). Also, most of the cases would not have been caught by ID laws since anyone registered, legally or illegally would have been allowed to vote.
In July 2010, Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, conducted a study in which they flagged 2,803 voters for examination including some 1,359 suspected to be ineligible convicted felons in the largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul area who were suspected of voting illegally in the Senate race.
[110][111] Subsequent investigations of Minnesota Majority's claims by election officials found that many of their allegations were incorrect. Some of the cases that were submitted involved mistaking a legal voter for a felon with the same name, others involved felons who had had their voting rights reinstated after serving their sentences, and others were felons who illegally registered to vote, but did not vote in 2008 election.
[112][113][114] Ramsey County officials narrowed their investigation to 180 cases, while Hennepin County examined 216 cases.
[115]
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said, "They [Minnesota Majority] seem to have found credible evidence that many felons who are not supposed to be voting actually voted in the Franken-Coleman election. I suspect they favored Al Franken. I don’t know that, but if that turned out to be true, they may have flipped the election.”
[116] Columnist Nick Coleman of the Minneapolis-based
Star Tribune called the idea that illegal voting by felons made a difference in the race "unbelievable" and the Minnesota Majority report "good fodder for a right-wing scare campaign."
[117]
As of July 2010, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office had brought charges against 28 people.
[111] In August, 2010, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office received for investigation 110 alleged cases of voter fraud during the 2008 election. In October, 2010, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office concluded that there was enough evidence to charge six people for voter fraud. "Three of the suspects face two felony charges. Three other suspects each face one felony charge."
[118] In October 2010, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced that charges would be brought against 43 felons for illegally voting in 2008.
[119]