Recount For Franken Coleman In Minnesota

The race for Minnesota's U.S. Senate spot has got into an automatic recount. The race between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken will require a recount - but the Senator does have appear to have a slim margin

The Senator declared himself the winner after Tuesday's election but Franken said he would let the recount play out, hoping it would erase the incumbent's 475-vote lead out of nearly 2.9 million ballots. State officials said the recount wouldn't start until mid-November and would probably take weeks.

"Yesterday the voters spoke. We prevailed," Coleman said Wednesday at a news conference. He noted Franken could opt to waive the recount.

"It's up to him whether such a step is worth the tax dollars it will take to conduct," Coleman said, telling reporters he would "step back" if he were in Franken's position. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the recount would cost 3 cents per ballot, or almost $90,000.

As counties and Ritchie's office reconciled their unofficial vote totals Wednesday, Coleman's margin fluctuated but was at 475 votes Wednesday afternoon: Coleman had 1,211,642 votes, or 41.99 percent of the total votes cast, while Franken had 1,211,167 votes, or 41.98 percent.

Dean Barkley of the Independence Party was third with 15.16 percent.

Minnesota state law allows automatic recounts in races decided by a half-percentage point or less.

Al Franken is an Emmy Award–winning American comedian, writer and progressive political commentator. e gained fame as a writer and a performer for Saturday Night Live, eventually writing and appearing in several films. Since then, Franken has become more known for his political commentary, writing numerous bestselling books and hosting a nationally-syndicated radio show on Air America Radio.

On February 14, 2007, Franken announced his candidacy for the 2008 United States Senate election in Minnesota as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and was nominated by that party on June 7, 2008.[1] The seat is currently held by Norm Coleman.