The Franken-Coleman Senate race reached a pivotal moment this morning, as the MN Canvassing Board rejected Franken's request that absentee ballots rejected by poll workers be included in the recount.
This is rough, rough news for Franken. Th absentee ballots are really the only obvious scenario handing the Dem victory. Ballot challenges, which both Franken and Coleman volunteers seem increasingly addicted to, probably won't matter. It's all about the absentee ballots.
Which means Franken's team will likely deploy litigation to push this battle into 2009.
At the end of the day yesterday, with nearly 80 percent of ballots counted, Coleman was ahead by 238 votes, although the Star Tribune had the lead at 231. The Twin Cities' CityPages has a nice overview of the lay of the land, as does the Minnesota Independent.
The Uptake streamed the chipper five-person Canvassing Board meeting live, and is streaming reactions to it right now. Check it out:
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Jeremy Gantz is an In These Times contributing editor working at Time magazine.
