Sunday, January 4, 2009

Minnesota State Election Board to Announce Al Franken Winner of the Senate Seat

Franken is ahead 225 votes. Coleman will tie this up in the courts, but for how long? As there will be mounting pressure in the coming weeks for Coleman to concede, but we will see. In the meantime, Minnesota as Illinois does not have two sitting senators come Tuesday.

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 numbers being reported will not be accurate or valid."

"The effort by the Franken campaign, supported by the secretary of state, to exclude improperly rejected absentee ballots is indefensible and disenfranchises hundreds of Minnesota voters," Sheehan said.

After the results are certified, Coleman's campaign will have seven days to file a challenge.

And Coleman will challenge and the seat will remain vacant until the court issues are settled.

Reid to Coleman, "Concede"

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