Franken hails absentee ballot decision

ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A decision to recount mistakenly rejected absentee ballots in the Minnesota U.S. Senate race is a victory for Democrat Al Franken, his camp says.

Trailing incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman by 192 votes in the recount of the Nov. 4 Senate election, Friday's decision by the Minnesota State Canvassing Board instructing counties to sort and count the absentee ballots could open up as many as 1,600 votes, the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis reported.

"It was a good day for the Franken campaign. It was a good day for all the voters of Minnesota who were concerned that their lawful ballots may not be counted," Marc Elias, Franken's lead recount attorney, told reporters.

The Coleman campaign, however, disputed the canvassing board's authority in the decision, saying it would file a request Saturday for an order from the state Supreme Court requiring counties to follow consistent standards for counting their rejected absentee ballots.

"This is the kind of chaos the board has walked us into that we are trying to avoid," Coleman attorney Tony Trimble told the Star Tribune.