In a January 27 article about the Minnesota Senate election recount trial, The Associated Press reported that “Minnesota voters testified Tuesday their ballots had been unfairly rejected as Republican Norm Coleman argued thousands of disqualified absentee ballots should be counted in the U.S. Senate race” and quoted one voter, Gerald Anderson, who testified that he felt his ballot had been improperly rejected. However, although the AP reported that "[t]he personal stories that Anderson and five other voters told are just one front on Coleman's effort to have more votes counted," the AP did not note that the testimony of two of those voters reportedly showed that their ballots appear to have been properly rejected. Video of the testimonies of the six witnesses is available here.

Talking Points Memo's Eric Kleefeld noted:

One of the voters was Douglas Thompson, who admitted under oath that his girlfriend filled out his absentee ballot application for him, signing his name with her own hand and purporting to be himself. His ballot was rejected because the signature on his ballot envelope (his own) did not match the signature on the application (his girlfriend's). The Coleman team's argument appears to be that he is still a legal voter in Minnesota, as the signature on the ballot was his own, even if admitted dishonesty was involved in getting the ballot.

Keep in mind: Thompson's story came up during the direct examination by Coleman lawyer James Langdon. So the Coleman camp fully knew this information and decided to make him into a witness.

Another one of the voters, an older man named Wesley Briest, initially responded that he voted at the polls -- not by absentee. Then Coleman attorney James Langdon showed him his absentee ballot envelope, reminding him that he did not go to the polls, too. Upon cross-examination by Franken lawyer Kevin Hamilton, Briest admitted that his wife, who served as the witness on his ballot, did not fully complete the witness section of the absentee ballot. [emphasis in original]

In contrast with the AP, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported in a January 28 article that “Wesley Briest, of Eagan, who initially said he voted in person and then, when shown a copy of his absentee ballot envelope, was reminded that he voted absentee. His ballot was witnessed by his wife, who neglected to put her address on the envelope.” The Pioneer Press also reported that “Douglas Thompson, who was visiting his cancer-stricken mother in Arizona on Election Day, said he signed his absentee ballot envelope, like he was supposed to, but that his girlfriend signed his name on his absentee ballot application, at his request.”

From The Associated Press article:

Minnesota voters testified Tuesday their ballots had been unfairly rejected as Republican Norm Coleman argued thousands of disqualified absentee ballots should be counted in the U.S. Senate race.

“Perhaps my signature is not as good as it once was,” Gerald Anderson, of St. Paul, told the three-judge panel hearing Coleman's lawsuit. “It gets cloudy and crooked. I am 75 years old.”

But that shouldn't have disqualified his vote, he said: “I want it back. I'm entitled to my vote.”

A statewide recount gave Democrat Al Franken a 225-vote edge. The personal stories that Anderson and five other voters told are just one front on Coleman's effort to have more votes counted.

Coleman's legal team had intended to submit copies of thousands of ballots as exhibits, but the judges disqualified them as evidence Monday because campaign workers had marked on some envelopes. On Tuesday, much of the panel's time was spent with state officials, lawyers and court staff working out a plan to get about 11,000 rejected absentees to St. Paul from counties throughout the state.

Actual testimony didn't begin until afternoon in the case, expected to last weeks.

It wasn't clear whom Anderson supported; neither Coleman's nor Franken's attorneys asked. He said he didn't know his ballot had been rejected until the state Republican Party called him about two weeks ago. And Anderson wasn't sure why his vote was rejected, only guessing that it was his signature.

Minnesota law cites four reasons for rejecting absentee ballots: The name and address on the ballot's envelope do not match a name and address on the voter rolls; the signature on the envelope doesn't match the voter's signature on file; the voter was not registered when he or she voted; or the voter went on to vote on Election Day too.

Coleman is arguing that in many cases, those standards were applied differently from county to county, violating the constitutional standard of equal protection.

Hundreds of improperly rejected absentee ballots were opened and added to the count during the recount phase through a process set up by the Minnesota Supreme Court -- a process that gave both campaigns a say in which ballots were added.

In all, about 11,000 rejected absentee ballots remain uncounted. But the number that the Coleman lawyers say should be counted has shifted often, leading Franken's lawyers to accuse him of a haphazard case looking for any way to erase Franken's lead.

“At some point, former Senator Coleman needs to settle on what the universe is of ballots they believe were wrongly rejected,” Franken attorney Marc Elias said.

Franken is arguing that some errors are unavoidable in elections, but Minnesota's officials made no systematic or widespread mistakes.