MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Supreme Court is giving counties a couple more days to sort as many as 1,600 improperly rejected absentee ballots before sending them to the Secretary of State to be included in the U.S. Senate recount.
The high court on Wednesday ordered counties to deliver those ballots to St. Paul by Jan. 2, three days later than the court had initially ordered. That's after an agreement by the two campaigns and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.
The court is ordering Ritchie's office to count the ballots no later than Jan. 4.
The campaigns will be allowed to challenge the official count during that process, after which the state Canvassing Board will reconvene to rule on those challenges.
They make up one of the last remaining piles of votes to count in the unsettled race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. Franken holds a current lead of 47 votes.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
