Minnesota’s statewide election recount in the U.S. Senate contest between Democrat Al Franken and outgoing Republican Sen. Norm Coleman enters a critical final phase today, as 953 absentee ballots envelopes that were never counted in the first place — by mistake, election officials say — are opened and the votes they contain counted. You can watch history happening live in streaming video from The Uptake, where you can also join in a very active live chat about the day’s activity. Saturday could also see action at the state Supreme Court on Coleman’s petition to re-do the statewide review that produced the 953 ballots being counted today, and The Uptake says they’re ready to stream that too. Saturday morning was devoted to numbering the ballots, with actual counting set to begin in the afternoon. See the Uptake’s stream after the jump.