Coleman's lead dwindles to single digits after Day 3
By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE and PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune staff writers
StarTribune
Last update: December 18, 2008 - 5:28 PM
Lizard People, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Frankenstein were among the candidates puzzled over today by the state Canvassing Board members as they spent their third day of awarding Election Day challenged ballots in the drum-tight U.S. Senate contest between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.
After finishing off Franken's 420 regular challenges Wednesday, the board started the day on Coleman's 800 or so challenges. The Coleman campaign withdrew 409 challenges late Wednesday, after earlier restoring 204 challenges they reconsidered once they saw how the board was judging the ballots.
At day's end, Coleman held a single-digit lead over Franken.
Before offering new challenges today, Coleman disputed about 150 ballots that his camp says were double-counted. Signs reading "Count Every Vote Twice" and "I Voted Maybe Twice" appeared outside the hearing room this morning, suggesting a possible pro-Coleman demonstration later in the day.
(More here.)
Here's a related story:
Minnesota Supreme Court: Count rejected absentee ballots
By PAT DOYLE , Star Tribune
Last update: December 18, 2008 - 5:54 PM
In a ruling crucial to the disputed U.S. Senate election, the Minnesota Supreme Court Thursday rejected an attempt by incumbent Norm Coleman to block the state Canvassing Board from counting improperly rejected absentee ballots.
However, the court ruled that the campaigns of Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, along with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and vote canvassing boards establish a uniform standard for identifying and counting such absentee ballots. The court said they should then be added to the tally.
As many as 1,600 absentee ballots may have been improperly rejected by local elections officials. With the candidates separated by such a narrow margin, the dispute over those absentee ballots posed a potentially deciding factor.
(More here.)
StarTribune
Last update: December 18, 2008 - 5:28 PM
Lizard People, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Frankenstein were among the candidates puzzled over today by the state Canvassing Board members as they spent their third day of awarding Election Day challenged ballots in the drum-tight U.S. Senate contest between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.
After finishing off Franken's 420 regular challenges Wednesday, the board started the day on Coleman's 800 or so challenges. The Coleman campaign withdrew 409 challenges late Wednesday, after earlier restoring 204 challenges they reconsidered once they saw how the board was judging the ballots.
At day's end, Coleman held a single-digit lead over Franken.
Before offering new challenges today, Coleman disputed about 150 ballots that his camp says were double-counted. Signs reading "Count Every Vote Twice" and "I Voted Maybe Twice" appeared outside the hearing room this morning, suggesting a possible pro-Coleman demonstration later in the day.
(More here.)
Here's a related story:
Minnesota Supreme Court: Count rejected absentee ballots
By PAT DOYLE , Star Tribune
Last update: December 18, 2008 - 5:54 PM
In a ruling crucial to the disputed U.S. Senate election, the Minnesota Supreme Court Thursday rejected an attempt by incumbent Norm Coleman to block the state Canvassing Board from counting improperly rejected absentee ballots.
However, the court ruled that the campaigns of Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, along with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and vote canvassing boards establish a uniform standard for identifying and counting such absentee ballots. The court said they should then be added to the tally.
As many as 1,600 absentee ballots may have been improperly rejected by local elections officials. With the candidates separated by such a narrow margin, the dispute over those absentee ballots posed a potentially deciding factor.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home