Posted: January 6, 2009

MN Senate race – Coleman files election contest

Norm Coleman held a press conference today while his legal team filed an election contest. See the notice of contest here. The same issues that have been raised in the last several weeks are discussed in the complaint such as duplicate ballots, a number of ballots that went missing between election night and the recount and the uniformity of the procedure for including absentee ballots. Coleman’s campaign said it didn’t know if Chief Justice Magnuson could legally recuse himself from the job of selecting the 3 appellate or district judges that will serve as the panel that hears the contest. They noted that Justice Magnuson’s canvassing board duties are now completed but that he may ultimately recuse himself if an appeal of this contest reaches his court. Justice Alan Page was the acting chief while Justice Magnuson sat on the board. Franken’s attorney noted that Justice Magnuson might not want to select the judges because of his service on the canvassing board. Neither campaign explicitly stated whether they would seek to have a voice in the selection of the 3-judge panel. In the 1962 gubernatorial election, the two candidates involved in the contest came to agreement on the composition of the panel and this likely lended credibility to the ultimate result.