Sen. Norm Coleman (R) announced Tuesday that he has filed a lawsuit to
challenge his loss to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota’s Senate race.
Coleman also resisted a call from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) to concede the race, saying, “This race will be decided by Minnesota
voters, not by Harry Reid.”
{mosads}On Monday, Franken was declared the winner of Minnesota’s Senate
race by a recount panel, which handed him a 225-vote win out of nearly 3
million ballots cast.
“The people of Minnesota want to make sure we get this right, no
matter what side of the aisle you’re on,” Coleman said at a press conference in
the state.
While the margin is razor-thin, Coleman faces an uphill battle in
getting it overturned in the courts.
Coleman’s lawyers are prepared to contest about 650 absentee
ballots that they say were improperly rejected, about 150 ballots they say were
counted twice and 133 votes they say were counted without ballots to back them
up.
They also said challenged ballots were not handled by the state
canvassing board in a uniform manner.