Word: colemans
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...Senator is frustrated, imagine how her constituents must feel. For four months, they have watched high-powered Washington attorneys question the legitimacy of the state's esteemed election process, using dizzying legal arguments and statistical gymnastics. Coleman has even suggested that an entirely new election might have to be held...
Moreover, both candidates have done about-faces in strategy and rhetoric. When Franken was behind in the recount, his counsel argued that they wanted every legally cast ballot counted. But with Franken in the lead, they have taken a decidedly less sweeping position. When Coleman had the slim lead immediately after the election, he declared that if he were Franken, he "would step back" and concede defeat for the good of Minnesota. And during the recount, Coleman's lawyers vehemently argued against the inclusion of the same absentee ballots upon which Coleman's case now relies...
...Franken's request that Governor Tim Pawlenty and secretary of state Mark Ritchie be forced to award him the coveted election certificate, which, according to Senate rules, is necessary to seat a candidate. The ruling virtually ensures that the legal wrangling will continue for several more weeks and - if Coleman chooses to appeal the case, possibly to federal courts - perhaps even months...
After Minnesota's canvassing board certified Franken the winner of the state's protracted race by 225 votes in early January, Coleman filed an election contest on grounds that flaws in the state's election system were so widespread that they cost him the Senate seat. In the weeks that followed, Coleman's legal counsel has subpoenaed dozens of Minnesota voters and election officials to testify before a three-judge panel about irregularities in the state's vote-tallying process...
...cornerstone of Coleman's case was roughly 4,800 absentee ballots his lawyers say election officials improperly rejected. But a mid-February order from the panel severely limited the categories of absentee ballots it would consider - and, in the process, dealt a serious blow to Coleman's chances of winning the contest. When Coleman rested his case last Monday, he was arguing for the court to examine fewer than 2,000 absentee ballots. In his closing argument, Coleman's attorney Jim Langdon argued the election was so rife with error that the panel might not be able to declare...