Well if I recall correctly in the case of Franken the Democrats counted votes until they won.
That is what happened.
On election night, Norm Coleman was ahead by about 700 votes. It was very close, but Coleman was ahead. The recounts started up, and there were irregularities in the recounts in a number of precincts.
The courts got involved as lawsuits were filed over recount procedures. But to make the long story short, recounts continued until Al Franken was ahead by about 300 votes, then Democrats claimed victory.
The Minnesota Supreme Court rendered a verdict that the recount processes were done legally, even though there were questionable judgements and counts made.
Somebody once said that if an election is not close, then they can’t cheat. We have seen in many elections, not just this one, that in a razor thin election, the Democrat always gains votes when they do a recount.