Franken Asks Minnesota Canvassing Board To Included Wrongly Rejected Ballots

St. Paul, MN (AHN) - The Minnesota State Canvassing Board will decide on Tuesday whether to include rejected absentee ballots when it certifies election results. The decision comes a day after Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party candidate Al Franken filed a brief asking the board to include wrongly rejected ballots. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has accused his rival of a "legalistic effort to block the recount" and win the race.

Saying there are "legitimate reasons to reject absentee ballots" but that state law clearly states that voters must not be deprived of their right to vote and have their votes counted, the Franken campaign said in a statement late Monday, "We are asking the State Canvassing Board to consider these cases and, when appropriate, include legally-cast votes in the tally. And we will fight to defend that important principle as we move forward in this process."

The brief filed by Franken cites four cases of improperly rejected absentee ballots, including the case of Goodhue County voter Bruce Behrens, who was not allowed to vote because election officials thought his witness was not a registered voter.

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the same day that an audit of voting machines had increased Coleman's lead from 206 to 215. The margin is still too small and will require a statewide recount.

Coleman senior counsel Fritz Knaak said in a statement, "The emerging evidence that Coleman will win in a fair, legal and transparent recount is causing the Franken campaign to shift into a highly litigious and legalistic effort to block the recount, and invalidate the results of the election."

Last Thursday, Franken filed a lawsuit 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 signature of the voter on the envelope did not match with the one on record. As it turned out, the voter had suffered a stroke.

Coleman had said his opponent was "shamelessly trying to strong arm local officials into counting invalid ballots in order to influence the outcome of the recount." Saying voter information should remain private, the senator added, "We have grave concerns that the private information requested by the Franken campaign could lead to the harassment of Minnesota voters through visits by Franken campaign or Democratic Party operatives to their homes."

The State Canvassing Board consists of Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and Justice Barry Anderson, and Ramsey county judges Kathleen Gearin and Edward Cleary. The board is chaired by Ritchie, according to state law.

The recount of all 2.9 million ballots cast in the contest begins on Wednesday. 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.