Al Franken’s lawyers this morning filed a voluminous motion (PDF) to dismiss much of Norm Coleman’s election contest case.
“Contestants have failed to meet their burden … As a matter of fact and law, the claims simply cannot be maintained. Judgment should be awarded to Contestee and this case should be dismissed,” write Franken lawyers Marc Elias, Kevin Hamilton and David Lillehaug.
Among the claims the Coleman side didn’t prove in its case, Franken’s lawyers assert:
• That the ballots they introduced as evidence were legally cast.
• That the 21 voters Coleman’s team put on the witness stand did cast legal ballots.
• That there were double-counted ballots.
• That 132 ballots that were lost in a Minneapolis precinct shouldn’t be counted.
In the end, among nearly 4,000 ballots that Franken’s side says Coleman wanted the court to count, only nine – count ’em, nine – may have been proven to be legal ballots, the filing says.
Along with the legal motion, Franken’s lawyers submitted nine exhibits, including a collection of detailed spreadsheets with specific voters brought forth by Coleman whose ballots, Franken claims, shouldn’t be counted.
