Here are the conclusions by the Minnesota Supreme Court in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.
It affirmed the three-judge panel's ruling that declared Franken the winner.
It made these additional points:
•Coleman did not establish that, by requiring proof that absentee voting standards were satisfied before counting a rejected absentee ballot, the trial court changed standards that violates Coleman's due process rights.
•Coleman didn't prove that either the trial court or local election officials violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.
•The three-judge panel did not abuse its discretion when it excluded additional evidence.
•The panel court ruled correctly when it included in the final election tally the election day returns of a precinct in which some ballots were lost before the manual recount.
"For all of the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under Minn. 32 Stat. § 204C.40 (2008) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota."
