Coleman grasping at straws, now wants to open thousands of absentee ballots [View All]

[babylonsister]

Coleman wants to open thousands of absentee ballots
By Aaron Blake
Posted: 01/19/09 03:56 PM


Republican Norm Coleman’s lawyers on Monday called for the counting of thousands more absentee ballots in their quest to reverse Democrat Al Franken’s 225-vote lead in Minnesota’s Senate race.

Coleman has filed an election challenge following a statewide recount and has alleged that some ballots have been counted twice. Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak on Monday, though, sought to expand the challenge to a full review of 12,000 rejected absentee ballots.

About 1,350 of the ballots were initially added to the totals, which swung the race in Franken’s direction by about 175 votes. Coleman’s lawyers have unsuccessfully tried to get about 650 additional rejected absentee ballots included as well.

But on Monday, Knaak said Coleman’s team will seek to open all 12,000 rejected absentees.

The initial 650 ballots Coleman’s team wanted included were reported to be mostly from areas where Coleman did well, but they might not have been enough to reverse the result.

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http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/coleman-wants-to-open-thousands-of-absentee-ballots-2009-01-19.html