Updates Vice President On Legal Proceedings, Discusses Issues Of Importance To Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS [05/06/09] – This afternoon, Senator-elect Al Franken visited the White House to meet with Vice President Biden. Franken updated the Vice President on the state of Minnesota’s second U.S. Senate seat, and discussed the administration’s agenda and its potential benefits for the people of Minnesota. Franken was accompanied by his wife, Franni.
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Veteran Advisor Drew Littman Agrees To Head Up Washington Office

MINNEAPOLIS [4/29/09] – Senator-elect Al Franken today announced that Drew Littman, a longtime Capitol Hill veteran, has agreed to serve as his Washington-based chief of staff.

Littman, who has advised many Senators-elect, including Franken, on the transition process, was most recently the head of his own consulting practice, Littman Associates, and an adjunct professor at American University. He began his career on Capitol Hill twenty years ago as a policy aide for then-Rep. Barbara Boxer, and has since served as a subcommittee staff director and a Senate Policy Director.

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Longtime Oberstar Director To Head Up Franken’s State Office, Franken Says When He’s Certified “She’ll Work With Me To Hit The Ground Running On Day One”

MINNEAPOLIS [4/20/09] – Sen.-elect Al Franken today announced that Alana Petersen has agreed to serve as his Minnesota State Director, citing his commitment to continuing Minnesota’s tradition of excellent constituent services.

Petersen is a life-long resident of Minnesota who has spent the last five years working in outreach and organizing for Rep. Jim Oberstar.

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SAINT PAUL [4/13/09] – Senator-elect Al Franken made the following statement today on the election contest victory:

“Franni and I couldn’t be happier, because today, after a lengthy and careful trial scrutinizing our lengthy and careful recount, the three-judge panel has declared a winner in the 2008 Senate election here in Minnesota.

“I am honored and humbled by this close victory, and I’m looking forward to getting to work as soon as possible.

“The campaign for this Senate seat has been long and expensive. But the fight ahead, the fight to rebuild our economy and repair our broken health care system and restore our standing in the world – that’s a fight we must win. It’s a fight we must win by setting aside partisan gamesmanship and working together.

“My role in that fight will be to work every day with Senators from both parties to serve the state I love, because restoring America’s promise is going to be a big job. And it’s long past time we got to work.”

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SAINT PAUL [3/13/09] – Former Sen. Coleman’s lawsuit to overturn the results of the U.S. Senate election concluded today with closing arguments from both sides. Franken’s closing was delivered by attorney Kevin Hamilton.
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Read a statement from Al on attending President Barack Obama’s inauguration…
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“It has been a remarkable couple of months. Our recount brought national attention to Minnesota, and what Americans saw is that we take our democracy seriously. Our recount process was long, it was fair, and it was thorough. We should all be proud of our state, and we should all be grateful for the incredible hard work and dedication of all of our elections officials, from the state canvassing board and the Secretary of State’s office to the officials in the cities and counties and precincts of Minnesota.

“After 62 days, after the careful and painstaking hand inspection of nearly 3 million ballots, after hours and hours of hard work by elections officials and volunteers across the state, I am proud and humbled to stand before you as the next Senator from Minnesota.
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TOMORROW: WRONGLY REJECTED ABSENTEE BALLOTS TO BE COUNTED IN ADVANCE OF MONDAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT
Despite nonstop efforts by the Coleman campaign to derail the counting process, absentee ballots judged to have been improperly rejected will be counted by a state elections official beginning tomorrow morning, with the counting to be completed in time for Monday’s important state canvassing board meeting, at which the final Coleman-Franken vote will be announced.

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SAINT PAUL [12/30/08] – Al Franken:

“Today, the state canvassing board completed an important step in this process. I’m glad to be ahead, and as it appears that we’re on track to win, I want Minnesotans to know that I’m ready to get to work for them in Washington on Day One. We still need to ensure that Minnesotans whose absentee ballots were improperly rejected aren’t disenfranchised, but we are close to the finish line. And we should all be proud of our state’s electoral process, and grateful for the dedication of our public servants, from the state canvassing board down to elections officials at the local level.”

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SAINT PAUL [12/19/08] – Communications director Andy Barr:

“This is just the latest desperate act by a campaign panicked because it has suddenly realized that it is going to lose the election. The two campaigns and the Secretary of State agreed on a deal at the insistence of the Coleman campaign. The Coleman campaign then used that deal to prevent us from making challenges in counties across the state. And now that they realize they are going to lose, they are once again running to court to try to change the rules and disenfranchise hundreds of voters based on a theory they invented and cannot support with any real evidence.”

FLASHBACK: Email from Coleman attorney Tony Trimble (11/19):

“We believe that duplicate ballots should be counted if no corresponding original can be found, as this was a ballot cast on election night. A challenge to a duplicate ballot for which no original can be found is a frivolous challenge, because it does not relate to voter intent. Any challenge to a duplicate ballot should be made within an election contest and is not within the limited jurisdiction of an administrative recount. We will request the Minnesota State Canvassing Board to reject any challenges to duplicate ballots as groundless and frivolous (if the same are brought to the Canvassing Board).”

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