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St. Paul, Minn. (AP)

Pawlenty questions Minn. Senate race court order

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is perplexed over a Supreme Court order that gives the U.S. Senate campaigns so much power in determining which uncounted absentee ballots get into the recount.

The campaigns and local election officials are currently sorting through absentee ballots that were rejected by polling place officials on or before Election Day. The ballots that all agree were mistakenly rejected will be opened and counted in St. Paul on Saturday.

On his weekly radio show Friday, the Republican governor said the order struck him as odd. It gives the campaigns the power to veto ballots. Pawlenty says the court effectively turned over a person's legal right to vote to political campaigns.

The hundreds of ballots that will be added to the count could change the race, depending on which make the cut. Democrat Al Franken leads Republican Norm Coleman by 49 votes.

Coleman's campaign has asked the court to change its instructions.