Norm Coleman sent his U.S. Senate opponent a "Dear Al" letter on Saturday, asking him to "join forces" and agree that 12,000 ballots that may have been wrongly excluded from the November election results be examined.
"If you feel that tactically you cannot join this effort," the Republican told DFLer Al Franken, "we would at least ask that your campaign does nothing to block this suit from moving forward or makes any public statements which could be construed as standing in the way of this suit moving forward."
The Franken campaign could not be reached for comment.
Coleman legal spokesman Ben Ginsberg held a conference call with reporters on Saturday and the two-page letter was then e-mailed to news outlets.
The letter came after a three-judge panel Friday denied Coleman's bid to conduct a wide new inspection of ballots for evidence that many were improperly counted or wrongly rejected during the recount.
A trial on Coleman's challenge of the recount that put Franken ahead by 225 votes is scheduled to begin Monday.
DAVID PETERSON
