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The Minnesota state canvassing board today voted unanimously to deny a request from Democrat Al Franken’s campaign to include absentee ballots which had bee rejected into its final recount tally. The move would seem to be a blow to Franken’s efforts, particularly since a judge in one county has allowed his campaign to gain access to the list of rejected voters already.

But, as the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, the canvassing board made clear that it’s decision was not a statement on the merits of Franken’s argument and that they expected that question to be settled in litigation, seemingly kicking the issue down the road.

Also in recount news, attorneys for Franken and Republican Senator Norm Coleman have indicated that may be able to reduce the number of ballots both sides have challenged during the process. That number currently stands at over 3,600 ballots.

The Minnesota state canvassing board today voted unanimously to deny a request from Democrat Al Franken’s campaign to include absentee ballots which had bee rejected into its final recount tally. The move would seem to be a blow to Franken’s efforts, particularly since a judge in one county has allowed his campaign to gain access to the list of rejected voters already.

But, as the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, the canvassing board made clear that it’s decision was not a statement on the merits of Franken’s argument and that they expected that question to be settled in litigation, seemingly kicking the issue down the road.

Also in recount news, attorneys for Franken and Republican Senator Norm Coleman have indicated that may be able to reduce the number of ballots both sides have challenged during the process. That number currently stands at over 3,600 ballots.

The Minnesota state canvassing board today voted unanimously to deny a request from Democrat Al Franken’s campaign to include absentee ballots which had bee rejected into its final recount tally. The move would seem to be a blow to Franken’s efforts, particularly since a judge in one county has allowed his campaign to gain access to the list of rejected voters already.

But, as the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports, the canvassing board made clear that it’s decision was not a statement on the merits of Franken’s argument and that they expected that question to be settled in litigation, seemingly kicking the issue down the road.

Also in recount news, attorneys for Franken and Republican Senator Norm Coleman have indicated that may be able to reduce the number of ballots both sides have challenged during the process. That number currently stands at over 3,600 ballots.

After two days of counting and 46 percent of the ballots examined, Republican Senator Norm Coleman’s slim lead has gotten even slimmer. Coleman led Democrat Al Franken by 215 votes heading into the mandatory recount but after day two, that lead has slipped to just 136 votes, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

But the final result is almost certain to be decided by the state’s canvassing board, which will make the call on a growing list of disputed ballots by both sides. During the recount, representatives from both campaigns are allowed to challenge individual ballots for various reasons (such as a voter who failed to completely fill in the circle next to a candidate’s name or made some other technical error). The number of disputed ballots rose to 734 combined at the end of day two.

As if a 215 vote margin wasn’t close enough, the Minnesota Senate race between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken has gotten even closer after about 18 percent of the ballots counted in a mandatory recount, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

After the first day of counting, Coleman’s lead going into the recount slipped to just 174 votes. Observers for both campaigns are on hand for the recount and are allowed to challenge questionable ballots. It’s those challenges which could be a deciding factor in the ultimate outcome of the race. Ballots challenged by either campaign are set aside until the middle of December when the state canvassing board will look at each individually. So far, a total of 269 votes have been challenged, 146 by Coleman’s representatives and 123 by Franken’s.

Comedian-turned-activist Al Franken will travel to Washington, DC Tuesday to meet with Democratic Senate leaders as he awaits the outcome of a mandatory recount in his bid to unseat Senator Norm Coleman who currently holds a 206-vote lead pending the results. Coleman spokesman Mark Drake told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that is “highly presumptuous for Mr. Franken to undertake such a visit when his real purpose appears to be fundraising and gaining partisan advantage from non-Minnesotans.”

Franken spokesperson Colleen Murray said Franken, who is skipping an orientation session, is only trying hit the ground running should he prevail. “If he should win this election, it would be irresponsible for him not to get ready to take office,” Murray said. “Minnesota deserves a senator who is ready to take office on Day One.”

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Election Day may have come and gone, but three Senate races are still being fought, and fought hard. If all three go the Democrats' way – an unlikely outcome, but certainly not an impossible one – it would give the party 60 seats in the Senate, a crucial number since it would mean Democrats have attained a filibuster-proof majority.

(One cautionary note for hopeful liberals: Even if Democrats reach the 60 seat threshold, their majority would include independent senator and John McCain backer Joe Lieberman, who has broken with his party on national security issues, as well as other relatively conservative Democrats who might not always vote with their party.)

Here's the latest on the three races.

Alaska:

For a while, it looked like 84-year-old Republican Ted Stevens had overcome his felony conviction to be reelected for an eigth term. But early and absentee ballots, which are still being counted, have now given a slim lead to Stevens' Democratic rival, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who says he is "cautiously optimistic" that he will prevail. (The latest count, as of late Wednesday: 132,196 to 131,382. A Stevens pollster reportedly suggested Thursday that Begich will prevail.)

If Stevens ultimately wins the race, he still faces the possibility of expulsion from the Senate due to his conviction. If that happens, there will be a special election in Alaska to replace the longtime Senator, and all eyes will be on former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a potential candidate.

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President-elect Obama will be getting his first glimpse inside the Oval Office today but there are still three U.S. Senate races where the final results remain unknown. In Minnesota, Democrat Al Franken trails incumbent Republican Norm Coleman by just 221. The state will conduct a hand recount beginning after the initial vote certification on November 19th and is expected to be completed by December 5th, depending on legal fights that may arise. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has an overview of the process.

In Georgia, both parties are gearing up for a potential runoff election and political observers are talking about what role, if any, Mr. Obama might play in it, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. Worth recalling is this point: In 1992, a newly elected Bill Clinton campaigned for the incumbent Democratic senator in a runoff election but the Republican won.

Finally, in Alaska, Senator Ted Stevens leads by 3,257 votes with over 81,000 absentee or uncounted votes remaining. Both campaigns have appealed to supporters for more donations, the Anchorage Daily News reports, as the prospect of legal wrangling over questionable ballots looms.

Had the presidential race been a little closer in the Electoral College, we may have woken up to a Florida-like recount situation in more than just one state today. While President-Elect Barack Obama racked up at least 349 Electoral Votes, there are still two battleground states undecided.

In North Carolina (where Obama narrowly leads) and in Missouri (where John McCain retains a slight edge), it could be awhile yet before we know who won them. Provisional ballots have yet to be counted and there could be some wrangling about the final outcomes in those states. It’s fairly academic at this point but remember – Missouri has gone with the eventual winner in every election except one for the past century.

In the Senate races, the picture is even crazier. In Minnesota, incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman retains a lead of just over 500 total votes over comedian-turned-political activist Al Franken in a race that is almost certain to head to a recount. In Georgia, incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss is hovering right around 50% as the final votes are counted, a threshold he needs to keep in order to avoid a runoff. In Oregon, a state that votes all by mail and traditionally slow-counting, Incumbent Republican Gordon Smith clings to a small lead.

And in Alaska, Republican Senator Ted Stevens, found guilty by a Washington, DC jury just days before the election of lying to prosecutors about gifts received from oil company executives, hangs on to a small lead in the polls over Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. An eventual Stevens victory could lead to all kind of melodrama but it appears that regardless of the outcome there, Democrats will remain short of the 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.

There’s a new controversy surrounding Al Franken in Minnesota, the front-runner for the Democratic Senate nomination to take on Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in the fall. The comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus is taking heat for an article entitled "Porn-O-Rama!" that he wrote in Playboy magazine eight years ago.

Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, who supported Franken’s rival until he dropped out of the race, said in an interview with the Associated Press that she was shocked by the article and that she was worried about other Democrats on the ballot with a candidate "who has pornographic writings that are indefensible."

"As a parent and an aunt, and talking to other parents, people are very concerned about the type of Internet use that's out there, and how it has a potentially harmful effect on children," McCollum said. "Sexually explicit material is one of the things that parents are very concerned about, and want to make sure that they're steering their children away from."

Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz also expressed concerns about the article, but none of them so far have called on Franken to step aside.

At the state GOP convention on Friday, Coleman also took a swipe at Franken. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Coleman said that "eight years ago I was making the streets of St. Paul safer and he was writing porn."

Franken’s spokesman responded to the uproar: "Al understands, and the people of Minnesota understand, the difference between what a satirist does and what a senator does.”

Idaho Senate: Voters in Idaho on Tuesday picked nominees to battle for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Larry Craig -- famous for an incident in a airport bathroom last summer that led to him announcing his resignation (and then withdrawing that resignation a few weeks later before it took affect). On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch defeated several lesser known challengers with 65 percent of the vote. He will face off against former Democratic Rep. Larry LaRocco, who won with 72 of the vote. Risch has defeated LaRocco twice before, including the 2006 election for lieutenant governor. He is favored again this time in the rematch.

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