DESPITE WINNING VOTE FOR SECOND TIME, COLEMAN RECOUNT COUNSEL EXPRESSES SERIOUS CONCERN REGARDING BALLOT SECURITY

Senator Coleman has been declared the winner for the second time- the first time after the ballots were counted on Election night, the second time after completion of the unofficial canvass results of counties counting the ballots a second time.  Senator Coleman remains the winner in this election despite unexplained discrepancies in reporting and statistically imponderable results from various precincts in the state that have virtually all benefitted the Franken campaign.

Coleman for Senate lead recount counsel Fritz Knaak stated: “As pleased as we are with the confirmation of Senator Coleman’s victory now that the ballots have been counted a second time, we still have serious concerns that should remain enormously troubling to every Minnesotan who expects and demands one-hundred percent accountability and transparency in our electoral process. Mysterious and unexplained reporting discrepancies, as well as statistically imponderable results from various precincts in the state, underscore the need for a greater emphasis on security of the ballots -- and equally important, the overall integrity of the recount process itself.”

Knaak pointed to specific incidents that “remain mysterious and murky” in terms of the facts, and what precisely happened:

• At 8:00pm on Friday, November 7th, the Coleman for Senate recount officials learned that the Director of Elections for the City of Minneapolis had in her possession 32 ballots- and provided no credible explanation of why they had not been put into the final count of the precincts to which they belonged and raising concerns again about after hours finding of votes.

• In Mountain Iron, Minnesota, 100 votes were added for Al Franken with the explanation that someone either “misspoke” or “misheard” the original numbers when they were called in. The same individual “misspoke” and “misheard” numbers for Barack Obama which equaled the exact same 100 votes.

• The date listed on the vote tapes was November 2nd, not November 4th, the date of the election.

 “These two enormously troubling incidents raise a legitimate cloud of doubt over the process, and exemplify why we remain concerned,” Knaak continued. “The Secretary of State’s website, containing ‘official’ ballot numbers, has changed repeatedly after business hours in the dark of night – changes which negatively impacted Senator Coleman in a disproportionate manner. To date we have been denied access to the new data necessary to determine why those changes were made -- and we still do not know who was responsible for making those changes.  We look forward to reviewing the ballots themselves during the recount process to determine the root cause of these revised vote totals.”

Continued the Coleman for Senate lead counsel, “Minnesota law requires a recount, we respect that process, and we will continue to insist that every law is followed, every legal ballot counted, and that this process remain open, accountable and transparent to the people of Minnesota.”

Knaak once again called upon Al Franken and his campaign – as well the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office – to join with the Coleman recount team in publicly insisting on the highest degree of ballot security during this recount process. “Most important, this recount process remains just that – a recount,” Knaak concluded.  “This is not a ‘do-over,’ this is not ‘extra innings’ of a political campaign.  It is an important process that will confirm that Senator Coleman won re-election to the U.S. Senate on November 4th.”