Democrat Al Franken's campaign lodged a protest today over 133 votes that it said could not be accounted for during the U.S. Senate recount of a precinct in Minneapolis, which resulted in a loss of as many as 46 votes for the candidate.

Al Franken tries to steal election in Minn.

Campaign officials sent a letter to the Secretary of State's office and Minneapolis elections director Cindy Reichert demanding that the votes in one city precinct not be officially reported until a search is conducted for the ballots.

Reichert, who said the discrepency was resolved "to my satisfaction," said she plans to report it to the Secretary of State's office.

In the first precinct of the city's Third Ward, the recount showed Franken with 1,010 votes, 80 fewer than the Election Day count. It showed Republican Sen. Norm Coleman with 34 votes fewer than on Election Day. Only two votes were challenged in the precinct, one by each campaign.

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