Minn. ruling favors Franken as recount looms

Judge denies incumbent's request to block counting some absentee ballots

	Sen. Norm Coleman claims victory in his reelection bid during a news conference on Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn.
Jim Mone / AP

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updated 2:48 a.m. ET Nov. 9, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sen. Norm Coleman has failed in an attempt to block some absentee ballots from being counted in his close race with Democrat Al Franken.

A Ramsey County judge on Saturday denied the request because of lack of jurisdiction. The incumbent Republican had tried to block 32 ballots from heavily Democratic Hennepin County.

Coleman's campaign says the ballots were not counted on Election Day or were not kept in sealed boxes. It says the request was made amid "increasing questions about unexplained and improbable shifts in vote counts."

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The most recent vote tally has Coleman leading Franken by only a couple hundred votes. A recount is planned.