Minnesota Senate Race Could Be Over As Board Certifies Franken Win

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - St. Paul, MN (AHN) - The Minnesota Canvassing Board has named Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate Al Franken the winner of the U.S. Senate race recount on Monday. But the battle for the nearly 3 million ballots cast in the race between Franken and incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) is far from over as Coleman is expected to challenge the results in court.

Election officials over the weekend finished the recounting the ballots. On election night Franken trailed by 215 votes but on Monday was declared the winner by 225 votes. The Democrat is unlikely to join his colleagues in the Senate on Tuesday when the new 111th Congress convenes as Coleman's campaign has issued several statements indicating they would go to court.

"We remain convinced that this process is broken and, as a result, the numbers being reported will not be accurate or valid," Coleman campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, told the Washington Post. An unnamed attorney for the Republican senator is quoted by KAAL-TV as saying, "Given the numbers, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't [contest] at this time."

Coleman, a former Democrat who is seeking a second term, has filed several petitions with the state Supreme Court during the recount. The latest was just last Wednesday and asked that roughly 650 rejected absentee ballots be included to the 1,350 wrongly rejected absentee ballots the state was examining at the time. The court has not indicated when it will rule on the lawsuit.

The Minnesota Supreme Court previously ruled in favor of Franken, ordering election officials to count legally-cast absentee ballots that were incorrectly excluded from the race. Coleman had asked the court to block the inclusion of additional ballots until "a uniform standard" is created. The court had also rejected a petition from Coleman to exclude alleged double-counted votes in the statewide recount.

Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV), who is looking to gain a 59-vote majority in his chamber with Franken, told TPM on Sunday, "I believe that tomorrow the bipartisan state canvassing board will certify Al Franken the winner. After all, early on Senator Coleman criticized Al Franken for wanting a recount and wasting taxpayer money. I would hope now that it is clear he lost, that Senator Coleman follow his own advice and not subject the people of Minnesota to a costly legal battle."