Day 1: Minnesota Senate recount

According to The Minneapolis Star Tribune after the first day of the Franken/Coleman recount Norm Coleman has lost a little ground:

By day's end, with about 18 percent of the vote recounted, Coleman continued to lead Franken -- but by only 174 votes, notably narrower than the unofficial gap of 215 votes at which the recount had begun. Franken's gain owed much to a swing of 23 votes in the Democratic stronghold of St. Louis County -- the result of faintly marked ballots and older optical scanners that failed to read the marks.

18% of ballots counted:

Norm Coleman (R)-43.25%

Al Franken (D)-39.99%

Coleman v. Franken race tightens

If you're following some of the unresolved Senate races - both because of their effect on the size of the Democratic majority and because of their inherent interest - here's a news update:

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The margin in Minnesota's unresolved Senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken has gotten tighter.

The latest figures reported to the secretary of state gave incumbent Coleman a lead of only 204 votes over Franken Monday morning.

That's down seven votes from the margin reported last week in tallies that are still considered unofficial. The difference of only about one-hundredth of 1 percent between the two candidates will trigger an automatic recount next week.

Officials in Minnesota's 87 counties are meeting to certify results.