CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– POLITICS
March 2, 2009 – 7:15 p.m.
Coleman Side Rests in Minnesota Senate Recount Case
By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff
After five weeks of testimony and legal argument, Republican Norm Coleman rested his case Monday in the trial to resolve Minnesota’s long-running Senate race. Attorneys for Democrat Al Franken now have will an opportunity to present their arguments, a process they predict will take two to three more weeks.
In wrapping up their case, attorneys for Coleman said they were confident that they had proven the current count — in which Franken leads Coleman by 225 votes out of 2.9 million cast — is invalid.
That result was certified Jan. 5.
Coleman filed suit challenging the results the following day.
In a memo to reporters, the Coleman campaign asserted that "the outcome of this election has become a fatal muddle,” pointing to thousands of absentee ballots attorneys said were wrongly rejected, as well as a court decision they said resulted in the counting of illegal ballots.
Franken attorney Marc Elias responded that Coleman and his legal team have “had their chance to prove that more people voted for Norm Coleman on election day. They haven’t.”
Elias promised that Franken’s side “will move in very targeted fashion to bring before court voters who should have vote counted.”
Elias also said the Franken campaign will file a motion this week to dismiss some of claims Coleman’s team made during the trial.
Leah Nylen contributed to this story.




POST A COMMENT
Oops! The following errors must be addressed: