KSTP-TV’s attempt to examine the rejected absentee ballots in the Al Franken-Norm Coleman Senate recount remains alive, following the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision to hear an appeal of the case.
The station’s news department has sought access to the ballots to see how the process worked and if they might have affected the outcome. Initially, a Ramsey County judge ruled they could look at the ballots, but the state Court of Appeals ruled differently, saying they are private under the Data Practices law.
Franken won the Senate seat by 312 votes after the lengthy recount that included much discussion of the hundreds of rejected absentee ballots.
With the parallel story today of KSTP ramping up its donations to one particular political party, it would seem fair to say that this legal action will be cloaked in the rhetoric of a virtuous, on-behalf-of-the-people “search for truth,” but in fact most likely is a fishing expedition in pursuit of political aims. Not taking a position on any underlying lawsuit. Just observing that we might not want to engage in the lazy assumption that KSTP is pursuing the lawsuit as a media organization.