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The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

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Franken attorney expects state high court to uphold ruling

A Coleman appeal must come within 10 days.

Al Franken attorney Marc Elias said he expects the state Supreme Court to move quickly to uphold the three-judge panel ruling in the Minnesota Senate recount trial. During a conference call Tuesday, Elias said the judges’ ruling was careful and complete, and doesnâÄôt expect the state Supreme Court to overturn the decision if Republican Norm Coleman appeals as expected. âÄúIâÄôm confident that the state Supreme Court will uphold this opinion,âÄù Elias said. While the judges dismissed ColemanâÄôs argument that there were systematic errors in the election process, Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said more than 4,400 rejected absentee ballots should still be counted. âÄúMore than 4,400 Minnesotans remain wrongly disenfranchised by this court’s order,âÄù Ginsberg said in a statement. âÄúThis order ignores the reality of what happened in the counties and cities on Election Day in terms of counting the votes.âÄù The Coleman case is arguing under equal protection âÄî which states that all citizens should be treated equally under state law. Ginsberg said the judges denied numerous votes by being more stringent toward determining eligible ballots during the trail than local officials were during the recount. But Elias said he thinks these ballots were rejected for good reason. âÄúI hope that former Sen. Coleman is not suggesting that people get to vote more than once,âÄù he said. âÄúI hope that Ginsberg is not suggesting that people, who were not registered to vote, get to vote.âÄù Coleman’s lawyers have 10 days to file an appeal with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Coleman could also file an appeal to the federal Supreme Court, a move that could delay seating a senator until this fall, Larry Jacobs, University of Minnesota political science expert, said. But Elias said the federal Supreme Court has only accepted two election disputes in the last 50 years.

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