Politics | Senate race Franken Is 'Likely to Win' Recount: Expert Badly filled-out ballots could spell victory in Minnesota Senate race By Rob Quinn Posted Nov 18, 2008 6:47 AM CST Copied Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken, right, and his wife, Franni, vote at Central Lutheran Church Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) Bumbling Democratic voters in Minnesota are likely to hand Al Franken a win, a political scientist tells the Huffington Post. The professor estimates that as many as 10,000 voters voided their ballots by circling a name or marking an X instead of filling in a circle. But Minnesota considers the "intent" of voters during recounts, and more unrecorded votes are in Democratic areas. "If someone put a gun to my head and said, 'You have to bet,' I would bet Franken," the Dartmouth University analyst said. "It won't be a wipe-out. Two hundred votes is effectively tied.” However, he said, Democrats “in this case” tend to screw up their ballots more often than Republicans. Read These Next Actor Michael Madsen is dead at 67. Soccer star Diogo Jota is killed in a car crash. A teen pilot landed on his 7th continent and immediately got detained. Who added bill's proposed tax on clean energy? No one knows. Report an error