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As expected for a runoff election the three weeks after the main event, turnout appears lighter in the Georgia senate race, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. But reports are that the lines are steady. Early and absentee voting appears to be indicating slightly higher turnout in some counties than expected, according to election officials.

At stake today is the senate seat currently held by incumbent Saxby Chambliss, who faces Democrat Jim Martin. Chambliss finished the general election with a plurality but state law requires a runoff if any candidate fails to get 50 percent of the vote. Should Martin win, it would give Democrats 59 seats in the U.S. Senate with the Minnesota race remaining in a recount. Polls in Georgia close at 7:00pm.

Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken's campaign says it may appeal to the U.S. Senate or the courts because it believes that up to 1,000 absentee ballots were improperly disqualified in the state's recount of votes, The Hill reports.

"Wherever the numbers stand today…that number simply cannot be relevant if it does not include all the votes that were legally cast," Franken attorney Marc Elias said, according to the newspaper. "No recount can be considered accurate or complete until all the ballots cast by lawful voters are counted."

Franken trails Republican rival Norm Coleman by 282 votes with most of the vote counted, though his campaign claims the deficit has shrunk to 73 votes.

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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.

A little pre-feast political appetizer appears on the op-ed page of the Washington Post this morning, where authors Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac argue that the best replacement in the U.S. Senate for Hillary Clinton should she, as expected, become Secretary of State would be – her husband, former President Bill Clinton. From the op-ed:

Who in his party could question so historic and dazzling a choice? In a stroke, the appointment would provide Sen. Clinton's indefatigable husband with a fitting day job, serve the interests of a state beset by a meltdown in its most vital economic sector and offer a refreshing reverse twist on a tradition whereby deceased male senators, representatives or governors are succeeded by their widows.

Joe Biden's Senate seat will be filled by Edward "Ted" Kaufman, a longtime aide to the Vice President-elect.

Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner announced the appointment this afternoon.

Biden, who just won his seventh term in the Senate, must vacate his seat before being sworn in as Vice President on January 20th. Minner said Kaufman will be sworn in sometime in early or mid January.

Biden's son, Attorney General Beau Biden, had been seen as a possible replacement for his father. He announced last week that he wouldn't accept the appointment if offered, saying he planned to continue serving in the National Guard.

The [Wilmington] News Journal's Jeff Montgomery writes that "[t]he selection of the former Biden chief of staff was widely seen as a move by Vice president-elect Biden to protect his seat for" his son Beau, who is presently deploying to Iraq.

There will be an election in 2010 for Delaware voters to decide who will fill the final four years of Biden's term. Montgomery writes that the choice reflects a snubbing of Lt. Gov. John Carney; one Delaware professor suggests in the News Journal story that it will be viewed by some as "a backroom deal."

The new administration about to sweep into Washington, DC, is destined to do more than just change the face of the executive branch, it’s going to have a potentially profound impact on the Senate as well.

Already, President-elect Barack Obama has resigned his seat, leaving it up to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to select a replacement. A slew of potential cabinet choices could mean more changes should New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry or even Republican Dick Lugar from Indiana make the jump.

One other certain new face will come from Delaware, where Vice Presidential-elect Joe Biden has yet to formally resign his seat. There has been speculation that he would like to see his son, state Attorney General Beau Biden fill his seat (to which he was just re-elected this year). But the younger Biden has taken himself out of the running, according to a statement yesterday evening. On his way to Iraq as part of the state’s National Guard, Beau Biden had this to say: “I have not sought and will not accept an appointment to the United States Senate. … I look forward to returning to my work as attorney general of the state of Delaware.”

Just two weeks after losing his campaign for the presidency, Arizona Senator John McCain is setting up a political action committee to begin raising money for his re-election in 2010, the AP reports, citing unnamed sources. During the campaign, McCain’s future was much discussed and many political observers wondered whether he would stay in the Senate or retire from the political scene.

There has been speculation that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D) might be interested in running for the Senate in a state that is trending more Democratic. McCain ended up winning his home state comfortably but it was close enough heading into Election Day that Democratic nominee Barack Obama ran ads there. An early decision by McCain on his 2010 race might help fend off potential opponents.

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, the man who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, will soon know whether that party will allow him to continue to serve as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee or whether he’ll be stripped of that position.

Lieberman, who changed his party affiliation to run as an independent in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary, has organized with Democrats since winning re-election and in doing so, gave the party its majority status. Lieberman also served as one of the most enthusiastic and high-profile supporters of Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign and spoke at the GOP convention, something that has infuriated many in his former party.

With Democrats having picked up an additional six Senate seats in the election (with three races yet to be decided), Lieberman’s value to the party has decreased substantially. They no longer need his vote to claim a majority and plenty of party faithful would like to see him stripped of his committee chairmanship for backing McCain. So Senate Democrats tomorrow will vote, by secret ballot, on whether to do just that, the Hartford Courant reports.

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