Franken: Consider 1,600 votes for recount

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken of Minnesota wants nearly 1,600 rejected absentee ballots considered for recount in the disputed election.

The Star Tribune of Mineapolis reported Sunday that nearly half of the requested ballots are ones that incumbent Republican Norm Coleman said he wanted considered. The list was submitted in response to a three-judge panel's Feb. 13 decision that narrowed the field of ballots eligible for trial.

Franken increased the number of absentee ballots that he alone wants counted from 771 to 804, the newspaper noted.

Coleman spokesman Mark Drake called Franken's offer to count those additional ballots after fighting it earlier "the height of hypocrisy."

Franken's motion also said 64 other ballots disappeared during the recount and cost him the same number of votes.

He said 61 mailed ballots that Becker County lost and found three days after the election should be excluded because officials failed to ensure that they were in custody during the time they were missing. Those ballots favored Coleman by 22 votes.

The state Canvassing Board in January certified a 225-vote lead for Franken. Since then, the panel has agreed to add another 24 votes to his total.