Jan 7, 2009 10:47 pm US/Central
Reality Check: Timeline Of Senate Recount
(WCCO)
More than two months ago Minnesota voters went to the polls to cast their ballots of U.S. Senator, yet there still isn't one serving the state in Washington, D.C. So how did Republican Norm Coleman's election night lead slip away? And where did Democrat Al Franken pick up all those votes?
A turbulent, too-close-to-call election night had incumbent Coleman claiming a 700-plus vote victory and urging Franken to concede.
"I can only speak for me. If you ask me what I would do, I would step back. I just think the need for the healing process is so important," Coleman said on election night.
Twenty-four hours later, counties calibrated results and Coleman's lead narrows by more than half. It narrows again when counties report official results Nov. 10.
The week before Thanksgiving, Coleman leads Franken by 215 votes. The state Canvassing Board meets for the first time, officially setting in motion a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots.
The hand recount begins a big turnaround for Franken, and for the next seven weeks, Coleman's lead begins to drop.
A major turning point for the recount was one week before Christmas when the Minnesota Supreme Court, over Coleman's objection, orders the counting of mistakenly rejected absentee ballots.
Thousands of challenged ballots are reviewed by the Canvassing Board. Now Franken is in the lead and settles at 225 votes over Coleman when absentee ballots are opened.
In the end, Franken gains 1056 more votes than he had on election night, picking up 575 of them -- in just three Minnesota counties -- Hennepin, Ramsey, and St. Louis.
"I am proud to stand before you as the next Senator from Minnesota," Franken declared on Jan. 5.
Two turbulent months after the election, Franken claims Minnesota's Senate seat as his own.
"At this moment I may not have a working office in D.C. or in St. Paul, but I still have my voice in Minnesota and I certainly plan to use it," Coleman said on Jan. 6.
Norm Coleman is no longer a Senator with his term expired and his office closed. He is challenging the recount in court. Minnesota, with only one Senator in Washington, D.C., is waiting.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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