Campaign 2008

Minn. Supreme Court wants info before Senate case ruling

by Brian Bakst, Associated Press

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP) - Minnesota's highest court is asking counties to provide more information before ruling on a Senate race petition from Republican Norm Coleman seeking to add ballots to the recount.

The Supreme Court asked that several county auditors, the secretary of state and Democrat Al Franken's campaign to supply justices with data by Saturday morning.

The information applies to unopened absentee ballots that might have been mistakenly left out of the Senate count.

The court says it needs the information before deciding what to do about Coleman's request to add hundreds more ballots to the recount. He trails Franken by 49 votes in an unofficial tally.

Friday's order doesn't rule on the merits of Coleman's petition, and justices say they haven't decided whether to give the case a full airing.

Coleman is trying to expand a pile of absentee ballots that were originally rejected but will be counted this weekend by the secretary of state's office.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, 01/02/2009, 5:22 p.m.