The Minnesota Senate race, now in its post-election is nothing if not intriguing.
I wrote yesterday evening that Coleman’s margin over Franken had narrowed to just 239. Well, it was down this morning to 204, according to the Star Tribune (via Chait), and CNN now has it at 206.
Which is truly remarkable, given that almost 2.9 million votes were cast (or have been counted so far), including 437,389 for independent candidate (and Ventura supporter) Dean Barkley. As of right now — 3:30 pm ET — the totals are as follows:
— Coleman: 1,211,564
— Franken: 1,211,358
For more, make sure to read Nate Silver’s latest take (a fascinating, if extremely wonky, analysis of recounts and error rates).
Basically, Franken has a fairly good shot to win the recount if, as is probable, the undervotes (which occur “when the machine is unable to record a vote for any candidate in that race”) turn out to have come disproportionately from so-called “vulnerable voters” (whom Nate defines here as “minorities, elderly voters, low-income and low-education voters, and first-time voters”), given his strength among such voters (other than the elderly, who “split their votes almost exactly evenly between Franken and Coleman”).
Stay tuned.