Thread: Franken Declared Winner in Minnesota Senate Race

GOP Incumbent Norm Coleman Expected to File Lawsuit, Final Outcome Could Take Weeks
By KAREN TRAVERS
Jan. 5, 2009

Two months after Minnesota voters went to the polls, Democrat Al Franken has been declared the winner of the U.S. Senate race, but his opponent, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, is ready to challenge the results in court.

The Minnesota Canvassing Board ruled Franken, the comedian and former radio host, won the razor-close election recount by 225 votes out of nearly 3 million cast Nov. 4.

Though Franken has been declared the winner, the contest will not end today. Coleman has a seven-day window in which to file a lawsuit contesting the board's ruling before Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie sign the election certificate.

An attorney for the Coleman campaign said in a statement this afternoon that they will file a lawsuit "within the next 24 hours" to contest the results announced by the state Canvassing Board today.

"The actions today by the Canvassing Board are but the first step in what, unfortunately, will now have to be a longer process. This process isn't at the end; it is now just at the beginning," attorney Tony Trimble said in a statement. "While we appreciate the effort of this board to do the work, the reality is that any certification of vote totals at this point is only preliminary."

A senior Coleman official said today that the election challenge would be filed and the fight would continue. If the lawsuit contesting the results is filed, Minnesota Chief Justice Eric Magnuson would appoint a three-judge panel to oversee the legal process.

Coleman entered the recount, which began Nov. 19, ahead by 215 votes, but state law calls for a recount when the margin of victory is less than 0.5 percent of the total vote.

Earlier today, the Minnesota State Supreme Court rejected a request from Coleman to count 654 additional rejected absentee ballots. Before the canvassing board met, the Coleman campaign said the court ruling makes a lawsuit inevitable.

"The Coleman campaign has consistently and continually fought to have every validly cast vote counted, and for the integrity of Minnesota's election system, we will not stop now. The Minnesota Supreme Court has made sure that an election contest will need to be filed quickly to ensure that an accurate and valid recount can be achieved," Coleman attorney Fritz Knaack said in a statement.

The legal process could take weeks. Coleman's suit will focus on three key areas: those 654 rejected absentee ballots, an additional 150 ballots from Democatic-leaning areas that the Coleman campaign claims were double-counted for Franken and 130 ballots that were lost after election night but were included in the final tally after the recount.

The state Supreme Court ruled today that those issues would be better handled in a post-recount lawsuit.

Franken, a comedian, writer and radio talk show host, is perhaps best known for his stint on "Saturday Night Live," where he played self-help guru Stuart Smalley and served as a long-time writer. Franken was recently a political talk show host on the left-leaning Air America radio network.

Coleman served one term in the Senate after defeating Walter Mondale in 2002. Mondale stepped in as the Democratic candidate that year after two-term Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash 11 days before Election Day.

Coleman's term as senator ended Saturday.


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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6580694&page=1

I am glad he is contesting this. I have smelled an ACORN rat for a while now.

Sorry Al, but you're a poor comedian, and and probably even a worse politician. And I agree, I smell a rat in the mix too. Where, I'm not sure, but I'm sure there's one in there. Like the supposed ballots that were found in one district ,and they were all for Franken. It's sounding more like a Frankenstein if you ask me..................

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

Sorry Al, but you're a poor comedian, and and probably even a worse politician. And I agree, I smell a rat in the mix too. Where, I'm not sure, but I'm sure there's one in there. Like the supposed ballots that were found in one district ,and they were all for Franken. It's sounding more like a Frankenstein if you ask me..................

I like the counting of "lost ballets". I assume they were counted by memory, and the votes just happened to be for Franken.

Those 225 votes in Franken's victory claim is probably less than the number of non citizens voting Democrat having used the Motor Voter feature getting their drivers license. These are not even neccesarily border jumpers or over stays but students and green card holders are not supposed to be voting either.