November 19, 2008 According to The New York Times, “The recount in the Minnesota Senate race between the incumbent Republican, Norm Coleman, and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, has begun.
“Coleman had taken the lead after the initial vote on Nov. 4, but the paper-thin margin — a difference of 215 ballots of nearly 3 million votes that were cast — invited an automatic recount.
“A victory by Franken would raise the number of Senate Democrats to 59, only one shy of the 60 needed for a filibuster-proof majority. It would leave just one more Senate race—in Georgia, where the Republican incumbent, Saxby Chambliss, is fighting to hold his seat—to be decided.
“The recount in Minnesota…is scheduled to stretch at least until Dec. 5, when a state board convenes to certify the results. All of the ballots are being counted by hand.”