Franken Wants Church to be Searched for Ballots

Amanda Carpenter | December 04, 2008 4:53 PM

Al Franken's campaign is calling for the "systematic forensic search" of a Lutheran Church used as a polling station on Election Day in hopes of finding 133 missing ballots.

Franken's lawyer Marc Elias is demanding every person who worked at the polling station or assisted in any of the set-up or clean-up be interviewed as a part of the investigation.

The Minnesota Republican Party says Franken's demands are akin to a "goverment invasion of a church" that's "offensive and completely out-of-control" as well as "bizarre and repulsive" according to a release from their headquarters.

"In addition to a loud slap in the face of local election officials, the Franken campaign’s demand for information on the administrator of the church is simply tantamount to government-sponsored persecution," the MN GOP's statement added.

Despite the outrage from the Coleman campaign, Secretary of State Mark Ritche seems amendable to Franken's request. A statement from the secretary's office said they would be providing a witness to the Elections Department for the investigation "because the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State is committed to the accurate accounting of votes in the U.S. Senate race recount."