With a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate possibly hinging on the outcome, Senator Norm Coleman sued today to stop the counting of ballots in Minnesota's very tight US Senate race. Coleman's opponent is Al Franken. Franken's campaign said it was informed of the lawsuit only about an hour before the hearing on it this morning and called the suit a "Saturday Sneak Attack."
Sen. Coleman's campaign asserted that 32 absentee ballots that were recently discovered and have not yet been counted should remain sealed. The suit also asserted that all ballot counting in the state of Minnesota should be halted and only ballots that were counted by midnight on election night should be valid.
The suit, filed in Ramsey County Court, was dismissed.
In the video below, Franken campaign spokesperson Andy Barr explains why the lawsuit was dismissed and talks about how the Coleman campaign has fought hard not to have all of the votes counted in this race. Other videos in the playlist include Franken attorney David Lillihaug commenting on the lawsuit and its unusual timing.
The latest unofficial totals show Coleman leading by 221 votes out of 2,885,451 votes cast.