Coleman Lead Grows To 215 After Mistake Found In Audit

A mistake discovered in an Elk River precinct has given Norm Coleman 11 more votes and a 215 vote lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken in MInnesota's US Senate race. The new figures come from an audit that will be presented to the State Canvassing Board on Tuesday.  In the audit, three to five random precincts were hand counted in each of Minnesota's Counties.  The audit is done after each Minnesota election to check the accuracy of the voting machines.

Sherburne County had turned in its audit last week showing Coleman had not picked up any votes in the Elk River precinct. Today's correction to the audit did not change the number of votes that were hand counted for Coleman.  It did however change Coleman's electronic ballot count to match the number counted on election night.  In other words, someone had put the hand counted ballot number in the hand counted column AND the electronic counted column.

Tuesday Minnesota's State Canvassing Board will meet to accept the totals and formally order a recount since the difference between the two candidates is less than one-half of one percent.  The UpTake will carry the Canvassing Board meeting live at www.theuptake.org starting at 1pm CT.