Everything's on the up and up

After Al Franken miraculously won the Senate election in 2008, we were all told there is no vote fraud in Minnesota and by the way, shut up. So I'm sure there simply must be some mistake here:

The Hennepin County attorney’s office is investigating whether a private mailbox center in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood has been improperly used as an address for more than 140 voters.

State records show that 419 Cedar Avenue S. has been used by some of the voters as far back as 2008.

No one lives at the address, which is a Somali-dominated commercial building housing several small businesses and a popular mail center. Several dozen apartments upstairs use a different building number. Records also show that more than 90 of the registrants at that address have voted in previous elections, although it’s unclear how many voted while registered at 419 Cedar.

The investigation reignites a long-running debate about voter fraud in Minnesota and is the latest flash point in the highly competitive race between Capitol stalwart Rep. Phyllis Kahn and Mohamud Noor, who would become the first Somali-American elected to the Legislature if elected. Kahn was denied the DFL endorsement in April due in part to Noor’s ability to turn out Somali supporters. An August primary will decide the fate of the race.

So we're clear on this -- there isn't voter fraud if Norm Coleman is on the business end of irregularities, but if Phyllis Kahn is somehow imperiled, we'll need an investigation.

Actually, there's a useful lesson here -- if you want to stop voter fraud, you have to stop it before it happens. Once the votes are in, it's too late. Coleman didn't necessarily know he needed to watch every precinct in the entire state in 2008, and look at every voter roll, until it was too late; even if he had, it's unlikely he would have had the resources to do so. Kahn only has to monitor the polling places in her local district, not the entire state.

Meanwhile, there's this amusing allegation:

The campaign of Rep. Phyllis Kahn (D-Minneapolis) has filed two complaints regarding improprieties that have allegedly taken place during her heated primary battle with Mohamud Noor.

One alleges that a Minneapolis elections judge named Fadmo called Kahn "an old Jewish Lady" while interpreting the primary ballot for a Somali man who was recently at City Hall to cast his absentee ballot. On the other hand, Fadmo characterized Noor as "our Muslim brother," the complaint says.

Well, that's not very nice of Fadmo. However, it's worth noting that Phyllis Kahn is indeed 77 years old, and is, in fact, Jewish. And Noor is Muslim. The truth is an absolute defense. Still, you have to wonder about something else -- citizenship requirements do involve having the ability to speak English. You can become a citizen without passing the English language requirement if you meet one of these two criteria:

Age 50 or older at the time of filing for naturalization and have lived as a permanent resident (green card holder) in the United States for 20 years   (commonly referred to as the “50/20” exception).

OR

Age 55 or older at the time of filing for naturalization and have lived as a permanent resident in the United States for 15 years (commonly referred to as the “55/15” exception).

Maybe the gentleman that Fadmo was assisting actually fit those criteria. I'm sure he did, because there is no voter fraud in Minnesota.