MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) - Republican Norm Coleman's attorneys Monday sent a letter to the three judges overseeing the election trial asking them to reconsider their game-changing ruling from Friday that put significant limits on the types of rejected absentee ballots they want examined.
The judges on Friday outlined about a dozen categories of ballots that should not be counted because they said those categories of ballots were not legally cast under Minnesota law. Those included ballots in which signatures didn't match, those submitted by non-registered voters or those inside a return envelope not signed by the voter.
But Coleman, who is seeking to add more rejected ballots to the recount of his November 4 race with Democrat Al Franken for a U.S. Senate seat, argued that not including all of about 4,800 ballots he wants re-examined was a matter of equal protection.
In their letter sent to the court Monday, Coleman's team is arguing that "likely thousands" of the ballots that had been sifted through during the recount process could have fallen under these now-taboo categories.
"Without a remedy, we will be faced with a widespread equal protection problem that would not only violate the law, but create Constitutional legal issues that would only delay this process further," Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said.
The court also ruled that absentee ballots dropped off on election day and absentee ballot applications that were not signed would not be reconsidered.
After these new guidelines defining legitimate ballots, Coleman's attorneys estimated that around 3,300 ballots might be eligible for re-examination.
There is no word on when the court could issue another order on this, if they decide to at all.
The state's hand recount completed in early January and gave Democrat Al Franken a lead of 225 votes. The trial moved into its fourth week of proceedings on Monday.
From CNN Politics
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He is embarrasing! He just needs to stop and graciously accept the fact he lost.
He is embarrasing! He just needs to stop and graciously accept the fact he lost.
Why isn't Coleman in jail for his corruption charges??????
To Ray Ray: It's not funny because it's not comparable. In the 2000 election, the US Supreme Court HALTED a legal recount and interjected its opinion where the process didn't allow it. In the case of Minnesota 2008, the recount process was allowed to proceed and it actually came up with a result-Franken won, without a court (without proper jurisdiction) telling the counters how to count. Now Coleman is challenging it, which he has a right to do. Understand how things work before you make highly partisan comparisons.
This is starting to sound like day time soaps. Let me get this straight: Coleman actually is asking the judges to reconsider their ruling not to count votes they do not believe were legally cast by MN law? Votes that signitures don't match, votes by people not registered to vote, absentee ballot applications that were not signed? Is this guy a total nut case? Does he not realize how bad this sounds even to a 2nd grader? We really do not need a nut like this in the senate. It is a wonder he got elected the first time. How man unregistered voters with unsigned absentee ballot applications elected him the first time.
Coleman grow up and maybe get therapy for this loss.
Give it up WHINER you "LOST"! (typical REPUG)
Can someone PLEASE put a fork in this election....It's DONE!
thils is good, a republican lawyers telling a judge what to do! Sound familiar!!!! These guys are a joke, defeat isn't in their vocabulary. Face it "YOU LOST".
Norm! Time for you to sit at the end of the bar and spend your remaining days knocking back beer.
Hey Coleman, the election's been over for months. Time to go home and cuddle up in front of the fire with a nice warm fraud defense attorney.
Hey GOP, the election's been over for a couple of months now, and your party and its economic policies were devastatingly rejected by the America voters. Time to stop playing your 2-votes-from-a-filibuster-proof-minority as if you were given some kind of mandate.
Coleman should face facts – sometimes you lose. A close margin is a close margin . . . but you still lose. Take Al Gore as an example. He could still be thrashing around about what happened in 2000, but it wouldn't do any good.
Coleman should face facts – he lost.
After their performance these past three weeks, the last thing this country needs is another republican in the Senate.
I look at it this way! They had a election, and a recount! Al Franklin won!Coleman is haveing donation drives, and will use our money in a time of crisis w/ our economy tanking to scream a 2nd recount needs to be done! why? If a 2nd recount still says Franklin won-–What than? A 3rd and 4th an etc.? It;s time to end this thing! besides isn't coleman due in court soon to face chg's?
Next, Norm will sue the judge, then sue himself, then sue the voters. Anything to stall the inevitable.
@ Ray Ray
Hey, retard, Bush DID steal the election. YOU get over it!
JUST SHUT UP COLEMAN!!!
we know coleman could not be good for our country if he wants to count VOTES THAT ARE NOT LEGAL.
Move on, Coleman. You are wasting taxpayer money fighting a losing battle. You lost. Get over it and get back to the line and try again, next time.
Colemean is just another Republican that cannot accept the fact that he got beat. His problem is so bad that he was beat by a comic. He needs to grow up and get a new life.
Mr Coleman,
It is time for you to be graceful and concede the same way you urged Mr Franken to be graceful and concede. We Minnesotans deserve to have two senators to serve us and you are only delaying that. For awhile I thought that you actually cared about our State, but now I've come to the conclusion that you only care about yourself.
Coleman please go away!
Poor, pathetic, sad loser. It is over.
A recount was done and Coleman obviously doesnt like that he lost. Get over it! Its DONE!
Funny – all the neocons asking that ballots cast by non-registered voters need to be counted are the same one's saying ACORN wanted to steal the election!
Hypocrites!
Geez – Minnesota now feels Florida's shame! Seems pretty obvious that the Repubs are pulling out all the stops to get Coleman back in the Senate...they desperately need another wing-nut to hold back the Collins-Snow-Spector moderate front against the Dems. Coleman can't afford to do the right thing and his party won't let him anyway.
You would hope they would at some point read the writing on the wall. America is tired, tired, tired of their bull... What goes around, comes around and in due time the Republican party will be nothing but a far-right fringe (clinging to their old white failed platform)