Coleman rep Vicki Tigwel and Anoka

Coleman rep Vicki Tigwel (left) and Anoka County Elections Chief Rachel Smith reviewed voter logs

A new lawsuit (pdf) by the campaign of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman asks the Minnesota Supreme Court to order the counting of votes from hundreds of absentee ballots that local officials have twice rejected as invalid.

Democrat Al Franken’s campaign responded with scorn. ”Norm Coleman and I are both native New Yorkers, and this is the height of chutzpah,” Franken attorney Marc Elias told reporters Wednesday evening. “They are trying to stop the count.”

The renewed wrangling comes two days into a three-day series of regional meetings at which the rival campaigns and county officials are reviewing — by order of the Supreme Court — 1,350 absentee ballots that local election staff have determined were wrongly rejected on Election Day. Coleman’s campaign has had mixed success in persuading the counties to review ballots outside of those identified by local officials.