A funny dynamic right now in the Minnesota election trial is how both campaigns have lists of rejected absentee ballots that they’re trying to get reconsidered for admission — and both of them have set out to demonstrate how the other guy’s catalog is complete garbage.
Earlier this morning in the Minnesota trial, Coleman lawyer Joe Friedberg went through some of Franken’s current list with Anoka County elections manager Rachel Smith, having her affirm that there were various problems within the Anoka section: The ballots had arrived late, were missing voter signatures, or witness signatures, etc. Franken’s team hasn’t had the chance to cross-examine Smith yet, so we’ll see how they do on these votes.
It’s to be expected that the vast majority of re-reviewed ballots from both sides will have some serious problems — and Coleman’s certainly have — as most of them were rejected at least a second time by local officials during a separate review this past December. The issue here is more about what might happen if any leniency ends up being brought to the process, such as forgiving an error if it’s determined to have been an election official’s fault, not the voter’s.
Coleman’s list started out at 654, and has now expanded to 4,797 with the court’s permission. Franken’s team started at 771 ballots, and they have a pending request to expand their group after Coleman got to do it. And of course, both sides’ lists so far have come from their own geographic strongholds, as well. So this will take a while.
