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A Room with a View ... of the Disputed Ballots

By Eric L. Lipman

Apropos of not very much, I thought that the ex parte order issued by the District Court for Sterns County, Minnesota, securing the ballots in the contested U.S. Senate election, was of interest. The Order provides for securing the ballots in a room with windows, such that the containers of ballots may be seen (during normal business hours) by the ?visual guards? appointed by Al Franken?s and Norm Coleman?s campaign committees.

In the election contests with which I was involved as a lawyer ? admittedly, in down-ballot races ? the familiar practice was to secure the disputed ballot materials in the property room of the local constables; an arrangement that, presumably, was insufficient to ward off later claims of ballot tampering in this case.

The complete Order is accessible here.

Full post as published by Within the Scope on November 19, 2008 (boomark / email).