On Wednesday morning, a three-judge panel will consider a motion by Democrat Al Franken's campaign. They want Sen. Norm Coleman's contest of the U.S. Senate recount results dismissed.

In a one-on-one interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, Coleman said he’s convinced the case is far from over.

While Franken attended President Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington D.C., his attorneys were busy in Minnesota preparing for the first hearing in the Senate recount.

"I certainly wish that I was ahead in votes rather than behind right now, but I believe in the end we'll be where we were on Election Night. That I will be ahead," Coleman told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

Two key elements of his legal case include the possible double counting of some ballots and the non-counting of thousands of rejected absentee ballots.

"Nobody's vote should be counted twice and every vote that should be counted hopefully will get a chance to be counted in this process. I think all Minnesotans will be served by that. You can't hold office if people think that somebody else's vote was double-counted or your vote wasn't considered," Coleman explained.

The Senator has renewed confidence after retaining famed criminal defense attorney Joe Friedberg, despite his lack of election law experience.

"He's the best trial lawyer I’ve been up against and I’ve been up against a few," Coleman said with a laugh.

Would Coleman be willing to go to the U.S. Supreme Court if he doesn't succeed in state court? He said he hasn’t ruled the idea out.

"I just want to make sure no vote is counted twice and I want to make sure every absentee ballot is judged by a similar standard so it's fair. If we get there, then we should have a result we can live with," he said.

Interactives:
 VIDEO: Coleman's announcement 
 Transcript of Coleman's speech
 VIDEO: Franken talks about win
 Franken statement
 Coleman statement
View the Recount Summary
 View some of the challenged ballots

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 Franken declared Senate winner 
 Senate officials close Coleman's DC office 
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