ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A state board in Minnesota has ruled that absentee ballots rejected by poll workers won't be included in the state's Senate recount.

The decision comes as a blow to Democrat Al Franken. His campaign team claims many absentee ballots were excluded from the initial vote count because of technicalities or administrative errors and had requested that they be at reconsidered.

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign maintained the five-member state Canvassing Board lacked power to revisit those ballots.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie estimated about 12,000 absentee ballots were rejected for various reasons -- some legitimate, some not. That represents between 4 percent and 5 percent of all the absentee ballots cast in the election.

Franken entered the recount trailing Coleman by 215 votes out of 2.9 million ballots. About 80 percent have been recounted and Coleman has maintained a lead throughout.