Minnesota Senate Race: Coleman’s Best Chance May Be to Re-Do the Election

Status of Coleman v. Franken

Yesterday, Coleman rested his case in Coleman v. Franken (read a previous Fastcase post about the Minnesota Senatorial race here).  And, in a possible suggestion that the election should be “re-done,” Coleman’s attorney, Ben Ginsberg, said he doubted that the results of the election would ever be accurate.  At the end of the day, another Coleman lawyer, James Langdon, said that the most appropriate response will be to set aside the November election (implying that a new election is necessary).

No Minnesota Provision for an Election Re-Do

While Minnesota does have a provision for a “coin toss” in the event of a tie, there is no guidance for handling a re-do.  However, judges have “equitable powers” which, reportedly, could be construed as giving Minnesota judges the power to demand a new election.

Now What?

Click here to see a list of reasons why a re-do might be Coleman’s best chance to win.

Now, we wait to see Franken’s arguments.  First, he must argue that the election was not unreliable while arguing that, like Coleman, some of his ballots weren’t counted either.  His lawyer, Marc Elias, said that more than 100 lawyers may be called to testify.  March 3, seventeen of them testified in the morning.  Yawn.

Source: MinnPost.com

Click here to view an updated post on the Coleman case for March 26, 2009.

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