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Dec 8, 2008 12:22 pm US/Central

Franken Retracts More Ballot Challenges

ST. PAUL (AP) ― Democrat Al Franken is pulling back another 425 of the ballots he's challenging in the Minnesota Senate recount, bringing the total he's retracted to more than 1,000.

His campaign challenged almost 3,300 ballots during the recount of 2.9 million ballots cast in the election, but last week he started canceling them by the hundreds. He's now repealed nearly one third.

Campaign attorney Marc Elias says he doesn't know how many of those canceled challenges will turn into votes for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and how many were unclear ballots where Franken was trying to win a vote.

Coleman's campaign has announced it would give up 650 challenges, leaving him with 2,750.

When Election Day totals are put side by side with the recounted tallies, Coleman holds a 192-vote lead.

A five-member board will meet Dec. 16 to begin reviewing the disputed ballots.

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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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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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