Making Sense of the Coleman-Franken Recount Trial
http://www.truthout.org/020409VA
The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: "The court case underway in
the
Senate race was brought by Republican Norm Coleman after the state
Canvassing Board certified recount results showing Democratic-Farmer-
Labor Party's (DFLer) Al Franken ahead by 225 votes. Coleman claims
that when irregularities and errors are corrected, he will emerge the
winner."
Norm Coleman Challenge
Coleman must prove with what's called a preponderance of the
evidence - meaning more likely than not - that errors during the
voting and during the recount skewed the results.
Al Franken Strategy
If the court case leaves the recount total unchanged, Franken is
elected. A central line of the argument by Franken's lawyers is that
Coleman's claims are too vague and theoretical to meet his burden
under the law, and that some of the vote-counting procedures he is
challenging now are ones he had agreed to earlier.
Twin Cities trial lawyer Joe Friedberg is best known for his work
as a criminal defense attorney. Ben Ginsberg played a central role in
the 2000 Florida recount in behalf of President Bush.
Marc Elias was counsel to John Kerry's 2004 presidential
campaign.
David Lillehaug is a former U.S. attorney for Minnesota.
The Judges
Pennington County District Judge Kurt Marben, of Thief River
Falls, was made a judge in 2000 by Independence Party Gov. Jesse
Ventura.
Hennepin County District Judge Denise Reilly became a judge in
1997, appointed by Republican Gov. Arne Carlson.
Stearns County District Judge Elizabeth Hayden, appointed to the
bench in 1986 by DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich, was the first female judge in
central Minnesota's Seventh Judicial District.
The Issues
Absentee Ballots
Coleman contends that many rejected absentee ballots should be
reconsidered because they are comparable to ballots that were judged
improperly rejected and counted during the recount. Coleman says that
because some rejected ballots were reexamined, all must now be
reviewed under the same standard. He cites the constitutional
guarantee of "equal protection" to support this claim. He also says
his earlier opposition to considering rejected absentee ballots
during
the recount was due to his belief that an election contest, the
proceeding now underway, was the proper forum to do so.
Franken argues that: 1) rejected absentee ballots have been
reviewed by competent officials and most were properly rejected, 2)
Coleman's position now contradicts his earlier stance, and 3) at most
Coleman should be allowed to review only the 654 ballots he
identified
as improperly rejected during the final stages of the recount, not
the
thousands of ballots he now says should be reconsidered.
Lost and Found
Coleman complains that in some places, ballots never counted on
election day were discovered during the recount - and counted - while
in at least one precinct, ballots apparently counted on election day
were lost. Recount officials chose to use the election day results in
that case. Coleman argues that these inconsistencies and
irregularities should be corrected.
Franken argues that election officials properly investigated
missing and found ballots and in each case took the action best
designed to accurately reflect the votes cast.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Either party could appeal the judges' rulings to higher state courts
or, on constitutional grounds, to the federal courts.
The Senate has broad authority over seating its members. It could
even
declare the seat vacant and force a new election.
The Lawyers
Weeks may pass before the court case ends and the judges issue
their rulings. But that might not be the end of the story.
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