Franken is one step closer to Washington
According to a post by Joan Walsh at Salon.com, the Democratic National Committee has issued a news alert stating that the three-judge panel supervising the Minnesota senatorial election recount has declared Democratic candidate Al Franken the winner of the recount.
Norm Coleman and his legal counsel have vowed to carry their appeal to the Minnesota state supreme court, which must be filed within the next ten days. If the Minnesota state supreme court declines the appeal, that will be the ball game.
So, while Al Franken might not be taking his seat in D.C. just yet, he has inched that much closer to doing so by summer.
Fingers crossed.
2 Responses to “Franken is one step closer to Washington”
Masao Okazaki
Hey, David (I followed your trail from Doug Drexler’s blog).
I’m a Minnesota Democrat and voted for Franken. Even if the MN Supreme Court refuses to hear/rejects the appeal, Coleman can still go to US Supreme court. Gov. Pawlenty hasn’t said when or under what grounds he would issue the election certificate. So, this might still go on for a while. Coleman says winning or losing isn’t the point; he’s supposedly fighting to make sure no Minnesotans are disenfranchised. What a great guy!
David Mack
All true. However, Minnesota state law permits Pawlenty to withhold his signature on Franken’s letter of certification only until the matter has finished being heard by the state courts. If Franken remains victorious after the MNSC delivers its ruling — or declines to hear the case — the law requires Pawlenty to sign the letter. It makes no exception for federal challenges.
That said, there is no reason to think that after all this Pawlenty will follow the law. I fully expect him to flout the law and get away with it, as Republicans always do.