Court narrows focus in Coleman lawsuit

In a late-afternoon ruling, the
three-judge panel overseeing the lawsuit brought by former Sen. Norm Coleman
(R-Minn.) significantly narrowed the scope of their focus to an estimated 3,500
contested ballots.

The judges had been asked to
consider 19 separate categories of absentee ballots thrown out by various
county election officials.

{mosads}Instead, the court ruled it will not
consider 13 of those 19 categories. The court found there was no proof of
widespread problems in the disenfranchisement of absentee voters, an argument
Coleman attorneys had sought to make.

“The Court is confident that
although it may discover certain additional ballots that were legally cast
under relevant law, there is no systemic problem of disenfranchisement in the
state’s election system, including in its absentee-balloting procedures,”
the judges wrote.

The move is a blow to Coleman, whose
campaign had wanted the court to consider 16 of the 19 categories of rejected
ballots. Coleman trails Franken by 225 votes, according to results as certified
by the state’s canvassing board, though a certificate of election cannot be
issued if an election contest is pending.

Democrat Al Franken’s campaign had
wanted to consider just two of the 19 categories.

Both campaigns put a happy face on
the ruling.

“We’re very pleased. Our
definition of victory is that 3,500 Minnesotans whose votes we are trying to get
counted will get their votes counted,” Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak said.

“We’re going to end up where we
were on election night, with Sen. Coleman headed back to the Senate,”
Knaak added.

Calling the decision a “very
important” step in the contest, Franken campaign lawyer Marc Elias was
optimistic. “We are obviously very pleased with the court’s
decision,” he said Friday.

Elias said four of the remaining
categories not addressed are likely to be tossed out as well, given the court’s
reasoning. “There will be no ballots that are counted based on might have,
could have, should have,” Elias said.

By eliminating so many categories,
the court will consider significantly fewer than the 4,800 or so ballots that
fell into the 19 separate categories. The Coleman campaign estimated 3,500
ballots remain within the valid categories.

Reducing the number of ballots
eligible for consideration could significantly hinder Coleman’s already long
odds of overturning Franken’s margin.