Free Republic

The Minnesota Supreme Court said Wednesday it would consider Democrat Al Franken's request for an election certificate that could propel him to the Senate before a legal challenge by his opponent runs its course. The court said it would hear arguments on Franken's petition Feb. 5. The court order also granted Republican Norm Coleman's request to intervene in the case, which names Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie as defendants. The development extends an already lengthy fight over the last undecided Senate seat from the 2008 election.

Al Franken filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court … that’s a bit like a bank robber stopping on his way out the door to ask the teller for a receipt.” That’s how an e-mail appeal for funds from the campaign of former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman described today’s legal move by the Al Franken campaign that asked the state’s high court to order the governor to issue an election certificate. In another response, Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak told reporters that Franken has gone beyond the “epitome of arrogance … [by] asking to go above the laws of our...

Three judges put on the bench by governors of three political parties will hear the highly charged election lawsuit that stands between Minnesota and its second U.S. senator. The panel named Monday by the state's highest court will preside over a Republican Norm Coleman's court case that seeks to overturn Democrat Al Franken's 225-vote advantage following a long recount. The case is expected to take months to resolve. The three district judges are:

FOX "The O'Reilly Factor"Video: "Minnesota Madness" Segment Aired Friday, January 9, 2008       Bill and two Republican guests(1) discuss Hollywood’s and George Soros massive donations to elected “Porn-o-Rama” Franken. This includes, a rare and calculated move(2), by George Soros who personally held a large post-election Franken fundraiser at his residence in New York City to support Al in the ballot recount/contest(3). I wrote about and published the list of Hollywood/high profile Franken donors three days before this news piece, not that this was new Soros Shadow Party news for anyone that has closely followed/been involved in this Coleman-Franken fiasco....

"Minnesota law is very clear on when a certificate of election can be issued. Neither the governor nor I may sign a certificate of election in the U.S. Senate race until all election contests have reached a final determination," Ritchie's statement read. "Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it." Pawlenty echoed Ritchie, saying it is clear the law won't allow him to issue a certificate while the race is being contested in court.

The Al Franken campaign sent a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sec. of State Mark Ritchie on Monday asking the state to issue an election certificate so he could take office in the U.S. Senate. In letters, Franken’s lawyers argue a seven-day waiting period has passed and he should get the signed certificate. Franken led Norm Coleman by 225 votes after a statewide recount. After a Canvassing Board certified the recount, Coleman filed a lawsuit challenging the results. Minnesota law prevents the issuance of a certificate until that case is resolved. Franken attorney Marc Elias says the campaign...

If elected to the Senate, Al Franken would begin his term with negative approval ratings back home, according to a newly released poll. The protracted recount in the Minnesota Senate race, which followed a highly contentious campaign, has damaged the approval ratings of both Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). And even though Franken was certified as the winner by the state’s Canvassing Board, that hasn’t changed Minnesotans’ perception of him. The poll, conducted by the automated firm SurveyUSA, shows that a 45 percent plurality of Minnesotans view Franken unfavorably, while only 37 percent view him favorably. Coleman’s approval rating...

- - Former GOP MN secretary of state says absentee ballots should not have been included in recount Former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer is now criticizing the handling of the U.S. Senate election recount in the race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman that ended with Franken on top. Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, now a freshman state representative from District 16B, did not speak publicly about the recount while it was ongoing, but is willing to talk about it now that the results are certified and the dispute has moved into the courts. Kiffmeyer, who from 1999 to...

Alan Page, the former NFL star and Minnesota Supreme Court justice who will choose the panel of judges that will effectively determine the next senator of Minnesota, is a staunch critic of the controversial method used to decide which absentee ballots would be included in the recount – a major complaint of GOP Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign. State law says the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Paul Magnuson, should appoint the three-judge panel to hear Coleman’s appeal. Magnuson, however, served on the Canvassing Board that issued many of the rulings that the three-member panel will be asked to...

George Soros is the biggest sugar daddy of the Democratic Party, and naturally wants to ensure that the Democrats have a monopoly of power in America. Recently, I wrote an article for American Thinker on the role that George Soros has played in helping the Democrat Al Franken in his race against the Republican incumbent Norm Coleman for a Senate seat in Minnesota. However, there may be one other reason that Soros was determined that Norm Coleman in particular lose his seat. This was personal. Norm Coleman was the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as...

Send in the Clown It sounds like the plot of a 1990s straight-to-video Hollywood flick, but barring any dramatic developments – such as a successful court challenge by Republican opponent Norm Coleman – former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and comedian Al Franken will become the next U.S. Senator from Minnesota, likely on the strength of fraudulent votes. Franken’s fitness for office has been a matter of debate ever since he announced his candidacy in February 2007. Having made a career of “debunking” provocative statements made by famous conservatives in books like Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot, The...

The highly publicized vote recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman is shining a light on Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, the state’s chief election officer. Ritchie is chairman of the Minnesota Canvassing Board, which on Monday certified that Franken received 225 more votes than Coleman did. Ritchie gave partial credit for his 2006 election to a liberal 527 group, the Secretary of State Project, which says its goal is to “ensure fair, clean elections” by replacing conservative secretaries of state with liberal Democrats. “I want to thank the Secretary of State...

<p>ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Republican Norm Coleman is suing to challenge Democrat Al Franken's apparent recount victory in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. At a news conference Tuesday, Coleman says he won't accept a board's determination that Franken won 225 more votes in the November election. The lawsuit will keep the seat vacant for weeks or months. State law prevents officials from issuing an election certificate until legal matters are resolved.</p>

Dear Supporter, As you may have read or heard by now, today the Minnesota State Canvassing Board met and made their determination in the U.S. Senate Recount, effectively proving that the only declaration coming today is one of an inaccurate count. There are a number of problems with the total certified today, including double counted votes, over 650 potentially wrongly rejected absentee votes, resulting in the disenfranchising of Minnesota voters and jeopardizing the integrity of Minnesota's election system. Harry Reid and national Democrats have now publicly said they will try to seat Al Franken tomorrow when the 111th Congress convenes...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Minnesota's state canvassing board certified results showing that Democrat Al Franken has won a vote recount for that state's open U.S. Senate seat, according to the Associated Press Monday. .......by 225 votes. A lawsuit by Coleman ...... is widely anticipated. [oooooooo. I am going to hold my breath]

The Minnesota Supreme Court has rejected Republican Norm Coleman's request to count an additional 650 rejected absentee ballots in the state's U.S. Senate recount. The court's ruling Monday likely paves the way for the state Canvassing Board to certify results showing Democrat Al Franken won the race. But Coleman's attorneys have said they are likely to sue if he loses the recount, meaning it could be weeks more before the outcome is final.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The state Canvassing Board was poised to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota's grueling Senate election in Al Franken's favor -- but that doesn't mean the race is definitely over. The board was to meet Monday and was expected to declare which candidate received the most overall votes from nearly 3 million ballots cast. The latest numbers showed Franken, a Democrat, with a 225-vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. But after the announcement, there will be a seven-day waiting period before an election certificate is completed. If any lawsuits are filed during that waiting period,...

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- A state election board on Monday will announce Democrat Al Franken has defeated Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, state officials told CNN Sunday. The canvassing board on Monday will say a recount determined Franken won by 225 votes, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie told CNN. However, Coleman's campaign, which contends the recount should have included about 650 absentee ballots it says were improperly rejected in the initial count, has indicated it will challenge the certification. Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said his team believes the recount process was broken and that "the...

The Secretary of State's office opened and counted 952 previously rejected absentee ballots this afternoon. These are ballots that the Franken and Coleman campaigns agreed had been improperly rejcted under the Supreme Court order addressing the Coleman campaign's challenge to the procedure. After the counting of the previously rejected absentee ballots this afternoon, Franken widened his lead from approximately 40 votes to 225 votes. The recount will formally conclude on Monday at the final meeting of the Board of Canvassers that was convened to preside over this process. We gave our take on the so-called "fifth pile" absentee ballots from...

Norm Coleman's term as a U.S. Senator ended at noon Washington time on Saturday, and by evening his hopes of winning a second term had been dealt an expected but serious setback as state officials counted previously rejected absentee ballots in St. Paul. Democrat Al Franken held an unofficial lead of 226 votes over Coleman as this edition of the Star Tribune went to press, according to a newspaper tally of officials' count of the absentee ballots. Franken had led unofficially by 49 votes going into the day and gained a net 177 votes from the new ballots. With the...