Minnesota Recount Mired in Challenges

The marathon recount in the Senate race in Minnesota is crawling toward a resolution with incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman still ahead of comedian-writer Al Franken by an estimated 210 votes out of 2.9 million ballots cast. The process has been further complicated as the number of ballots challenged by the candidates surged yesterday to 3,000, and those disputes won't be decided for another month, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Some 1,000 votes have already been thrown out for each candidate because of challenges. The Coleman camp is "satisfied" with where things stand now, even though his lead is shrinking, said his recount attorney. Franken's side claims its count has revealed that Coleman's already slim lead is lower than estimated and will continue to drop into double digits—but declined to specify a number.
(More Senate stories.)