ST. PAUL, MN - An army of election workers begins a

statewide recount Wednesday in the deadlocked U.S. Senate race in

Minnesota.

Republican Senator Norm Coleman leads Democrat Al Franken by

just 215 votes.

The recount is required under state law because the votes cast

for Coleman and Franken differed by less than one-half of 1

percent.

Franken is pressing to include absentee ballots his campaign

says were rejected on technicalities. But the state Canvassing

Board hasn't decided yet how they will be handled. Coleman's

campaign contends that rejected ballots should be kept from the

recount and considered only if the election result winds up in

court.

The recount will be done in more than 100 sites across the state

over the next 2½ weeks.