MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) – Minnesota's Supreme Court Thursday barred officials from including rejected absentee ballots in the recount of the state's hotly contested U.S. Senate race unless both of the candidates and elections officials agree the ballot was improperly rejected.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and former Air America talk show host Al Franken are caught up in a fiercely fought battle over the recount of ballots from the November 4 election.
Coleman had filed suit to stop the recount of thousands of rejected absentee ballots until a "uniform" process for reviewing the ballots can be devised.
Instead of halting the recount, the court ruled that local elections officials "lack the statutory authority to count" rejected ballots on their own but can do so if they and the candidates all agree that a ballot was rejected in error.
Updated 7:38 p.m.
From CNN Politics
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Okay. So, let me make sure I understand this decision. If one side or potentially biased official excludes a ballot for a frivilous reason that a reasonable person would accept, the vote continues to be rejected if they will not change their mind and be object and unbiased? In politics, I am suuuuuuure that will happen! How about having that decided by a non-partisan group or official. Kind of like a ref in football or basketball.
Are you kidding me? Do you think Coleman will accept valid Franken votes? He has shown he will do anything to win. Hopefully Coleman will end up in jail for his illegal activities, and Minnesota can have a special election!!
Ok...this is MORONIC!
I have nothing against Mn, but this will certainly go down as one of the most unconstitutional judgements ever. Let's make this very simple for those that don't get it:
"In Minnesota we vote, and then other people vote on whether our vote counts. Only if we have 100% of the second vote agree, do we actually let your vote count. If they don't agree that everyone's vote matters, then we throw away your vote and rob you of your rights...because we are in Mn!! Ha ha, and you thought your vote mattered, screw you all!"
What a load of CRAP that is!
ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP MINNESOTA!!!!!
Let Coleman and Franken choose pistols at dawn as far as I'm concerned....i don't care who wins now...they're both pricks!
why is Al Franken even doing that good? are people that stupid in minnesota that the votes are that close?
When one of these guys finally gets to claim the victory, if it is after the normal swearing-in time, do they get the tenure retroactively?
Oh, this is *really* fair. So all Coleman has to do is reject all of the mistakenly-rejected ballots to prevent Franken from picking up any votes? That makes a lot of sense.
This looks like another minority party (the republicans) trying to use the courts that were mostly appointed by republicans lately to give them the election instead of counting all the votes!
Looks like the Dems behind the 8 ball again. So sad. :(
Appeal this bs. What kind of ruling is this?
Indications are that Franken would be 8% ahead of Coleman in those votes. I tend to doubt Coleman is a big enough man to place the will of the people above his ambition.
Al Franken? Are you serious? What a loud-mouthed obnoxious idiot he is. Oh that would make him a typical liberal then.
The real issue is neither Franken or Coleman.
It is the voter who voted. And their ballots deserve a hard second look.
If you file you 1040 tax return and check a box by mistakes, the IRS will still cash your check, and fix your error.
Filing taxes is compulsory.
Voting is a right.
Can't Democrats do something as simple as vote correctly?
I would love to see some of these people counting the votes on "are you smarter than a 5th grader"
How hard is it to count votes? I'll personally make Minnesota an offer. Package up all the ballots, send them down here to California.. and I promise you that you'll have every vote counted and accounted for in 1 day.
It's simple. Just count the votes!
What? Huh?
This country's voting methods badly need restructuring. With the fraud and partisan methods of rejecting valid ballots, I for one am not confident in the present system. It was either India or Irag that had a fail proof system. The voter's finger was dipped in Ink, therefore prohibiting that person's ability to vote twice. ALL voting should be performed on the same day and measures taken to prevent the rampant fraud that has been plaguing the present system. This race in Minnasota is a joke. The Republican won and every trick in the book is being played to prevent that from happening. What a sham the Democrats are pulling!
a minnesotan here -–coleman must go one way or another
What are the qualifications to be a judge in Minnesota? If this ruling is any guide not high.
If I understand this correctly unless all parties agree that the absentee ballot should be counted then it will not be? Hmmm let me guess if the ballot is for my opponent I will not agree?
So effectively the court has handed a veto to the candidates as to which ballots should be counted. That is plain nuts!
If they are too stupid to put the mark inside a circle then the vote shouldn't count what is the problem?
Coleman and his people just want the quick way out, anything so he can take the election. Whether or not people were wrongly or mistakenly disenfranchsed means nothing to him or his people so long as he is declared victor.
FRANKEN FOR SENATOR '08 AND BEYOND!!!
Stupid ruling.
Hey Valerie,
I hate to burst your bubble but just because someone is a comedian does not mean that they lack the intellect to run for and be elected to public office. As a matter of fact, I really lthink that many of our television comedians are better suited for public office than the typical greedy, dishonest, egotistical leeches who now occupy such offices.
Get it over with already.