Minnesita voters tired of drama over Senate seat

ST. PAUL, Minn. — What lasts longer than a Minnesota winter? The struggle to choose the nation's 100th senator.

More than four months after Election Day, Minnesota voters are only marginally closer to knowing whether Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman will represent them in Washington.

The stakes go beyond Minnesota: Franken would put Democrats in position to muscle their agenda through with barely any Republican help, and he could be a difference-maker on the federal budget and a proposal giving labor unions a leg up on management when organizing.

Some Minnesotans, like actor Jared Reise, are past caring who wins and just want the state to regain its second senator.

"This is a very important time to have everybody there, with the way the economy is," said Reise, of suburban Eagan, who didn't vote for either man on Nov. 4. "It's a little long-winded, this whole recount."

The statewide recount ended two months ago, with Franken ahead by 225 votes out of 2.9 million cast. Coleman had held a similar-size lead heading into the recount. The campaigns are now arguing in a special court whether the latest tally is accurate.

Coleman, whose term expired Jan. 3, argues that absentee voters were treated differently based on where they lived and that officials made mistakes that gave some people two votes. Until those and other irregularities are accounted for, his lawyers say, it's impossible for the public to have faith in the result.

Franken's lawyers counter that the election was as precise as humanly possible. Six weeks into the trial, they say Coleman has failed to prove to a three-judge panel that there were enough errors to reverse the outcome.

The trial has delved into voter penmanship, quirks of registration law and other election intricacies, often putting a harsh light on a state with a national reputation for well-run elections.

Joe Mansky, who oversees voting in Ramsey County, said elections just can't be calibrated for a race this close. The margin between Franken and Coleman is seven one-thousandths of a percent, closer than any other Senate election in history.

"I would readily concede that our system is not perfect, but it stands up favorably to other activities," Mansky said. "The attorneys are not in court to tell people what a great job we're doing. They're here to highlight the problems."

Coleman appears in court a few times a week, jotting notes during testimony and conferring with his attorneys.