Alex Foster

Possible good news from Minnesota

By | Wed 5th November 2008 - 5:44 pm

An outside chance for the Dems last night was to take a Senate seat in Minnesota, with comedian and author Al Franken as the Democratic candidate.  You may know Al from his work on Saturday Night Live, his books Lies, and the lying liars who tell them or Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot – or even his walk on part in Bernard Goldberg’s seminal work 100 People who are Screwing Up America (Al Franken is #37).

All seemed lost for Franken as the race in Minnesota tightened and tightened and eventually it seemed his GOP rival had overtaken. AP called it for the Reps about two hours ago.

And then… AP uncalled their declaration:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press is uncalling the Minnesota Senate race.

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman finished ahead of Democrat Al Franken early Wednesday in the final vote count, but his 571-vote margin falls within the state’s mandatory recount law. That law requires a recount any time the margin between the top two candidates is less than one-half of one percent.

The AP called the race prematurely.

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the recount won’t begin until mid-November at the earliest and will probably stretch into December. It will involve local election officials from around the state.

Many Lib Dems will no doubt have their own recount horror stories, but it is unusual in the UK to defer recounting for weeks.

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This entry was posted in LDVUSA.
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