The Freeborn County portion of the mandatory ballot recount for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Freeborn Room of the Freeborn County Government Center. The recount is open to the public.

Freeborn County Auditor-Treasurer Dennis Distad said there will be six or seven tables set up with people counting ballots, and he’s hoping the process will be completed during that day so it won’t have to go into Thursday.

Latest tallies have incumbent U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, leading the race by 215 votes over Democratic challenger Al Franken.

Dean Barkley of the Independence Party is third with 15 percent.

About 2.9 million votes were cast on Election Day for the Senate race throughout the state, in what has been one of the tightest Senate elections ever.

The margin between the candidates was well within a threshold set by state law for an automatic recount. The recount will likely go into December.