Minn. Senate Race Tightens In Recount

With 66 Percent Of Ballots Re-Examined GOP Incumbent Leads By 167 Votes, But Challenges Remain

(CBS/AP)  The weekend isn't bringing any respite in the Minnesota Senate recount.

Ballots in the ultra-close race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken were counted in at least three counties Saturday. While Coleman's razor-thin margin over Franken has narrowed since the recont began, it grew slightly in Saturday's count, from 115 to 167 votes.

About 73 percent of precincts have reported complete results to the secretary of state, with only a few dozen counties remaining. As of Saturday night, about 66 percent of the estimated 2.9 million ballots had gotten a second look.

Coleman entered the recount with a 215-vote edge over Franken. That lead has dropped to 167 votes when comparing totals in precincts where the new count is complete. But the figure doesn't include ballot challenges, which have caused vote tallies for both men to drop.

There have been 1,893 challenges between the campaigns, some could be withdrawn before the Canvassing Board's Dec. 16 meeting.

Officials for Coleman and Franken said Friday they'll review the hundreds of challenges they've made so far in their Senate race recount - and withdraw some - before the state Canvassing Board meets next month to consider them. Still, both campaigns introduced hundreds of new challenges Saturday.

Minnesota's Senate battle is one of two that are unresolved, with Georgia's headed for a Dec. 2 run-off. If Democrats win both, they would have a 60 seat majority in the Senate.

The mounting pile of challenged ballots is becoming a significant factor in the overtime Senate race. It has nibbled into the vote totals of Coleman and Franken compared with the precinct-by-precinct counts on Nov. 4.

The comparison is made possible because counties are reporting recount numbers that compare directly with their precincts' Nov. 4 results.

However, those numbers are expected to shift daily until the counties complete their work.

And the final outcome will likely rest on the 1,893 ballot challenges filed by the two campaigns, due to be taken up by a special canvassing board Dec. 16.

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See results from the Minnesota Secretary of State's Web Site.

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At dueling news conferences Friday, both campaigns accused the other of overzealous challenges. They held up examples of ballots that have an obvious mark for their candidate and no other disqualifying attributes.

Marc Elias, the lead Franken lawyer, ran through a stack of 10 photocopied ballots from Fillmore County, where Coleman volunteers lodged 27 challenges. Some that included Franken votes on the same ballot as a presidential vote for Republican John McCain were challenged on the basis of "voter intent."

"It must be heartbreaking for the people down there that there are people who voted for John McCain who didn't also want to vote for Norm Coleman," Elias said.

Hours later, Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan addressed reporters in a room where the walls were plastered with more than 50 copied challenged ballots from Meeker County that they called frivolous. Most had Coleman's oval clearly filled in but were flagged anyway.

Sheehan accused Franken's volunteers of making excessive challenges to whittle away the 215-vote lead Coleman held going into the recount. Challenged ballots don't figure into each candidate's vote total as results are reported daily by the secretary of state.

"They need to show from the public perspective that they are gaining momentum and it is not reality," Sheehan said. "It's simply that they're challenging more ballots."

Through Saturday, Franken volunteers had challenged 945 ballots; Coleman volunteers had challenged 948.

Sheehan and Elias said there have been no formal discussions between the campaigns about steps that could be taken to reduce the pile of disputed ballots that will go to the five-member Canvassing Board for final rulings. But both said they anticipated weak challenges would be pulled by then.

[tapittwice]

Its a very close race and unlike the Florida fiasco, Minnesota should do whatever it can to get the result right! This means counting all votes where intent is clear, voting for Mc Cain for President and Frankin for Senator should not be grounds for disqualifying a ballot, thats whats called Checkes and Balances, are our political leaders so petty and power driven that they think a lame excuse like that is really gonna fly ? I guess I need to remind people like Norm Coleman that in an actual democracy these things just happen..sometimes people DONT like you but dont mind the party..Get over it! If you actually won the race fair and square then fine, I can live with that, so why cant you please just let the process run its course and do likewise?

[bks59]

i agree. jesse was a prettty good MN gov. i did get disappointed with him when he did not step up a campaign for Tim Penny when he ran as jesse''s predescessor on the Independant ticket. and we got ''plurity pawlenty'' has not won more than 50% of the popular vote either election.

[bks59]

as a minnesotan, i have met candidiate Franken, nice man, articulate on the issuses affecting us, sen. coleman, was a democrat, now a replublican, is an oppertunist and shifts with the wind, go away Norm (coleman)

Odds are against colemean actually, the only US Senator, Minnesoata has elected twice in the twenty years i have been here, was Sen Wellstone, his plane crashed 10 days prior to the 2002 election.

[heidimt]

Quetionnews......MN''s are far better at electing officials than a state a bit farther north. Jesse Ventura, although at times flamboyant, is extremely intelligent. He did alot of good for the state and would be well received by many if he chose to run for office again. Norm Coleman used the Democratic party to get elected Mayor and then dumped on them. He is lock-step with Bush.

[questionnews]

First Jesse Ventura as Gov. and now Franken for Senate??
What''s with Minn. politics? Do they just vote what they think the rest of the nation will laugh at? If that''s the case, they''re right on track for another nation wide snicker.

[heidimt]

I''m with cattlekate. Mr Frankens book about lies & liars is amazing. I have yet to see anyone that he referenced in the book prove that what is printed is inaccurate.

[cheteunice]

I''m sure that the election will be stolen for Franken, so lets get it over.

[questionnews]

If Franken wins, I hope he does better as a Senator than he did as a talk show host. Franken was painful to listen to. Some of the other folks on Air America weren''t too bad, but Franken killed their show.

[aldon61]

I''m really torn on this one. While I would like a filibuster proof senate, Al Franken is way toooooo far to the left to suit me. If the senate leaders feel they can control Al and prevent him from being a loose cannon on deck, then I hope he wins. Without constraints though, Franken would not be a good addition to the senate.

[louiville2]

We are in bad need of gracious democrats. Ain''t going to happen.

[louiville2]

Democrat "Change promsied"?

%u201CDish out a lot of groceries and coal, Get my boys to bring the voters out, and then count the votes over and over again until they add up right%u201D- Chicago Gangster Johnny Rocco, Key Largo. 1948

[lady_organs]

Good christians, let us pray the recount gives the victory to Gods candidate.

[irmcvet97]

TI WOULD BE OK TO ELECT A COMEDIAN TO THE SENATE...IF HE WAS FUNNY...BUT FRANKEN REALLY ISN''''T.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT HIS WRITING AND ACTING FOR SNL WAS PRETTY UNFUNNY.


Posted by KristianInAL at 07:07 AM : Nov 24, 2008

So you would vote for someone who supported the WORST President in our HISTORY? Hey, I''ll take a Bad Comedian ANY DAY!

[cattlekate]

Franken was one of the first authors to give us books explaining what the Bush Admin was doing to us. I hope he wins, as he seems sincerely concerned about the corruption, cronyism, and lies the Powerful Bush&Co members engage in.

[babooph]

For many years I was wowed by republican senators lauding their hero George W Bush-they have been VERY quiet for a year now-they loved him for 8 years prior though !!

[asamiller]

I can''t believe how childish some of the comments are here. The power of a blog is in creating dialogue. What kind of dialogue is well served by a lot of unprincipled name calling? Time use the new technology to make a better world.

[stevex47]

Does anybody know what happened to the nazi party after their loss in WW2?

Wasit allowed to continue legally?

[ford555551]

Norm Croockman is nothing but a Croock and I still believe, he had something to do with Paul Wellstone''s death. The Neo Nazi''s (Republicans) are defeated badly. All neo nazis of Minnesota will be shipped to SC, MS, GA where they belong.

[clathrate]

Rowdy, do you honestly DO anything (other than kvetch and **** and moan about everything)?

Nobody is listening to your wild-eyed rants. If you''re so upset, go do something productive with your time. Making up garbage and posting it on here is just lame.

[rbyanes]

Is Rowdy still pushing that GOP/right wing claptrap? Honestly, dude, quit sucking your thumb. We put up with your ridiculous president for eight years: Welcome to a great four years of Obama.