Politics

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― A recount watchdog for Norm Coleman flags a ballot because the voter put a check next to Al Franken's name instead of blacking in the oval. A Franken monitor challenges an apparent vote for Coleman because Franken's name is also marked. And representatives of both men invoke challenges because of marks elsewhere on the ballot that could make them identifiable.

The pile of disputed ballots in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is growing at a pace sure to dwarf the 215-vote margin prior to the recount. And that makes it tough to tell whether the GOP's Coleman or the Democratic candidate Franken is gaining an edge as the recount progresses.

After two days of counting, results reported to the secretary of state showed Coleman's advantage over Franken fade more. Compared with pre-recount figures, Franken trails Coleman by 129 votes.

Still, there are almost 60 percent of ballots outstanding as part of the 2.9 million ballots being reviewed. Thirty-five of Minnesota's 87 counties told the state they had finished their counts.

As of Thursday, both candidates had lost votes in numerous counties because of challenged ballots. If that continues, it will likely mean a cliffhanger when the state canvassing board meets starting Dec. 16 to rule on challenged ballots.

"My guess is the outcome will be determined by the challenged ballots," Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann said as the recount entered its second day. "The difference between the two candidates at the end of this process will be less than the total number of challenged ballots."

Through two days, the reported total of challenges hit 734 between the two. Franken has challenged slightly more than Coleman. More than a third of the challenges came in two counties regarded as Democratic strongholds -- Hennepin and St. Louis.

In Pipestone County, which started and finished its recount on Wednesday, both candidates lost ground from their pre-recount totals in almost direct correspondence to the number of ballot challenges. Franken lost 10 votes in Pipestone, and Coleman lost 5.

"I think that's going to be true throughout the state as we get further into the recount," said County Auditor Joyce Steinhoff.

Whether most of those challenges are upheld by the canvassing board is a separate matter. Several county auditors said most of the challenges they saw were questionable at best.

"In my mind -- I can only say in my mind -- it was pretty obvious what the voter's intent was with almost all of the ballots they challenged," said Sam Modderman, the auditor in Kandiyohi County, where Coleman lost four votes and Franken held even.

Steinhoff said she saw several challenges she thought were frivolous, but she decided not to push back too hard. "I'd rather have it overruled by the canvassing board, then have them say I deprived them of their right to challenge," she said.

The county officials have the power to question challenges they consider frivolous, but Gelbmann said the secretary of state's office has directed them to give monitors wide latitude to insist such ballots get sent to the canvassing board anyway.

Lawyers from both campaigns said Thursday it was too early to assess the significance of the challenge pile, and both questioned whether the other had gone too far in some cases.

"We have seen examples of challenges that clearly are non-meritorious and will not be upheld by the canvassing board. Where that winds up going, we'll see," said Franken's legal chief, Marc Elias. "Maybe the Coleman campaign was a little overexuberant on Day One."

Coleman's top lawyer, Fritz Knaak, said he expected the number of challenges to be greater. Still, he's on the lookout for "no-brainer Coleman votes" that are winding up in the disputed stack.

"We see some of their challenges and shrug and say 'Where did that come from?"' Knaak said.

The campaigns get copies of the challenged ballots and they can lift their hold on a ballot being counted if they have second thoughts.

Franken's campaign was buoyant Thursday about the way the first day went, with a legal victory over rejected absentee ballots and net gains in many places.

Elias said the campaign's analysis showed pickups in places they said should favor Coleman. "It was a slightly redder pile that was counted yesterday," he said.

The Coleman campaign countered that Democratic strongholds were first out of the gate and that the senator was confident because areas that lean more Republican have yet to be recounted.

"It's a roller-coaster ride, but we totally expected it," said Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan.

He said he feared Franken would make even bigger gains in the Twin Cities and northeastern Minnesota, especially in precincts using older voting equipment.

"The optimism today shown by the Franken campaign is well-deserved after one night of counting, but it is one night of counting," Sheehan said.

Sheehan said they're monitoring instances of "missing" or "found" ballots, where the final precinct counts don't match the number of ballots run through the machines on Election Day.

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