Franken Releases Video Urging State To Count Discarded Ballots

The Al Franken campaign has put out a web video designed to put public pressure on state officials to ensure that every vote is counted during the Minnesota Senate recount.

The six-minute long clip includes testimony from several Minnesotans who say that their votes were unfairly discounted because of clerical or administrative errors. The voters in the video all cast absentee ballots -- either because illness prevented them from going to the polls (one testimonial was from a quadriplegic), they were out of the state, or were busy volunteering on Election Day.

"In the closest Senate race in Minnesota history, every vote should be counted fairly," the web-video begins.

Currently, the state of Minnesota has highlighted between 500 and 1,000 absentee ballots that could have been wrongfully rejected on Election Day. On Friday the canvassing board will meet to decide whether or not these ballots should be counted in the official tally.

On a broader level, however, there is an interesting political dynamic at play here. The Franken and Coleman campaigns have, by-and-large, been in a fairly contentious public relations battle since the vote on November 4th, with each side lobbing largely legal challenges during the recount process. The release of a web video -- designed to tug at the hearts of state election officials -- is a new step forward in this process. Combine that with the news this morning that Sen. Coleman is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly receiving $75,000 in unreported contributions from a major GOP financier, and the Minnesota recount process could take a decided turn towards the political.