Might it be just be time to say goodnight to Franken?

“In a ruling that keeps alive Republican Norm Coleman’s chances of overturning Minnesota’s U.S. Senate recount, a three-judge panel on Tuesday allowed him to bring evidence to trial that as many as 4,800 absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and should now be counted.

The decision expands the evidence that can be considered in the recount trial, giving Coleman the opportunity to put more ballots into play in his effort to erase a 225-vote lead for DFLer Al Franken. The Franken campaign had tried to limit Coleman to bringing evidence on only 650 absentee ballots that he cited specifically when he filed his lawsuit challenging the recount results.

In the ruling, the judges said they will focus on rejected absentee ballots cast by voters who complied with the requirements of Minnesota election law or failed to comply because of mistakes by local elections officials.

“We’re very, very pleased with the ruling,” said Coleman legal spokesman Ben Ginsberg, who predicted that “the vast majority” of the 4,797 ballots would be accepted and counted.

Franken chief recount lawyer Marc Elias said the ruling was “neither a loss nor a win” for his candidate. While it allows Coleman to bring evidence on more ballots than Franken preferred, it was far fewer than the 11,000 rejected ballots that Coleman’s campaign said in recent weeks that it wanted reconsidered.”

Regardless if they break - as expected 3-1 for Coleman it should erase the deficit and put him in the lead.

Technorati Tags: Norm Coleman, Al Franken, Minnesota Recount