http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/23/congress-senate-minnesota-franken-coleman

Tuesday 23 December 2008
The still unsettled Minnesota senate race between an incumbent Republican and a Democratic comedian is expected to stagger closer to a finish today, when state election officials award votes from a group of about 5,000 ballots that the candidates have opted not to challenge.

When those votes are counted, former Saturday Night Live writer Al Franken is expected to lead Senator Norm Coleman by 48 votes out of 2.9m cast last month. Franken is running for the Democratic Farmer Labour party, as the state branch of the Democratic party is called.

But a number of still-unresolved ballot challenges and claims that some votes were counted twice mean the race remains far from settled.

The lead could still change hands, and Coleman's camp dismissed the latest count showing Franken ahead.

"Al Franken's 'lead' is artificial, and this process is still a long way from being complete," campaign manager Cullen Sheehan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We have no doubt that when these issues are properly resolved, Senator Coleman will be re-elected to the Senate."

Franken's tenuous lead could soon vanish, however.

The state supreme court today will hear arguments from Coleman's side that as many as 130 ballots from Democrat Farmer Labour strongholds were counted twice. Coleman's chances of victory may hinge on whether his attorneys can make a case that some of those should be subtracted from Franken's total.

In addition, an estimated election officials and the campaigns are negotiating how to handle roughly 1,600 absentee ballots that were improperly rejected. Those could shift the election to Coleman.