01-05-2009, 04:22 PM
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Stuart Smalley Wins Minnesota Hes good enough, hes smart enough.
Minnesota canvassing board certifies Franken win - CNN.com
Quote:
Minnesota canvassing board certifies Franken win
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota -- The Minnesota State Canvassing Board on Monday certified the results of the recount of Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's fight to retain his seat against Democrat Al Franken.
A Minnesota board says Al Franken won his U.S. Senate race against Norm Coleman by 225 votes.
A Minnesota board says Al Franken won his U.S. Senate race against Norm Coleman by 225 votes.
The results showed Franken with a 225-vote lead.
Coleman's attorney, Tony Trimble, said shortly after the ruling that the campaign will officially file a lawsuit.
Coleman's campaign contends the recount should have included about 650 absentee ballots it says were improperly rejected in the initial count.
The initial count from the November 4 election put Coleman, a first-term senator, 215 votes ahead of Franken, who is known for his stint on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and as a former talk-show host on progressive radio network Air America.
Meanwhile, in a move that leaves a post-election legal challenge the last hope for Coleman, Minnesota's high court earlier Monday denied his campaign's request to consider about 650 additional rejected absentee ballots.
His attorneys had said those ballots should have been included in the count of mistakenly rejected ballots that were tallied over the weekend.
The Coleman campaign also said Monday that there was no uniform standard for local officials and campaigns to review and tabulate these improperly rejected ballots.
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Previously, the court had ordered that only ballots that local officials and both campaigns could agree were rejected in error could be counted. A consensus was met on about 950 of 1,350 originally found by local officials.
The court ruling suggested Coleman's latest request should be a post-election consideration. The Coleman campaign, meanwhile, said it was determined to take the question to court.
"Today's ruling, which effectively disregards the votes of hundreds of Minnesotans, ensures that an election contest is now inevitable," said Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak.
"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 in order to ensure that an accurate and valid recount can be achieved."
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York and chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued a statement Sunday declaring Franken the winner and expressing confidence Franken would remain on top following any legal battle.
"There is no longer any doubt who will be the next senator from Minnesota," Schumer said. "Even if all the ballots Coleman claims were double counted or erroneously added were resolved in his favor, he still wouldn't have enough votes to win."
Schumer also said it is "crucial" that Minnesota's second seat in the Senate not go empty, implying that Franken should be seated when the rest of the Senate convenes to be sworn in Tuesday.
Minnesota's other seat is held by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has pledged a GOP filibuster if the Democratic-controlled Senate attempts to seat Franken before all legal battles play out and before Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, can cosign Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's certificate.
Ritchie said the state has no problem with not having two sworn-in senators Tuesday until the process is completed.
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