Breaking AP/Politico: Coleman Leads Franken By Just Two Votes

Coleman leads Franken by just 2 votes

By JOSH KRAUSHAAR | 12/18/08 8:27 PM EST

Two votes is all that stands between Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, according to the Associated Press tally in the state’s still-unresolved Senate race.

Coleman’s shrinking lead, combined with a state Supreme Court decision handed down Thursday, has suddenly heightened the prospects that Franken, who has trailed in every count since Election Night, could end up winning the seat after all the votes are counted.

Thursday’s court ruling dealt a blow to Coleman, who had filed suit to prevent rejected absentee ballots from being counted, but Republicans took solace in the court’s order to establish a uniform standard for sorting and counting those absentee ballots. Either way, the decision makes it likely the race will remain undecided until next year.

After nearly seven weeks of ballot-counting, partisan attacks and court hearings, the state’s Canvassing Board had hoped to certify a winner by the end of this week. But with hundreds of ballots still to be recounted and now, thanks to Thursday’s court ruling, more absentee ballots to be counted, that prospect is virtually impossible.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who chairs the five-member Canvassing Board, said Thursday that the board may not finish ruling on disputed ballots until December 30 because of a recent influx of new challenges brought by the Coleman campaign.

More: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16732.html