Coleman Decries Harry Reid's "Intervention" In Minnesota Recount

November 27, 2008 9:50 a.m. EST

St. Paul, MN (AHN) - Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) on Wednesday called on Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate Al Franken to disavow statements by his campaign attorney and by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) saying "they are prepared to take the Minnesota election to the U.S. Senate for a decision."

Citing limits to their jurisdiction but also concerns that some voters would be disenfranchised, members of Minnesota's canvassing board on Wednesday unanimously rejected Franken's request that rejected absentee ballots be examined and those wrongly excluded from the initial tallying be counted.

Of the 2.9 million votes cast in the race, nearly 300,000 are absentee, of which about 12,000 were rejected.

Franken is fighting for all ballots to be counted, having only trailed Coleman by 215 votes, or less than one-half of one percent of the vote, when election results were certified on Nov. 13. He filed a brief last Monday asking the board to "include legally-cast votes in the tally." Two days later, and the same day the statewide recount began, he won a lawsuit seeking seeking information about rejected absentee ballots in Ramsey County.

Reid issued a statement on Wednesday saying the canvassing board's ruling is "a cause for great concern." He added, "Minnesota authorities must ensure that no voter is disenfranchised. A citizen's right to have his or her vote counted is fundamental in our democracy."

Franken lead recount attorney Marc Elias said in a statement that they are "disappointed" with the board's decision but that they would not be filing an appeal for now to give the board the "the opportunity to finish its own discussion."

"We are encouraged that the Board is going to have further deliberations next week, preventing at least some of the absentee voters from being disenfranchised... these votes will be counted, and based on today's meeting, I remain more confident than ever that that is true. Whether it is at the county level, before the Canvass Board, before the courts, or before the United States Senate, we don't know yet," Elias added.

Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said in a statement Elias' remarks were "a stunning admission by the Franken campaign that they are willing to take this process away from Minnesotans if they fail to win the recount." He added, "It is even more stunning that the Democratic Senate leader would inject himself into the Minnesota election process.

"We call upon Al Franken to personally disavow his attorney's comments, and to commit to Minnesotans that he will not allow this election to be overturned by the leadership of the Democratic Senate. Al Franken owes it to the people of this state to reject any and all efforts to stop a Minnesota Senator from being sworn in on January 6th if Norm Coleman continues to be shown to have won this election after the recount," Sheehan also said.

The contest in Minnesota is one of two remaining Senate races which have yet to be called. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Democrat Jim Martin are currently campaigning in Georgia ahead of a runoff for Dec. 2. Democrats need victories in both races to gain a 60-vote majority in the Senate that will let them block Republican filibusters.

Minnesota began a statewide, manual recount last Wednesday. Eighty-six percent of all ballots have been recounted, according to the office of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, as of Wednesday night.