Politics

ST. PAUL (AP) ― Attention in Minnesota's Senate recount shifted back to the local level Tuesday as the campaigns and election officials began determining which unopened absentee ballots should be included in a race Democrat Al Franken now leads by 49 votes.

By this time next week, the state board overseeing the recount expects to declare a winner in the bruising campaign between Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member, and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

Minnesota's race is on track to go down as the closest Senate election in U.S. history. Franken's current lead is two one-thousandths of a percent. Put another way, that's one vote for every 58,395 cast.

At the state Capitol Tuesday, the Canvassing Board finished allocating thousands of ballots that had been held up due to candidate challenges. While Franken's lead was put at 50 in the morning, the secretary of state's office revised that figure to 49 Tuesday evening.

"We have been playing a long game. We are well into the fourth quarter. We are a few yards from the end zone, but we feel good about being able to get it in," said Marc Elias, a top attorney for Franken.

Coleman attorney Tony Trimble insisted his client could still overtake Franken, either during the count of absentee ballots or in a court case that's almost certain to follow the recount. Coleman's campaign has alleged irregularities in the counting of some ballots in Democratic strongholds.

"We're faced with an artificial Franken lead," he said.

Coleman's hopes of winning the recount outside a court case now ride on a pool of improperly rejected absentee ballots that will be opened in St. Paul on Saturday.

The stack of ballots that could be opened hovers around 1,350. But that number could shrink during a dozen regional meetings where the campaigns can object to the inclusion of any ballot.

What's more, Coleman argues that another 650 should be under consideration; they mostly come from areas where the senator did well in the election. Both sides accused the other of trying to manipulate the vote count by advancing absentee ballots expected to contain votes for their side.

Minnesota has four legal reasons for rejecting an absentee ballot: If the voter's name and address on the envelope don't match their application; if their signature isn't genuine; if the voter isn't properly registered or eligible; or if the voter has already voted in the election.

The state Supreme Court ordered that rejected absentees be included in cases where the candidates and local officials agreed errors were made, and warned it would sanction the campaigns or their attorneys if they held up ballots that later proved eligible.

The sorting process breezed along in some sites and was choppy in a few others.

Sherburne County officials ran through its 18 ballots and the campaigns allowed 15 to move ahead for counting. Beltrami, Scott and Carver counties also made headway.

In Anoka County, the review never got started because the two campaigns couldn't agree on the universe of ballots to consider. Coleman's camp pressed for a bigger pool and Franken's representatives wouldn't go beyond the 35 ballots officials previously identified as being eligible for counting.

"It's up to the campaigns. There's nothing we can do," said the county's elections manager, Rachel Smith. She said they could try again Wednesday when the process becomes clearer.

Trimble said the Coleman campaign was troubled by inconsistencies from county to county.

"We're seeing the entire process becoming chaotic and questionable," he said during a midday conference call with reporters.

In cases where one side objects, the ballot is set aside and a voter can petition the Supreme Court to allow the ballot to count.

In St. Louis County, Coleman's campaign challenged the inclusion of dozens of the 161 ballots that the county determined were improperly rejected. One of the Coleman challenges belonged to Duluth resident Mary Bell. She told the Duluth News Tribune that her husband served as her witness on the absentee ballot but put a date on the outside of the envelope that didn't match hers.

"He's in the doghouse now," Bell said with a laugh. "But it does make me angry that my vote might not get counted because of this, that they are trying to stop it from being counted."

She wouldn't say who got her Senate vote. That's a common mystery with these ballots because they remain sealed.

The last step in certifying the overall vote totals will occur Monday or Tuesday -- the same day the new Senate convenes.

While the Canvassing Board will sign a certificate noting which candidate got the most votes, it does not constitute an official certificate of election. That must come from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, with a countersignature from Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat. State law appears to prevent one from being issued if the election winds up in court within a week of the Canvassing Board's action.

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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.)