Posted: February 18, 2009

Minnesota contest court denies Coleman's request for reconsideration of its order

The contest court denied Coleman’s request to make a motion for the court to reconsider its order from last Friday on the 19 categories. See yesterday's 1-page order here.  In Friday's order, the court reasoned that strict compliance with absentee ballot laws is required by Minnesota statute and precedent. Coleman argued in his request that the order now defines illegally cast ballots so broadly that some ballots already accepted by the court now fall under the label of illegally cast. Coleman’s team says they do not want to “uncount” ballots but rather, they want a universal standard to apply across the state. They have repeatedly given the example of Carver County where officials checked to make sure the witness was a registered voter and rejected ballots where this was not the case whereas, in Scott County and the city of Minneapolis, this check was not done at all or not done to the same extent as in Carver County.  Franken's attorneys have said in press conferences that Coleman may be preparing for an appeal.  One Coleman attorney also alluded to this matter potentially reaching the Minnesota Supreme Court if the contest court did not resolve what Coleman's side sees as an equal protection violation.