Minn. Senate trial judges hope to speed up process

[CatWoman]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The judges in Minnesota's Senate trial rejected a complaint from Al Franken on Monday that Norm Coleman's lawyers weren't following trial rules and were slowing things down. But the judges said they would explore other ways to go faster.

Coleman's attorneys are working through about 4,700 rejected absentee ballots one by one, presenting evidence they hope will convince the three-judge panel that the ballots should be added to a race that Franken leads by 225 votes.

It's a tedious process expected to take weeks; working through ballots one by one, they've covered only four of the state's 87 counties after two weeks.

While turning aside Franken's specific objection Monday, the judges said they would meet privately with lawyers from both sides later in the day. Judge Kurt Marben said the goal would be to see "if there is a more expedient way to proceed with the evidence in this case."

Coleman's attorneys say about 3,100 rejected ballots should have not been thrown out because it appeared the voter met all legal requirements. An additional 1,600 do have a flaw, but one that is not the voter's fault, the attorneys say. Those two categories were set by the judges as grounds for inclusion of disputed ballots.

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