The short version:


SPECIAL RELEASE OPINION FILED JUNE 30, 2009



A09-697 In the Matter of the Contest of the General
Election held on November 4, 2008, for the purpose of electing a United
States Senator from the State of Minnesota, Cullen Sheehan
and Norm Coleman, contestants, Appellants vs. Al Franken,
contestee, Respondent.

Ramsey County.

1. Appellants did not establish that, by requiring
proof that statutory absentee voting standards were satisfied before
counting a rejected absentee ballot, the trial court's decision
constituted a post-election change in standards that violates
substantive due process.
2. Appellants did not prove that either the trial
court or local election officials violated the constitutional guarantee
of equal protection.
3. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when
it excluded additional evidence.
4. Inspection of ballots under Minn. Stat. § 209.06
(2008) is available only on a showing that the requesting party cannot
properly be prepared for trial without an inspection. Because
appellants made no such showing here, the trial court did not err in
denying inspection.
5. The trial court did not err when it included in
the final election tally the election day returns of a precinct in which
some ballots were lost before the manual recount.
Affirmed. Per Curiam.
Took no part, Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson and
Justice G. Barry Anderson.