to go uninvestigated and the same kind of bizarre results happen again, I believe my eyes. 

There will be no examination of this result.  Kelliher lost, in spite of the curious vote-racking phenomenon, and Dayton will not question it.  Our open registration with no checking of an ID will continue to leave itself open for corrupt practices.  The Secretary of State stands behind his political machine and faux election results and unless he’s ousted, we will not expose this until it becomes an open joke, as it has in the past.  Minnesota blindly and blithely believes itself immune to corruption.  Don’t let your state get into this situation.  Use us as a model for what not to do.

We have a long road to travel.