Al Franken picked up a net 43 votes on Norm Coleman in the first day of the recount. Both candidates' vote totals have dropped due to challenges -- but here too, Franken may have a small advantage:Although Franken gained ground relative to Coleman, in actuality both candidates have fewer votes than they began the day with. This is because of the "challenge" process in which representatives of either candidate may challenge any ballot for any reason, which will subsequently be reviewed one at a time by Minnesota's canvassing board in December. Challenges can occur to ballots that had previously been deemed to be legal, in which case those votes will be deducted from the opponent's total. Coleman has thus far challenged 115 ballots and Franken 106. However, based on local reports, many or perhaps most of the challenges are frivolous, and are unlikely to be upheld upon review. Thus, the candidate who has challenged fewer ballots probably stands to gain ground once such challenges are adjudicated. Today is Day 2 -- more challenges to come, with the entire city of Minneapolis (almost certain not to help Norm Coleman in any way, shape or form) still to be recounted. Yesterday's recounted areas skewed ever so slightly to Coleman's side of the ledger. However, given the sample size of the data we're talking about here, who the heck knows what's going to happen today? |
