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Coleman-Franken Arguments Heard in MN Supreme Court

Five justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the Senate seat battle between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg argued that the panel applied too strict a standard in deciding which absentee ballots to count and that they didn't adhere to the constitution in coming up with that tally.

This argument relies on the fact that poll workers rejected some ballots for reasons that were not considered grounds for rejection by poll workers in other counties. "Every county should come very close to applying the same standards," Friedberg told the justices.

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Does Franken Finally Win? A Legal Analysis

Everyone agrees it was a major story today for the Minnesota State Canvassing Board to declare Al Franken the official winner of the recount -- but is it the end of the story?  We all know Norm Coleman can file a lawsuit to contest the results further, but will that really delay Franken's entry into the Senate?


Some blogs have suggested that Minnesota law is kind of unique in that the winner of an election doesn't get officially certified as long as there's a dispute pending in court, and John Cornyn has vowed to filibuster Franken if the Democrats try to seat him before he's officially certified.  So can Franken get certified by the state now, or does he have to keep waiting?

As specialized as the Internet is, I'm frankly surprised that there's not some source like the "Minnesota Election Law Blog" that answers all these arcane questions in the most minute detail -- and maybe there is, and I'll be hearing about it soon.  But absent some authoritative source, I thought I'd try to research the question myself.

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Franken Takes Lead in MN Senate Race

This morning, Al Franken took the lead in the MN Senate race for the first time. He's ahead a few hundred votes. Counting may be done this evening.

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