Can We Still Get Senator Al Franken?Paul Hogarthbyline‚ Dec. 16‚ 2008The last unresolved election of 2008 may finally come to a close this week, as the Minnesota State Canvassing Board meets today for the U.S. Senate recount. While the current tally gives Republican incumbent Norm Coleman a 188-vote lead, recent events suggest that Democrat Al Franken may emerge victorious. First, the Canvassing Board made two critical decisions last week that will help Franken: (a) count the 133 missing ballots from Minneapolis, and (b) request that counties find which absentee ballots were improperly rejected. The latter is key, because it will add about 1,600 votes – prompting Coleman to pull another Florida by suing to stop the count. Now the Canvassing Board must review the roughly 3,000 “challenged” ballots (most of whom are frivolous and the voter intent is clear), and plans to complete the job by Friday. But while the Associated Press predicts Franken could net about 300 votes through this step, a bigger yield should come from the absentees. Which is why Coleman has tried to stop them from being counted. |