Minnesota recount enters second week

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Results of the recount in the hotly contested Minnesota U.S. Senate race should go to the state's canvassing board in early December, officials said.

The recount of the state's nearly 3 million votes in the race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken has gone well, spokesmen for both campaigns told Minnesota Public Radio.

"Everybody seems to be doing their job very well indeed," said Fritz Knaak, Coleman's lead attorney. "We're very pleased with elections officials overall."

Coleman led by 167 votes as of Sunday evening, the St. Paul Pioneer Press said on its Web site. About 65 percent of the ballots were recounted and 1,893 ballots were challenged when that update was posted.

Once the state finishes its recount -- official say they're shooting for Dec. 5 -- the state's canvassing board will review the results and examine and rule on challenged ballots before determining who won.

"I'm not going to speculate on where things could go and where things wouldn't go after that," said Mark Elias, a lawyer working for the Franken campaign. "We are taking it step-by-step and letting the process play out."

But the candidate who loses the recount could take the matter to court for what's called an election contest, MPR said. Both campaigns said they expect their rival will go to court rather than accept a loss.