Al Franken gets boosts in Minn. Senate recount

Breitbart.com/Associated Press ^ | 12/12/08 | BRIAN BAKST

[dr_who]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Democrat Al Franken got good news Friday in his bid for the Senate, winning favorable rulings from a state elections board on rejected absentee ballots and the tally in one of his strongholds.

The Canvassing Board overseeing the race recount recommended that county election boards sort and count wrongly rejected absentee ballots. The five-member panel also urged that a recount in one University of Minnesota area precinct be based on Election Night tapes from a ballot counting machine.

The recount there, where results favor Franken, ended with 133 missing ballots that could be counted if the tapes are used.

While the state board's recommendations are nonbinding, most counties have gone forward with a voluntary sorting. Others, however, have balked in the drawn-out recount as Franken tries to topple Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

"It was a great day for democracy," Franken attorney Marc Elias said of the state board's recommendations.

At least 638 absentee ballots are known to have been rejected for something other than the four legal reasons for disqualification. That's based on an assessment of about half of Minnesota's counties by the secretary of state's office. State officials estimate the total could top 1,500.

[RepublitarianRoger2]

Yep. Well, I guess we’re basically on the same page, then.