Republican Tom Emmer's attorneys are going to the mat to make sure they see what they believe needs to be done for proper matching of votes and voters.

On Wednesday, they filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court to ask local election officials to match their number of votes with the number of voters who signed into the roster on Election Day. That request may be heard Monday.

On Thursday, they asked the state canvassing board to require such matching, if the Supreme Court doesn't before the gubernatorial recount's slated start on Nov. 29.

If the canvassing board doesn't, Emmer attorney Eric Magnuson offered two other options: an election trial or the secretary of state running through every single precinct to make sure the number of votes match the number of voters who sign in.

Either option could delay the end of the post-election fight between Emmer and Democrat Mark Dayton.

At issue: some local election officials used voter receipts, not voter signatures, to make sure the number of votes didn't outnumber the number of voters. The receipt alternative is permitted by administrative rule. The law only bespeaks of matching the voter signatures in the roster.

In the canvassing board letter, Magnuson said those options could be avoided if the court or the canvassing board requests election officials match signatures to the number of ballots.

"The roster counting and withdrawal/reconciliation process can be conducted during the recount, with minimal additional delay...in order to avoid the matter becoming subject of an election contest or request that the roster counting be performed by the Secretary of State's Office," the letter said.

Magnuson, who served on the 2008 canvassing board, plans to appear before the canvassing board himself on Tuesday to argue the point. (Interesting to note that Magnuson, who just stepped down from the court this summer, wrote in the letter that "it is not clear that the Minnesota Supreme Court will rule on the petition prior to the adoption of a recount plan."

Democrat Mark Dayton currently leads the governor's race by 8,755 votes.

His attorneys, along with attorneys from counties and others, plan to respond to the Emmer petition to the Minnesota Supreme Court Friday.