Coleman Scores Big Win in Recount

Attorneys for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman are hailing a Tuesday ruling by a three-judge panel as a major victory in the ongoing Minnesota election lawsuit.

The election tribunal reviewing the case determined that about 4,800 absentee ballots that may have been rejected improperly on Election Day ballots should be reviewed and possibly counted.

While the ruling was not a total victory for Coleman — he has sought to have over 11,000 ballots reviewed — it was far more than the 654 ballots that Democratic rival Al Franken wanted the case limited to.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported the number of ballots involved appears to put the outcome of the election in doubt. The narrow definition of the case sought by Franken would have been highly unlikely to change the election’s outcome.

Franken holds a 225-vote lead in the Senate contest.

Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg declared: “This is a victory for thousands of Minnesotans whose rejected absentee ballots will now be properly reviewed in this election.”