Minnesota Senate Recount -- update 3

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, it goes on... and on... and on...

With 82 percent of ballots recounted, Norm Coleman has a lead of 231 votes over Al Franken. (Check out the Star Tribune's recount news page here. County-by-county results are here.)

And it's a long way from being over. So far, there have been 3,626 ballot challenges (1,853 by Coleman, 1,773 by Franken).

And there's still the question of rejected absentee ballots. This morning, the State Canvassing Board "unanimously voted... to deny the Franken campaign's request that rejected absentee ballots be included in the recount." However, "the board members stressed that they weren't rejecting the merits of the arguments made by Franken's attorneys. They also made it clear they expect the issue to be litigated separately from the recount procedure."

In other words, there's the recount... and then the litigation. Ultimately, this race may very well be decided in the courts.

(For our previous posts on the recount, see here.)

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This photo from the Star Tribune seems to capture the whole process: "Ramsey County election judge Ann Berres took a moment upon hearing her table would need to count again."