Coleman/Franken Recount Update

Oh, what a mess this is becoming. The Coleman campaign started out challenging far more ballots than the Franken campaign (these votes are then deducted from Franken's total) so the Franken campaign responded by challenging more ballots and away they went. This challenge arms race escalated consistently throughout the recount. Meanwhile, there is another mess happening with some absentee ballots the Franken campaign wants counted (but they haven't been).

Where does all this leave us? With the hand recount winding down, the real game is about to begin. There are expected to be roughly 7,000 challenged ballots that the statewide canvassing board will have to deal with. Many of these ballots are frivolous challenges from one side or the other. According to the Star Tribune, Coleman now leads by 340 votes but if there is something systematic about the greater frivolity of challenges on one side or the other (several outlets believe the Coleman campaign challenges have included some particularly frivolous challenges that will easily be overturned), the outcome could easily change.

Think that's messy? Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The Franken campaign is starting to make noises about challenging the issue of the excluded absentee ballots to the full U.S. Senate and Harry Reid is sounding receptive to the idea. Yow.