Sen. Norm Coleman and Al Franken are tied with zero votes apiece now, as a statewide hand recount of some 2.9 million votes commences today. Coleman finished ahead by 215 votes as initial vote-counting ended and an automatic recount was approved yesterday.

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Coleman and Franken campaign officials said they were pleased that the painstaking recount, which will involve county election officials across the state looking at every single ballot, is starting today. Hundreds of volunteers from both campaigns will be watching the count, along with lawyers. The Coleman campaign has at least one lawyer on call in each of Minnesota's 87 counties and a core recount legal team of 20 to 25 attorneys. The Franken campaign has 250 volunteer attorneys ready to spring into action and a core recount legal team of six to eight attorneys.

With so many attorneys and such heat devoted to the recount, it may be no surprise the campaigns filed what Ritchie called a "blizzard" of legal memos with the canvassing board, made up of Ritchie, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson, Chief Ramsey County Judge Kathleen Gearin and Assistant Chief Ramsey County Judge Edward Cleary.

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

On Dec. 16, the five-member State Canvassing Board will reconvene to rule on disputed ballots and certify the election. The board -- made up of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, two Supreme Court justices and two district judges -- adopted a 16-point plan for the recount that covers rules for challenging ballots and procedures for securely storing disputed ballots.

Not surprisingly, several legal actions loom as potential spoilers of whatever the recount may hope to determine.