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Nov 25, 2008 6:06 pm US/Central
61 Missing Ballots Found In Becker Co.
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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The ballots were found in a secured cubicle late last week and were not counted in the original total. (File)
CBS
Sixty-one as-yet-uncounted election ballots have been located in Becker County, which could have a significant role in deciding a very close Senate recount.
The Secretary of State's most recently released recount numbers in the race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic rival Al Franken have Coleman ahead by about 18,000 votes with 74 percent of the ballots recounted.
However, those numbers show Franken with a gain of 43 votes compared to the totals reported in the same districts on election night.
The discovered ballots were absentee and mail-in votes. They were found in a secured cubicle late last week and were not counted in the original total.
As per the canvassing board rules, those ballots are eligible for inclusion in the recount numbers.
According to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, both Coleman and Franken's campaigns have acquiesced to the inclusion of those ballots. He added that their inclusion points to the importance of recounts in close races.
"It was really a great story about how the recount works, because you check everything and the procedures work," said Ritchie. "And the transparency, which is letting everybody know what's going on. It's really the basis for keeping the trust in the whole process."
Also in Becker County, 15 ballots have gone missing. Workers there believe it's due to a sorting issue between Spruce Grove Township and Wolf Lake, which vote together.
Ritchie said the recount is, as of Tuesday, proceeding on schedule.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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