| | Senator Ted Stevens' opponent now leading by 814 votes
And: Franken wants rejected absentee data as MN preps recountThe dyspeptic Republican senator convicted of taking gifts may soon be out of a job.
Mark Begich, Sen. Ted Stevens' opponent in the Alaska Senate race, is now leading Stevens by 814 votes -- 132,196 to 131,382 -- with about 40,000 votes left to go. Begich was behind the day after the election but has made up ground as absentee, early and questioned ballots have been added to the pile.
If re-elected, Stevens would become the first convict ever elected to the Senate. If his election fails, Begich would succeed the 40-year Senate veteran.
But if Stevens is elected -- and then kicked out of the Senate by his colleagues as is widely expected, which can be accomplished with a simple majority vote -- Stevens' replacement would be filled in a special election.
"The state Division of Elections tallied about 60,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots from around the state on Wednesday," the Alaska Daily News reported Thursday morning. "The ballots broke heavily in the Democrat's favor, erasing the 3,000-vote lead the Republican Stevens held after election night Nov. 4."
"The state still needs to count at least 15,000 questioned ballots and an estimated 25,000 absentees," the paper added. "With all the absentee votes coming in, this will be one of the biggest turnouts, if not the biggest in terms of ballots cast, the state has ever seen. That's despite questions in the media and on blogs about why turnout appeared low on Election Day."
In Minnesota -- where Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is now in a contested election fight with Democratic comedian Al Franken -- a recount is likely to last at least another month, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Minnesota won't know who won the contested U.S. Senate race until at least mid-December, but now the final arbiters for the recount have been named.
They include a cast of heavy-hitters topped by Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, a former law partner of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, three other high-ranking judges and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a DFLer, who made the selections Wednesday.
The freshly appointed state Canvassing Board will be charged with certifying vote totals Tuesday and, more important, settling differences over disputed ballots once local officials complete their recount.
The resolution of those disputed ballots may decide the winner of the closest Senate contest in the country, although a court challenge may still be in the offing. Update: Franken seeks rejected absentee dataThe Associated Press reported Thursday that Franken's campaign is seeking access to information about voters whose absentee ballots were rejected, even if the rejected ballots would not be able to be included in the recount.
"We are not suing to have these in the count," Franken's lead attorney, Marc Elias, told AP. "We are simply looking for the data so that we can identify people who were legal and lawful voters to ensure their ballots are counted."That data might be useful only in a future lawsuit, since it's not clear that ballots found to be improperly rejected could even be used in the recount administered by state election officials.
Elias, a Washington-based attorney who was general counsel to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, argued that the state canvassing board could rule them eligible. Under questioning, he didn't point to a specific law that allowed for that step. Meanwhile, Roll Call reports that Franken's opponent Norm Coleman has dropped his bid to become the next chairman of the Senate GOP's campaign organization. Coleman has thrown his support behind Texas Sen. John Cornyn to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the paper reports.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would appoint a temporary replacement in Alaska if Sen. Ted Stevens is kicked out of the Senate. A special election is now required to fill Senate seats vacated during a senator's term in Alaska.
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