GOP activists to sue over alleged double-counting in Senate race

By MIKE KASZUBA, Star Tribune

Last update: January 14, 2009 - 6:06 PM

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A group of Republican activists announced today that they will file a lawsuit to eliminate alleged double-counting of votes in the U.S. Senate recount, and they invited Democrats and independents to join them in the interest of fairness.

Though the group acknowledged that it had few concrete examples of actual double-counting, its attorney said he believes there "could be hundreds" of double-counted votes.

At a news conference, the group said it would launch a website in hopes of getting other Minnesotans to join them. "My vote was disenfranchised" because of the double-counting, said Scott Walker, a Republican activist from St. Paul. "I am furious about that."

The attorney representing the plaintiffs, Doug Seaton, said the group would try to join a lawsuit filed by Republican Norm Coleman. Democrat Al Franken was certified last week as the highest vote getter by the state Canvassing Board, leading to Coleman's legal challenge and leaving Minnesota for now with just one U.S. senator.

"It's a Minnesota issue," said Michael Brodkorb, a prominent Republican Internet blogger. "I can't change the fact that I'm a partisan Republican. . .this really has nothing to do with partisan politics. It's about preserving the concept of one person, one vote."

The group, like the Coleman campaign, says that some duplicate ballots made to replace ballots that couldn't be fed through tabulating machines weren't properly marked, making it impossible to link the originals and duplicates. In some cases they say both were counted.

Recount tallies in some precincts exceeded the number of votes picked up by the machines on Nov. 4. But not all election officials have released the polling place sign-in rosters that are a more accurate measure of the number of voters.

It could be impossible to trace original ballots that weren't marked to align with a duplicate, as state law requires. Seaton said it's too soon to say what a possible remedy would be.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mike Kaszuba • 612-673-4388

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