Two dozen more votes will be included in the tally between Democrat Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in Minnesota’s ongoing Senate recount challenge, and are expected to favor Franken.
The three-judge panel overseeing Coleman’s challenge to Franken’s 225-vote lead certified by a state board last month ordered 24 more ballots to be open and counted, out of a pool of 61 Minnesota voters who asked that their votes be counted. The court found that sufficient evidence existed to count the 24, but that insufficient evidence existed to support counting the remaining 37 votes.
The ruling, while affecting the razor-thin margin in the race, more importantly adds precedent for the three-judge panel to identify and order certain previously uncounted ballots to be included in the final tally. Both Coleman and Franken’s campaign have sought to include more ballots, with both sides alleging the other has only sought to cherry-pick favorable ballots.
According to local news reports, many of the 24 ballots to be counted are expected to favor Franken. 14 of those votes are from Dakota and Hennepin counties.
“I’m thrilled with the court’s decision today,” Franken attorney Marc Elias said. “It demonstrates that these people deserve to have their votes counted and we’re glad they’ll have that chance.”
“Again we see that Al Franken’s supporters are willing to cherry-pick only the Franken ballots instead of counting all the valid votes in this election,” said Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan. “Rather than just filing for his own voters, Franken should help ensure that all wrongly rejected absentees are counted.”