Headline Story:

What's Next for the Franken-Coleman Recount?

By: David A. Patten  | Posted:  Friday, December 26, 2008 1:43 PM

Now that most ballot challenges have been decided, the path to certifying a winner in the tortuous Minnesota race between Democrat Al Franken and incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman grows clearer. Time is growing short for Coleman to mount a comeback.

A road map of what lies ahead:

Dec. 30 – With time for one last confab before year’s end, the Canvassing Board convenes to accept the awards of formerly challenged ballots. Franken’s current lead of 46 votes is based on a staff report on how those ballots should be awarded. But those findings have not been accepted yet because there is a discrepancy between ballot numbers on the report and the numbers on the actual ballots. That issue will be cleared up on Tuesday, and the votes will be accepted. While it is unlikely the ballot awards will change much, a swing of just a handful of votes could be significant.

Jan. 2 – Local election officials must ship any absentee ballots that were improperly rejected on Election Day to the secretary of state’s office for review. The local officials have been ordered not to tally the votes themselves: That will be the responsibility of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and his staff.

Jan. 4 – The date by which Ritchie must complete the counting of the improperly rejected absentee ballots, which some say may number up to 1,600. Coleman needs to win a majority of those votes to make up the gap with Franken. Candidates would then have the right to challenge any of Ritchie’s ballot awards. Those challenges would be heard by the State Canvassing Board, which will declare a winner in the election as soon as it believes all ballots and all challenges have been accounted for.

Week of Jan. 5 – Once a winner is declared, the losing party will immediately file a challenge contesting various elements of the recount process. Minnesota election law is conflicted about how things proceed from there. The most likely course is for state Chief Justice Eric Magnuson to appoint a three-member judicial panel to hear the lawsuits. Once the three-member panel of judges has heard all the legal challenges – a process that could take weeks — it too will declare a winner. That verdict will be appealed as well – this time to the state Supreme Court.

End Game – Once the case reaches the doorstep of the Minnesota Supreme Court, it will mark the beginning of the end of one of the nation’s most drawn-out election disputes ever. The state Supreme Court, which already has issued several key rulings in the recount process, will hear any remaining arguments, and will weigh in with a decision of its own.

That final decision, along with a record of all filings and proceedings, will then be forwarded to the U.S. Senate. It’s up to the Senate to decide whether the person certified the winner is in fact qualified to become a member of the U.S. Senate. Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution states the Senate: “… shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members.”

One Last Appeal? – Legal scholars say it is very unlikely, although possible, that the U.S. Supreme Court could hear a challenge based on the outcome in Minnesota. The Supreme Court has shown a strong reluctance to interject itself into state political outcomes, with one very notable exception: Bush v. Gore, which essentially ended efforts to conduct a recount in four Florida counties in December 2000, following that year’s presidential election. That decision put the kibosh on Al Gore’s hopes of becoming president.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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Proverbs 29:27 - “An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he
that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”

“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception;
the one who lies with sincerity.”

(If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!)

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