The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments from Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign on why unmatched original and duplicate ballots shouldn't be counted in the U.S. Senate election.
In an order filed late this afternoon, Associate Justice Paul Anderson said the court would hear Coleman's case at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Coleman officials filed a motion for an emergency temporary restraining order this morning.
Responding parties include the state Canvassing Board, which unanimously agreed today that the issue of original and duplicate ballots was beyond its authority to decide.
DFLer Al Franken and his campaign immediately filed a motion asking to intervene in the case, given that they "have an interest in the transaction that is the subject of this proceeding, the administrative recount in the election of the United States Senator."
The Coleman camp argues that counting original and duplicate ballots for which matches can't be found will result in a single vote being counted twice. About 100 of the 150 instances they cite occurred in Minneapolis, a staunchly DFL city that Franken won by a wide margin.
The Franken camp denies that duplicate voting happened and accuses Coleman officials of seeking to disenfranchise voters.
Kevin Duchschere • 651-292-0164
