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Nov 11, 2008 5:55 pm US/Central
Minn. Senate Campaigns Readying For Recount Effort
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
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An automatic statewide recount is due to start next Wednesday to determine if Norm Coleman's 206-vote lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken will stand. (File)
Chip Somodevilla & Robin Beck / AFP/Getty Images
Ahead of next week's recount of 2.9 million ballots in Minnesota's tight Senate race, the campaigns of Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken are recruiting hundreds of observers and lawyers to keep watch over the process.
The secretary of state's office is still firming up details for the largest-ever recount in Minnesota history, needed to determine if Coleman's current 206-vote lead will stand. The recount is likely to unfold beginning Nov. 19 in 100 to 110 locations around the state, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann said Tuesday.
That means the campaigns will need sizable recount teams, which both campaigns hope will be made up mostly of volunteers.
The Coleman campaign's lead lawyer, Fritz Knaak, said his side wants to have one or two observers and a lawyer at each location where the votes will be counted again.
"My preference is to keep this, to the extent we can, with Minnesotans," Knaak said, adding that there could be lawyers from outside the state involved in the effort. "We will do what's necessary to make sure the ground is covered."
Knaak said the campaign will be training its monitors between now and next week.
Jess McIntosh, a Franken spokeswoman, didn't make any campaign advisers available for an interview.
"We're assembling a team of supporters, staff, volunteers, and legal counsel to ensure that the hand count is conducted fairly and that every vote is counted properly," McIntosh said in a written statement. "We will cover every site, and we'll be providing more details about our operation in the coming days."
An e-mail blast sent Tuesday from Franken's campaign manager put out an urgent plea for volunteer observers who, among other things, can "stand on their feet for hours at a time." The request also seeks housing for volunteers and staff involved in the recount.
On Wednesday, the secretary of state's office plans to provide a preliminary list of recount locations and times when each phase will occur. A schedule previously announced indicated that the recount and consideration of challenged ballots would stretch well into December.
Gelbmann said elections offices in most of Minnesota's 87 counties have agreed to conduct the recount of votes cast in their jurisdiction, with some delegating the job to cities. State officials have said they would pay the local entities three cents per ballot to defray costs.
"My guess is the counties definitely don't make money on that, but we're trying to limit how much they actually lose," Gelbmann said.
The recount will begin a day after the state canvassing board meets to certify statewide election results. The current vote difference between Coleman and Franken is well within the automatic recount law, which is triggered in races decided by a half-percentage point or less.
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Norm Coleman was born in New York City in 1949. Al Franken was born in New York City in 1951.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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