MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AFP) — There was no end in sight to the months-long battle over Minnesota's US Senate seat Tuesday after Republican Norm Coleman vowed to appeal a ruling handing the seat to comedian Al Franken.
A three-judge panel soundly dismissed Coleman's challenges to the fairness of the election and accuracy of the ballot count and ruled that the Democrat, who emerged from the trial with a 312-vote lead, "is therefore entitled to receive the certificate of election."
"The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the Nov. 4, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately," the panel ruled late Monday.
Coleman's lawyers charged that of the nearly three million votes cast, "thousands" of absentee ballots were improperly rejected while some other votes were counted twice.
The ruling "ignores the reality of what happened in the counties and cities on Election Day in terms of counting the votes," said Coleman spokesman Ben Ginsberg.
"We must appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court so that no voter is left behind."
Franken, who rose to fame with the legendary Saturday Night Live program, responded to the ruling by again calling upon his rival to concede and telling reporters "it's long past time we got to work."
Democratic National Committee chair Tim Kaine accused leading Republicans of supporting Coleman's as a way of blocking Franken from taking office and increasing the Democratic majority in the Senate.
"Senator Coleman may have a right to continue his legal challenges no matter how hopeless they are, but the right thing to do here is to concede defeat and allow this saga to end once and for all," Kaine said.
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