Coleman camp questions vote counting
Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign is filing a data practices request looking for all information related to results, ballot security and revisions made to the Secretary of State's reporting of results since election night.
A release from the campaign says it is making the request of Mark Ritchie's office and county auditors because "improbable and statistically dubious chunks of votes appear and disappear, overwhelmingly benefiting Al Franken."
Here's the quote from Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan:
"Minnesota has a history of fair and clean elections, and we are committed to ensuring that this election is no different. That is why it is so troubling to us that instead of the normal slight changes in vote totals one would expect during this process, we are now seeing huge chunks of votes appearing and disappearing - statistically dubious and improbable shifts that are overwhelmingly accruing to the benefit of Al Franken. And, as many of these unexplained and improbably vote swings are taking place on the Iron Range, we're asking that local and state election officials provide us with the necessary data to reassure the public that the canvassing process has not been tainted."
The campaign specifically cites 100 ballots reported from Mountain Iron that all went for Franken.
Could this be the first step to contesting the election in court and effectively removing Ritchie from the recount process?
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