Franken edge likely as recount court sets absentee ballot opening for April 7; 400 ballots to be delivered for review

After days of deliberations, the panel of judges hearing the U.S. Senate recount suit released theirdecision: 400 absentee ballots will be opened up at 9:30 a.m. April 7 in Courtroom 300 of the Minnesota Judicial Center, and they should be tallied via the same method that the state Supreme Court specified on Dec. 24. Here’s the main order (PDF), and here’s the ruling on some individual ballots. (PDF) Judges Elizabeth Hayden, Kurt Marben and Denise Reilly ended their order with the rather clear directive that "Any other relief not specifically ordered herein is DENIED." There’s a bit of judicial razzing, and the judges don’t seem to believe anyone should conclude they’ve cut corners and been anything less than totally exhaustive. On page five of the larger document, for example, the judges declare:

"Upon the Court’s initial review, it became apparent that the parties’ spreadsheets identifying the relevant exhibits were inadequate and unreliable. This required the Court to complete an exhaustive review of all the records and documents submitted by either party throughout the course of the entire trial. During its deliberation, the Court reviewed 19,181 pages of filings, including pleadings, motions and legal memoranda from the parties; 1,717 individual exhibits admitted into evidence; and testimony from 142 witness examinations, including election officials from 38 Minnesota counties and cities and 69 voters who appeared and testified in defense of their ballots. The trial evidence comprised exhibits offered in three-ring binders that, when stacked, equaled over 21 feet of paper copies. The Court carefully reviewed each absentee ballot on a ballot-by-ballot basis to determine whether sufficient individualized evidence had been presented that the voter complied with applicable federal and state law."

The judges say they have identified 400 ballots that should be "delivered" based upon their review, but "not every absentee ballot identified in this Order will ultimately be opened and counted."

Based purely on a subjective glance at the distribution of which counties the ballots will come from, it appears that plenty of Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis ballots will be looked at, making the whole thing unlikely to provide Norm Coleman with a decisive advantage.

The court also ruled that Donald and Donelda Applebee failed to update their voter registration records properly, and thus the court vacated its grant of summary judgment and the order to direct their ballots to be counted.The court says Roxanna Saad’s ballot will be counted only "once it is satisfied that her voter registration form is, in fact, complete and contains the requisite driver’s license number." Katie Kaszynski’s, Tempest Moore’s and Kourteney Dropps’ ballots will be counted.

There are plenty of other details to check out; we’d advise downloading the two files and taking a look.