Franken Likely to Pick Up Votes Where No Vote Was Detected - WSJ.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122766278026358823.

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NOVEMBER 26, 2008

Franken Likely to Pick Up Votes Where No Vote Was Detected

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By JUNE KRONHOLZ

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Democrats' best shot of winning a 59th seat in the U.S. Senate may
depend on Minnesota ballots that don't seem to have been cast for either major party's
candidate.

Most of these 35,000 ballots were probably cast by voters who abstained because they didn't
like either comedian Al Franken, a Democrat, or incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman,
political experts said. But vote-counting machines also may not have read valid markings on a
few of the 2.9 million ballots cast on Election Day. Where that is the case, some political
experts said, the hand recount now under way is likely to favor Mr. Franken.

A win by Mr. Franken would leave the

Questionable Ballots?
Democrats one seat short of the 60 they
would need to override Republican
opposition to their legislative agenda. A
runoff on Tuesday will decide the winner of
Georgia's Senate seat, the final outstanding
race from the Nov. 4 election.

The Minnesota secretary of state's Web site

reported Tuesday night that with 80% of the
ballots recounted, Sen. Coleman had about a
2,500-vote lead over Mr. Franken. That lead
has shrunk by about 15,000 votes since
Monday. Sen. Coleman was about 200 votes
ahead after ballots initially were machine People Who Viewed This Also Viewed...
counted after the election. On WSJ.com In My Network

Mr. Franken is likely to pick up more votes in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Some rural counties, Minnesota Recount Is Under Way
where Sen. Coleman is favored, aren't scheduled to begin their recounts until just before the
The Battle for Minnesota Is Just Getting Started
Dec. 5 deadline.
Al Franken's Minnesota
Each candidate so far has challenged about 1,800 votes that elections judges have awarded to
the other side. That raises the possibility of a prolonged battle that could move to state court Law Blog Chats with Marc Elias, Lawyer for Al Franken
and draw the U.S. Senate into helping decide the outcome of a race for the first time since Franken Gets Bump in Ballot Count
1974.

Minnesota uses optical scanners to read most of its ballots, and the chances that the scanners Video
misread many votes are fairly slim, elections experts said. But the election could turn on the
ballots where scanners didn't detect any vote. Minnesota voters, like those in many other
states, fill in a bubble next to their candidate's name. Typically, the scanner doesn't pick up the
preference on a few ballots because the bubble isn't fully filled in or the marking is too light.
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Dartmouth College political scientist Michael Herron, who studied the Minnesota returns, said Insiders, Warren on Gay Vilsack, Salazar
such "residual" votes were more common in the state's Democratic precincts and those with Outsiders in Marriage, for Cabinet
Administration Abortion, Torture 1:25
lots of African-American and elderly voters. 2:39 3:45

In the hand recount, election workers eyeball each ballot for markings that indicate a voter's

1 of 3 12/19/2008 10:36 AM
Franken Likely to Pick Up Votes Where No Vote Was Detected - WSJ.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122766278026358823.html

intent. Dr. Herron said Mr. Franken's vote pickup suggests that the trend is in his favor, but
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with only one-quarter of the ballots left to count, "it's not clear yet that there are enough" votes
to overcome Sen. Coleman's lead. Obama Keen to Regulate Finance
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The contested ballots -- many of which are likely to be residual votes -- go next to the state's
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five-person canvassing board, which will begin its review of the ballots on Dec. 19. Before that,
the board will hear a Franken challenge to the state's longtime practice of rejecting absentee Regulator Schapiro to Run SEC for Obama
ballots that were mailed in without required signatures or with other errors. The Presidential Pickup Game

The state hasn't tabulated how many of those ballots there are. A state judge ruled Nov. 19 in
a suit brought by Mr. Franken that the candidates are entitled to the names of those rejected Most Popular
voters. It is up to the canvassing board to decide whether to count the ballots, which also could
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be decisive if there are enough of them.

The canvassing board must certify either Sen. Coleman or Mr. Franken as the winner before 1. More California Towns Face Bankruptcy
one of them can take the Senate seat. Certification could be delayed past the opening of 2. How Apple Could Survive Without Steve Jobs
Congress in January if the loser challenges the recount, the decision on the absentee ballots or
another part of the process in state court.
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In that case, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty could fill the seat with a temporary appointee, said
Jim Gelbmann, the deputy secretary of state. The Senate also could fill the seat with its own 5. Oil Falls Below $37; Stocks Down
choice, but that is unlikely because of the political uproar it could cause.
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After the 1974 election, when two votes separated candidates for a New Hampshire seat, the
full Senate spent six weeks haggling over 35 disputed ballots before the candidates agreed
between themselves to a revote.

The chances of such an amicable settlement seem slim in Minnesota, where the candidates
have turned out hundreds of lawyers and volunteers to monitor the recount. In perhaps the
largest hand recount ever, two election officials count the ballots into piles of 25, then hand
them to another pair of officials to count again as campaign workers count along.

Write to June Kronholz at june.kronholz@wsj.com

MORE IN POLITICS

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Franken Likely to Pick Up Votes Where No Vote Was Detected - WSJ.com http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122766278026358823.html

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