Franken Gains in Minnesota Senate Race
Just when things seemed to be tilting in Sen. Norm Coleman's direction, things snapped back toward challenger Al Franken yesterday.
As reported by the Star-Tribune:
Franken unexpectedly picked up 37 votes due to a combined machine malfunction and human error on Election Day that left 171 Maplewood ballots safe, secure but uncounted until Tuesday's final day of recounting in Ramsey County. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office immediately asked county officials to explain what had happened, and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign said it sent its own experts to Ramsey County to review the situation and said it was "skeptical about [the ballots'] sudden appearance."
The day's other news -- which Franken's campaign quickly described as a "breakthrough" -- came when Ritchie's office asked local election officials to examine an estimated 12,000 rejected absentee ballots and determine whether their rejection fell under one of four reasons for rejection defined in state law. The Secretary of State's office asked that ballots that were rejected for something other than the four legal reasons be placed into a so-called "fifth category." The fifth category, Ritchie's office said, could also include absentee ballots rejected for reasons that were "not based on factual information."
Franken's campaign has for quite some time been trying to drag rejected absentee ballots into the recount, so far without success.
In a press conference today, the Franken campaign claimed it now has a lead of 22 votes. The Star-Tribune newspaper reports a 295 vote lead for Coleman. I believe the difference is that the Franken campaign assumes all challenges to votes will be rejected, while the newspaper count does not count challenged ballots in either candidate's total. My guess is that the truth lies somewhere in between.
So what does all this mean?
The race is back in pure toss up status. If additional absentee ballots are counted, then perhaps Franken is a slight favorite.
