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Al Franken’s senate win tainted by voter fraud, claims new book

Al Franken

The new book Who’s Counting? by John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky details the rampant voter fraud in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race between Democrat Al Franken and defeated Republican Norm Coleman. According to Byron York at the Washington Examiner:

It was impossibly close; on the morning after the election, after 2.9 million people had voted, Coleman led Franken by 725 votes.

Franken and his Democratic allies dispatched an army of lawyers to challenge the results. After the first canvass, Coleman's lead was down to 206 votes. That was followed by months of wrangling and litigation. In the end, Franken was declared the winner by 312 votes. He was sworn into office in July 2009, eight months after the election.

During the controversy a conservative group called Minnesota Majority began to look into claims of voter fraud. Comparing criminal records with voting rolls, the group identified 1,099 felons -- all ineligible to vote -- who had voted in the Franken-Coleman race.

The contested 2008 race has caused legal trouble for the perpetrators and cast doubt on Sen. Franken’s victory:

And so far, Fund and von Spakovsky report, 177 people have been convicted -- not just accused, but convicted -- of voting fraudulently in the Senate race. Another 66 are awaiting trial.