With the U.S. Senate recount virtually complete, the Star Tribune, the Secretary of State's Office and the Franken campaign are reporting different numbers, causing some confusion.

The Star Tribune is reporting the results as it has throughout the recount. Each of Minnesota's 4,130 precincts is included. New recounted numbers are used for those precincts that have reported them -- now 4,129 precincts. For precincts that have not yet reported -- now just one Minneapolis precinct where ballots are missing -- the newspaper includes the tally for the precinct that was reported to the state Canvassing Board last month, before the recount began.

The Secretary of State's website, also in keeping with its practice throughout the recount, is reporting results only from the precincts that have filed their new numbers. It does not include the one Minneapolis precinct still outstanding.

The votes from that one precinct -- 1,090 for DFLer Al Franken and 595 for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, an advantage of 495 for Franken -- explain the difference between the two results.

The Star Tribune shows Coleman with a lead of 192, while the Secretary of State gives Coleman a 687-vote lead. The difference is 495 -- Franken's net votes from the precinct in question.

The Franken campaign says that its tally shows Franken ahead by four votes. Like the Star Tribune, the campaign includes the pre-recount tally from the disputed Minneapolis precinct. But in another way the campaign's calculation differs markedly from the newspaper and the Secretary of State.

The campaign projects results from more than 6,000 ballots that have been challenged by the two campaigns. Those ballots do not figure in either the newspaper's or the Secretary's count. The Franken campaign says its observers have recorded the recount official's "call" on every challenged ballot, as to which candidate, if either, the voter intended to support. It then assumes that the official's ruling will be upheld in every case when the state Canvassing Board resolves the challenges.