ST. PAUL, Minn. — An argument that Republican Norm Coleman hoped would draw him closer to Democrat Al Franken suffered a hard blow Wednesday in the Minnesota Senate trial when the judges threw out the testimony of the only witness to claim seeing errors that may have given some people two votes.
The testimony of Minneapolis election judge Pamela Howell was thrown out because she had supplied materials to Coleman’s legal team that weren’t given to Franken’s lawyers. The judges deemed that a violation of civil trial procedures.
The double-counting argument is a vital part of Coleman’s case. He said Franken benefited from more than 100 votes from people who had two ballots counted. Coleman’s lawyers want the court to subtract the votes from Franken’s tally and reduce the 225-vote lead he had after the recount.
