Fight For Rejected Absentee Ballots Continues In Minnesota Recount

St. Paul, MN (AHN) - Democratic-farmer-labor candidate Al Franken on Monday received lists of rejected absentee ballots from all but nine counties in Minnesota, where a manual, statewide recount is scheduled to be completed by Friday.

The Franken campaign said in e-mail updates that the lists showed that more than 9,000 absentee ballots were rejected, and that 1,000 have been wrongly rejected.

"The Secretary of State has said there are roughly 12,000 absentee ballots rejected this past election. The Secretary of State has also estimated that 500 of them were wrongly rejected -- a number greater than the likely difference between Coleman and Franken at the end of the hand count. The Franken campaign actually estimates this pile is even larger -- up to 1,000 ballots," the campaign said.

Minnesota is currently recounting all 2.9 million votes cast in the race between Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN). As of Monday night, 91.13 percent have been recounted, according to the office of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

Franken is fighting for every ballot to be counted, having only trailed Coleman by 215 votes when election results were certified. State law requires a recount if the margin between the top two candidates for federal, state, or judicial posts is less than one-half of one percent in a general election.

The Democrat filed a brief two weeks ago citing cases when ballots were wrongly rejected in the initial counting, and asking the state canvassing board to "include legally-cast votes in the tally." On the same day the statewide recount began, he won a lawsuit seeking seeking information about rejected absentee ballots in Ramsey County.

Citing limits to their jurisdiction but also expressing concerns that some voters would be disenfranchised, members of Minnesota's canvassing board last Wednesday denied Franken's request that rejected absentee ballots be examined and those wrongly excluded be counted.

The ruling caused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to issue a statements saying there is "cause for great concern" and that "Minnesota authorities must ensure that no voter is disenfranchised." Franken's lead recount attorney, Marc Elias, also said, "these votes will be counted... 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."

Coleman, a former Democrat and mayor of St. Paul, had accused Reid of interfering with the recount. The first-term senator also said Elias' statement was "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."

Franken has continued to keep open the possibility of asking the Senate or courts to intervene. Elias said in a statement on Monday, "No recount should be considered accurate, or even complete, until all the ballots are counted...We believe that the principle that every vote legally cast should be counted will prevail. Whether that happens at the county level, at the canvassing board, in the courts, before the United States Senate, or somewhere else, we do not yet know."