Senate may open without Minn. seat

MINNEAPOLIS -- The recount of Minnesota's Senate election will continue into next year and may still be underway when the new Congress begins to consider an economic stimulus bill early next month.

Minnesota's race, which pit Republican Sen. Norm Coleman against Democrat Al Franken, was the Senate's most expensive contest and is the only race still undecided from the Nov. 4 election.

Preliminary recount results show Franken leading Coleman by 47 votes out of about 2.9 million cast, but that does not include as many as 1,600 absentee ballots that were incorrectly rejected by local officials on Nov. 4.

Minnesota's Supreme Court ordered that those ballots be counted. Either campaign may challenge individual absentee ballots during that process.

The chairman of the state canvassing board that has overseen the recount said Tuesday that tallying the final round of disputed ballots may take until Jan. 6, the day Congress reconvenes.

"We are not in any way guided by any Washington consideration (or) timeline," said Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat, who chairs the board. "These folks have people's lives in their hands."

Even if state officials hit the target, a lawsuit filed by either campaign could further delay their ability to certify the winner.

That could leave Minnesota with a vacant Senate seat as Congress starts work on key bills, including an economic stimulus package that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, says could cost $600 billion or more. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have said they hope to finish the bill in time for President-elect Barack Obama to sign shortly after he is sworn in.

Senate Democrats may also have to deal with the Illinois seat left vacant by Obama. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested by federal authorities this month and is accused of trying to profit from his power to appoint a replacement.

Both Republicans and Democrats have called for a special election to fill that seat, but it is unclear how Obama's replacement will be named while Blagojevich remains in power.