YESTERDAY, the Canvassing Board presiding over the recount in Minnesota’s Senate election declared Democrat Al Franken the winner over incumbent Norm Coleman – by 225 votes out of nearly 3 million cast.
Despite Franken’s career as a comedian, his win is not funny. More important, it’s not final.
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Minnesota law requires a certificate of election to be issued to the winner, but allows seven days in which Coleman may file an election contest – as he says he will.
The recount resulted in a dramatic reversal of fortune. On the morning after election night, Coleman led by more than 700 votes. His lead fell to 205 votes when county election officials made final adjustments to election-night totals.
Now a manual recount (including a review of ballots challenged by the two campaigns) plus the counting of 952 previously rejected absentee ballots, has given Franken a lead of 225 votes.
Coleman has announced that he’ll file an election contest today. That begins a legal proceeding to determine the winner of the election before a panel of three judges to be appointed by the chief judge of the state Supreme Court – who may have to pass the task to another member of the court by virtue of his having served on the board whose work is to be reviewed in the contest.
The recount resulted in a number of anomalies that cast serious doubt on Franken’s victory. Among these are:
* 133 missing ballots from a heavily Democratic Minneapolis precinct that were nevertheless included in the recount.
* Other ballots that mysteriously appeared after election night in a heavily Democratic suburban St. Paul precinct that were also included in the recount.
* 130 absentee ballots that appear to have been double-counted in Franken’s favor.
* And 650 additional improperly rejected absentee ballots identified by the Coleman campaign that were excluded in the recount.
The issues raised by the Coleman campaign are legitimate. Resolving them has been expressly reserved by the board and the state Supreme Court for the election contest – the final stage of Minnesota’s election process. They do not constitute the complaints of a sore loser.
Nov. 5 wasn’t long ago. It was the day when Al Franken demanded that every vote be counted (once). But it’s already ancient history in Minnesota.
Scott W. Johnson is a Minneapolis attorney and contributor to Power Line (powerlineblog.com).