Franken inches closer to winning Minnesota

November 22, 12:47 AMCongress ExaminerIgor Derysh

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Al Franken could be the favorite in MN recount

The Minnesota Senate recount of an incredibly close election continued today as the state reports having completed counting 64% of the nearly three million votes. As of today, incumbent Repupublican Senator Norm Coleman's lead of 215 votes on election day has whittled away to 120 votes over Al Franken, representing the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party.

Coleman, who had originally bashed Franken for supporting the legally required recount, now admits that he would not have made the same statement knowing what he knows now.

The recount process has been testy at times as both sides have attacked the other for challenging seemingly obvious ballots.

More than 1,500 ballots have been challenged so far, most of them by Norm Coleman's people. With more than 30% left to count, many expect the challenge total to reach well over 2,000 ballots.

With the race being as tight as ever, the election will undoubtedly be decided by the Minnesota State Canvassing Board who has the challenge of determining the voter intent of the challenge ballots.

While Coleman continues to lead in the recount, Franken is aided by the fact that previously unrecorded ballots will be counted. More than 34,000 voters who had "invalidated" their ballots by incorrectly marking the ballot which required the voter to fill in the circle will be counted in the recount but were not counted during the election. A Dartmouth University study believes that this is the key element that will ultimately win the election for Al Franken.