Democrat Al Franken, locked in an overtime election battle with incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, said today that he is pushing ahead with the recount of Tuesday's voting. "No, no," Franken said in an interview on Minnesota Public Radio late this morning, when asked whether he'll waive his right to a recount, as Coleman has urged him to do. "This is the closest Senate race in Minnesota history. This is just part of the process to make sure that every vote is counted fairly."If the recount confirms that he has come up short, Franken said, "I'll be the first to congratulate Senator Coleman."
Meanwhile, the margin between Coleman and Franken has been dwindling today. The latest unofficial results collected by the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office of Tuesday's vote now show Coleman with a 236-vote lead over Franken. That's down from 725 Wednesday morning. The Secretary of State's Office website has adjusted those numbers several times since Tuesday night, most often tightening the gap. The official tally will come once the state canvassing board meets Nov. 18. Then the recount follows.
The difference will continue to change slightly over the next week or two as counties go back and double-check their figures, the office has said. As of 7:49 p.m. today, Coleman is credited with 1,211,542 votes (41.99 percent) to Franken's 1,211,306 (41.98 percent). As to whether the pending recount of the nearly 3 million votes will give him victory, Franken said on MPR: "We don't know, but that's why we count the votes."