Rachel Smith

Attorneys for former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman pounced on an end-of-the-day revelation in his election contest trial Thursday: Uncounted absentee ballots were discovered by election officials only since Wednesday. The news came just before the three-judge panel adjourned for the day, in testimony from Anoka County Elections Manager Rachel Smith before a stunned courtroom.

The Anoka County Elections Department has invited the campaigns of Al Franken and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman to return Wednesday morning for another try at reviewing uncounted absentee ballots as ordered by the Minnesota Supreme Court in the state’s Senate recount. A scheduled meeting between local officials and campaign representatives to review 35 wrongfully rejected absentee ballots broke down Tuesday morning, according to Elections Supervisor Rachel Smith, after Coleman’s camp refused to proceed — unless additional ballots not selected by county staff for counting were included.