Franken may seek Senate’s help to win race

Al Franken’s (D) campaign may ask the Democratic-led
Senate to intervene on his behalf to allow some disqualified absentee ballots
to be counted in his quest to unseat Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).

Franken attorney Marc Elias made the case to reporters
Monday that as many as 1,000 absentee ballots were improperly disqualified and
that the Senate or the courts may need to step in to resolve the issue.

{mosads}“No recount can be considered accurate or complete until
all the ballots cast by lawful voters are counted,” Elias said of the recount that became necessary when only about 200 votes separated the two
candidates on Nov. 4.

Minnesota’s Board of Canvassers ruled last Wednesday that
it would not revisit the improperly disqualified ballots. The bipartisan board
ruled unanimously that it did not have the authority to order that the ballots
be reviewed and counted.

Elias said that of the 12,000 disqualified absentee
ballots in the race, “as many as 1,000” ballots were improperly excluded, and
should be counted. He added that the campaign would appeal to the Board of
Canvassers, courts or the U.S. Senate to ensure those ballots are
counted. Last week, Elias had indicated that the campaign would not directly
appeal the board’s ruling.

The U.S. Constitution allows each congressional chamber
to be the “Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own
Members.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the
Board of Canvassers’ decision to not count the absentee ballots “a cause for
great concern” last week, fueling speculation that the Senate would explore the
legality of the Minnesota recount’s results.

“If ultimately there is no remedy before the canvassing
board or before the courts, then that is certainly an option,” Elias said of
the Senate’s potential intervention in the election results.

“The Franken campaign has made it clear that the
recounted votes and will of Minnesotans matter little to them, and that they
intend to take their campaign to change the outcome of this election on to the
United States Senate,” said Coleman campaign spokesman Mark Drake. “Al Franken
should personally reject this strategy outright, and honor the right of
Minnesotans to choose who their senator should be — and not allow lawsuits and
the strong-arm tactics of the majority leader of the United States Senate to
intervene in this process.”

According to the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune’s recount tally, Coleman leads Franken by 282
votes with 86 percent of the recount complete. In total, 5,623 ballots have
been challenged, with the Franken campaign having challenged 67 more votes than
Coleman’s campaign. The Franken campaign said it would announce withdrawn
challenges later this week.

The Franken campaign maintained that Coleman only led by
73 votes, citing its tally, which includes determinations of a voter’s intent
made by neutral observers. Those determinations are not final until certified
by the Board of Canvassers, and are not included in the Secretary of State’s
official tally.