Franken will whittle ballot challenges to fewer than 500 by Tuesday

It can’t be coincidence that the Al Franken for Senate campaign pledged today to reduce its pending ballot challenges in the ongoing statewide Senate recount to fewer than 500 by Tuesday. On Friday, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie estimated that the State Canvassing Board could only evaluate 1,000 such ballots in the four days it has allotted this week.

UPDATE: The Norm Coleman camp says they’ll trim their ballot challenges to “somewhere south of 1,000.” 

With two unanimous votes going its way at the board’s Friday meeting but rival U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman petitioning the state Supreme Court for delay, the Franken campaign is eager to please the board and help things proceed according to plan. One hitch: Tit-for-tat mass withdrawals to bring the challenged-ballot count down from a combined high of 6,655 to a manageable number may be welcome and all, but even processing the withdrawals means extra work for dog-tired election officials.