By GottaLaff
MSNBC just now:
Minnesota Election Board will announce tomorrow: Al Franken is the winner of the Senate election.
Pawlenty will not say whether he will sign off on it, and Coleman may yet contest it. There are still unanswered questions. I'll update when I find something in print. I barely heard this (I was trying to find a video clip and had the sound low) and want to get my facts straight.
UPDATE:
MSNBC: "It looks like we have a winner." Fredericka Whitfield said that, and that the Board will certify Franken by 225 votes. Coleman is expected to contest, and has 7 days to do it.
Here we go:
A state election board on Monday will announce Democrat Al Franken as the winner of the Minnesota Senate race, defeating Republican incumbant Norm Coleman, state officials told CNN Sunday.Secretary of State Mark Ritchie told CNN the canvassing board on Monday will confirm that Franken won the race by a 225-vote margin.
Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann oversaw the tallying of roughly 950 improperly rejected absentee ballots Saturday, which was the last remaining hurdle in the canvassing board's procedure. He said no outstanding challenges remain and that the only thing left for the board to do Monday is certify the numbers. Their meeting will convene at 2:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. ET).
Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, in a statement said, "We've said all along we're taking this one step at a time. The next step is the canvass board's meeting tomorrow, where we have every expectation they will declare that Al Franken won this election."
Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said his team believes that 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."
The Coleman campaign will have seven days after the board and Ritchie certify results to file a post-election contest, which they have indicated they will do.
Coleman's attorneys have maintained there was no uniform standard for local officials to follow in identifying improperly rejected absentee ballots to count. They had identified about 650 more ballots that were not in the mix because all parties could not agree on them.
The Coleman campaign has also alleged that more than 100 ballots may have been accidentally counted twice and may have unfairly benefited Franken. [...]
New York Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, issued a statement Sunday declaring Franken the winner and expressing confidence he would still remain on top even after any legal battles that may follow.
"There is no longer any doubt who will be the next senator from Minnesota," Schumer said. "Even if all the ballots Coleman claims were double counted or erroneously added were resolved in his favor, he still wouldn't have enough votes to win." [...]
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the chairman of the National Repulican Senatorial Committee, has pledged a GOP filibuster if the Democratically-controlled Senate attempts to seat Franken before all legal battles play out and before Minnesota's Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty can co-sign the Secretary of State's certificate.
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