As Minnesota Counties Certify US Senate Race Tensions Mount
From Ballotpedia
November 10, 2008
KARE-11-MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL-As all the counties in Minnesota certify the US Senate race, tensions mount as absentee ballot challenges and allegations of voting fraud are surfacing[1].
Absentee Ballots, Voting Fraud are the Top Two Issues
Minnesota's 87 counties spent Monday tallying and certifying final results from last week's election. Upon the final certification, Sen. Norm Coleman still leads over his Democratic challenger Al Franken, but the lead shrunk to a very thin 206 votes[1].
Hennipen County Absentee Ballot Challenge
In Hennepin County the largest county in Minnesota, the canvassing board certified results Monday afternoon, and there was a last-minute appeal by Franken's lawyer to reconsider 461 absentee ballots that were rejected. The Hennepin County canvassing board threw out the ballots over concerns about voter signatures, or whether some voters had registered officially. But attorneys for Franken said there was reason to believe some of those ballots had been cast properly.
"We understand that, as of today, there are 461 people who submitted absentee ballots, whose ballots were rejected," said attorney David Lillehaug, who represents Franken[1].
Attorneys for the Minnesota Republican Party said Lillehaug's request to reinstate 461 disallowed absentee ballots came as a surprise, but he suggested requests like that are part of the process.
"Things are moving very quickly in an election, people are learning things, and lawyers are moving as they move," said Minnesota GOP attorney Matt Haapoja. "I think both sides are doing their best to notify each other, but we are surprised they did not notify us in advance."[1]
The Hennipen County canvassing board told KARE-TV that since the election has passed, it approved an additional 1,600 absentee ballots. Elections manager Michelle DesJardin said those were ballots that should have been scanned on Election Night, but were missed by election judges.
"The clerks, as they're going through the supplies, are finding those ballots, and they're sending in the new tallies per precinct, and that's kind of why the numbers fluctuate," Des Jardin said.
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