Franken Wins Key Ruling; Coleman Sees Court Fight

Wants absentee ballots reconsidered

(NEWSER) - Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman is abruptly reversing strategy in his court action challenging the results of the US Senate race he narrowly lost to Al Franken, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Coleman now wants all 12,000 absentee ballots rejected during the recount to be reconsidered—the same ballots he argued should be tossed when he was ahead in the recount. More»

Senator-elect stresses loyalty to state, downplays Dem. supermajority

(NEWSER) - Al Franken said he was “thrilled and honored by the faith Minnesotans placed in me” after the state Supreme Court declared him the winner of the Senate recount, CNN reports. "I'm so excited to finally be able to get to work " said Franken, who added that he got a "very gracious" phone call from Norm Coleman. In his news conference, Franken struck a cordial tone, saying he would stand on principle when necessary but would be willing to "compromise" for the good of constituents. More»

Republican pushes for mid-May appearance in Minn.'s high court

(NEWSER) - Lawyers for Republican Norm Coleman want more time to prepare arguments for their appeal to Minnesota’s top court in the fight over last November's election, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The attorneys’ timeline, presented today, would put off oral arguments until mid-May; attorneys for Democrat Al Franken, declared the winner by a lower court; wants arguments the first week of May. More»

(NEWSER) - The Minnesota recount trial is finally out of the lawyers’ hands, with both sides claiming certain victory, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Now the judges will weigh evidence provided by Norm Coleman’s and Al Franken’s teams and decide exactly which votes to count. “It’s more likely than not,” a Coleman lawyer said, that 1,360 rejected ballots are actually valid. More»

Pawlenty warns Senate that GOP will fight seating of Franken

(NEWSER) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants his constituents—and Democratic senators—to know that Franken-Coleman race isn't over, the Hill reports. The Republican governor stresses that "to be able to guess how it's going to come out is challenging," due to legal intricacies, and he promises woe to the Senate should it try to seat Al Franken prematurely. More»