ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The election of 2008 is far from over here in Minnesota.

A breathtakingly narrow lead in the U.S. Senate race -- 215 ballots in favor of incumbent Norm Coleman over challenger Al Franken, out of 2.9 million cast -- has sparked lawsuits, accusations of electoral shenanigans and a Midwestern take on the infamous hunt for hanging chads in Florida.

Beginning yesterday morning, state election officials began hand-counting the optically scanned ballots, as the race's whisper-thin margin -- seven-thousandths of 1 percent -- triggered a mandatory recount. The final outcome could be decided by mid-December.

If Mr. Franken wins Minnesota, Democrats would have a 59-seat majority in the Senate, and leave Georgia GOP incumbent Saxby Chambliss as the sole obstacle keeping the Democrats from their longed-for goal of a filibuster-proof majority. Mr. Chambliss faces a runoff election Dec. 2 with Democrat Jim Martin.

Meanwhile yesterday, John McCain was officially declared the winner over President-elect Barack Obama in Missouri, the last state to be decided in the 2008 presidential election.

With all jurisdictions reporting complete but unofficial results, Mr. McCain yesterday led Mr. Obama by 3,632 votes of more than 2.9 million cast.

Mr. Obama won 365 electoral votes. Missouri's 11 electoral votes will give Mr. McCain 173.