Franken To Meet With Democratic Leaders In Washington

St. Paul, MN (AHN) - Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party candidate Al Franken will be in Washington meeting with Democratic leaders on Wednesday, according to a report. The Democrat makes the trip to the Capitol the same day Minnesota begins a manual statewide recount of votes cast in his race against Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN).

Lawmakers will be back in Washington this week beginning Monday for party leadership elections, new member orientation and a vote on the auto industry bailout. It will be the last time they meet before the 111th Congress convenes next year.

Franken, who trails Coleman by 206 votes, will hold talks with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and other party leaders, CNN quotes Franken spokeswoman Colleen Murray as saying on Sunday. The Democrat will not attend the new member orientation because that would be "presumptuous."

The State Canvassing Board certifies election results on Tuesday, a day before the recount of all 2.9 million ballots cast in the contest begins. Results are expected to be submitted on Dec. 5. The State Canvassing Board will then meet on Dec. 16 before completing the recount on Dec. 19. The recount is expected to cost the state $90,000.

The Franken and Coleman campaigns have engaged in acrimonious exchanges in the days leading up to the recount.

Coleman senior counsel Fritz Knaak held a press conference on Friday accusing Franken of "unprecedented efforts to get across to their private data to influence this recount - and equally fearful of the Franken Campaign's efforts to force rejected and spoiled ballots into a recount for the first time ever in the 150 year history of our state."

Citing reports, Knaak added that Franken "not only invented stories about voters who had their ballots rejected improperly, but, even after having been told by election officials that the story was false, their attorney never the less conducted a high-profile press conference to promote a story that they knowingly knew to be false."

Franken filed a lawsuit last Thursday seeking information about rejected absentee ballots in Ramsey County.. His campaign said in a statement that it was not seeking to have the ballots counted and that the campaign simply wants to find out what absentee ballots were rejected.

The campaign added that a ballot in Beltrami County was rejected because the signatures of the voter on the envelope did not match with the one on record. As it turned out, the voter had suffered a stroke.

On Sunday, Franken said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's statements undercut accusations from Coleman. Pawlenty was quoted by the Star Tribune as saying, "It's in nobody's best interest, whether you're a Republican and Democrat or something else, to be taking shots unless there is some reason to do so. ... Unless there is evidence, let's not be throwing gasoline on the fire until we actually have some proof."

Franken communications director Andy Barr said in a statement, "The Coleman campaign has never been bound by the truth when trying to undermine our process, but now even their top surrogate - who enthusiastically repeated other false claims - can't stand behind their baseless allegations... we remain confident that the recount will be conducted fairly. And our position remains the same: Count all the votes fairly."

Minnesota's Senate race is the most expensive Congressional contest this cycle, with Coleman having raised $19 million and Franken $17 million for a total of $36.2 million.

A win for Franken will bring Democrats closer to the 60-vote filibuster-proof majority they are hoping to get in the Senate. Democrats were able to gain six seats this election cycle for a 57-seat majority, including the two independents who caucus with them, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT). The gains were made in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.

Results of two other Senate races are still unknown: Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) re-election bid in Alaska and the runoff between Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Democrat Jim Martin in Georgia.