Video by Tom Elko of The UpTake
Al Franken is now behind Senator Norm Coleman by 206 votes in Minnesota's very close US Senate race. That margin narrows to 204 votes if you count the votes turned up in a regularly scheduled post-election audit.
A post-election ballot audit of five randomly selected precincts in Ramsey County yielded one more vote for DFL candidate Al Franken and one less vote for Republican incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman. The two-vote swing, in what represents a small fraction of the entire vote in Ramsey County, may not be reflected in the Secretary of State's running tally for days or even weeks.
The ballots are being recounted, not as part of an anticipated state-wide recount in the US Senate race between Franken and Coleman, but as part of normal ballot review done after every election to determine if the optical-scan voting machines recorded accurately.
Many are looking to the post-election ballot review to provide an indication of how the impending state-wide recount may go.
All eyes are on the ballots that are improperly marked. Minnesota has well-established voter intent laws which allow election judges and election managers to determine whether mis-marked ballots show clear intent for one candidate or another. Many of the improperly marked ballots contain an "X" or check mark in the optical-scan sheet's "bubble."</span>
The optical-scan machines have proven to be very effective. <span>In Ward 3 Precinct 5- there were 14 ballots that had been put in the "questionable" pile meaning they were not sure if the optical scanner had read them correctly because they were marked with an X or not fully filled in. Upon further review, 13 of those 14 ballots were counted correctly by the optical scanner.</span>
Of the five randomly selected precincts that were audited in Ramsey County, the results are as follows:
- St. Paul Ward 3 Precinct 13: + 1 vote for Franken
- St. Paul Ward 6 Precinct 5 :+ 2 votes for Franken, and a 1 vote loss for Coleman
- St. Paul Ward 7 Precicnt 14: + 2 votes for Franken
- <span><span>St. Paul Ward 3 precinct 5 : 1 vote loss for Franken, +1 vote for Coleman</span></span>
- <span><span>Roseville Ward 2 : 3 vote loss for Franken, 1 vote loss for Coleman</span></span>
- <span><span>Net change +1 vote for Franken, -1 vote for Coleman = 2 vote swing for Franken.</span></span>
The margin of error for the optical scan machines may be minuscule, but so is the number of votes separating the two candidates.
The latest information out of the Minnesota Secretary of State's office indicates that Coleman leads in the race by a slim 206 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast. That is down from a 221 vote margin on Friday.
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