The Minnesota Supreme Court has just ruled that Democrat Al Franken will be the state’s next U.S. Senator, bringing to a close the months-long contest against former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
The decision was a unanimous 5 to 0 ruling, finding that Franken was “entitled” to be certified by the state’s Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and its Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.
Pawlenty has recently said he would sign the certification for Franken, if ordered to do so by the MN Supremes. The state requires a signature for certification from both the Governor and the Sec. of State before Congress members may be seated. State law also allows for all election contests to be settled in the state before certification is signed.
Franken’s seating would give Democrats a theoretical 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, following Arlen Specter’s recent move to the Democratic party.
Franken, an author, former radio talk-show host, and comedian, was found, by a three-judge, tri-partisan election contest panel to have won the election by 312 votes following an historic, painstakingly careful hand count of nearly 3 million paper ballots cast in last November’s election. Coleman may now appeal the decisions of the state canvassing board, the three-judge election contest panel, and the unanimous decision of the state Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court…
UPDATE: Washington Post notes “a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday.” Reid’s spokesman also reported that the court’s decision “stopped short of explicitly ordering the governor to sign the document, saying only that Franken was ‘entitled’ to it.”
FURTHER UPDATE: The decision is now posted here [PDF] and finds: “”Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under Minn. Stat. § 204C.40 (2008) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota.”
Working on a piece for UK’s Guardian about all of this. But, bottom line: hand-marked paper ballots are the gold standard. Counting them by hand, publicly, in front of everyone, is what makes this election different from FL 2000, OH 2004, San Diego 2006, Iran 2009, etc. Transparency is the key. And the result is an election that is very difficult, for all but the most insane and/or disingenuous, to dispute when all is said and done. The voters of Minnesota, and its Sec. of State Mark Ritchie, are to be applauded for their superb, public, transparently handled election. Nice to see the voters win one for a change!
[That piece for the Guardian is now posted here: “Franken laughs last: The long-running battle for Minnesota’s Senate seat is finally over. Democracy ““ and Al Franken ““ won fair and square”]LATE UPDATE: COLEMAN CONCEDES! It’s finally over….
“The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken, and I respect its decision and will abide by the result,” Coleman said. “It’s time for Minnesota to come together under the leaders it has chosen and move forward. I join all Minnesotans in congratulating our newest United States senator: Al Franken.”
Franken, in remarks outside his Minneapolis home about an hour after Coleman’s concession, said he expected to be seated early next week.
The BRAD BLOG has been covering virtually ever notable beat in this contest since last November. If you’d like to review our coverage over the past nearly eight months, click here for a trip back through the time-machine…
This is the wrong place to put this, but it looks like Diebold ATMs have serious security issues (surprise surprise), eg are vulnerable to trojans:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/20...talk_canceled/
Senator Franken!! I can’t wait for the floor speeches and charts – if they are anything like his radio show they’ll be accrate and funny.
(Assuming he’s allowed to be funny again.)
Go Al Go !
After close to 8 months since the election Minnesota will have a 2nd Senator.
Now…. unlike Obama, Al is a progressive… now let’s see if he can walk the talk and proudly channel Paul Welstone…. or so I hope.
Will Pawlenty certify the election NOW?!!?
Hurrah!! About time. A victory for the voters, and democracy. How about Mark Ritchie for Governor of Minnesota?
WooHoo!! Al’s speech/press conference was excellent, a real diplomat. I wish he was my Senator. I have Bond/McCaskill :-p
I realize being a junior senator puts you at the bottom anyway, but lets hope this 6-month delay doesn’t put Al too far down the totem to be able to work on any real issues.
Today Pawlenty, or is your word meaningless?
http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/Wi...2.1066414.html
This shows “he’s good enough, and smart enough, and doggone, people like him”. I know, I know, you’ve heard it before by others posting, but NOW it’s worth saying again. His affirmations LOL came true! We already knew he was smart enough…etc. though. YAY!!!!!!!
What a laughing stock Minnesota has become. First, they elect a former wrestler and now a tax cheat former cokehead. Way to go, gophers!
Congratulations to the people of Minnesota for setting the U.S. standard in handling contested elections.
And now a warning: Don’t let anyone get away with badmouthing your system as an excuse to try to take it away from you. And they will try.
Minnesotans deserve what they get for electing such a clown to represent them. What kind of moron votes for such a slouch as Franken? The worst kind; a Minnesota Moron! The same kind of uneducated, immoral idiot that voted to put an unknown community organizer in charge of the largest corporation in the worst financial crisis during such a volital war time. A man with zero accomplishments and zero military experience. He’s never even run a business. Now vote for an actor with nothing of value to offer.
Minnesota must be full of idiots. Liberal, mindless, idiots. You can’t get more left-wing or more moronic than Franken. May God have mercy on the U.S.
The very existence of Sen. Al Franken is making wingnut heads explode
By David Neiwert Sunday Jan 11, 2009 7:00pm
http://crooksandliars.com/david...franken-making
Minnesota is blessed to have such a remarkable man, a man of brilliance and honor, as are the Ds to have him on this side.
No doubt, the RNC has got their paid bloggie-doggies “speaking” to get their bone$. Seems a few are here today, barking out lies. The RNC scores a minus 10 for honesty and the spirit of the democratic process.
Congratulations to Senator-elect Franken and his family, and to all the hard-working campaigners and donors, of whom I am very proud to be among. Thank you, Hillary, for campaigning with Al on October 21, 2008. Thank you to Al’s legal team, who showed the Democratic Party how to fight. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar, for holding the fort, and doing double duty as Minnesota’s lone Senator for six months. Thank you to Minnesota’s legislators, who crafted an election system with clearly enforceable laws. I hope other states, if not the nation, adopt your high standards. And thank you, Brad Friedman, for the best coverage of this race and its long aftermath. You assembled a great team of journalists and attorneys to help your readers understand each battle and each issue along the way. And most of all, thank you to the people of Minnesota, for returning to the tradition of Paul Wellstone. IT TOOK SIX YEARS, PAUL, BUT WE GOT YOUR SEAT BACK!
Woo Hoo. Since we have such moronic senators and congressmen now, I look forward to seeing how Saturday Night Live will handle the government. I fear the Repubs. and Democrats equally. All the interest is in taking what they can get, in all the luxury they can get it, and what is good for the country or the people never comes into play. With Liberty and Justice for All. That is only a farce now, right?
Randy @ 13 said:
This article is about Franken, not George W. Bush. Perhaps you’re confused?
Oh! My mistake. You were referring to Ronald Reagan. Very good. Carry on!
Comment #19…Brad you said exactly what I was thinking! Bravo.
WOW JUST WHAT WE NEED A DEM CLOWN.ITS BAD ENOUGH
WE HAVE A JOKE FOR PRES.
congrats to the people of minnesota for having a system in place that works,even if it works slowly!!
we now have a proven case of a hand count over turning a blackbox result!
when i try to read the article of the cia lawyers being disbarred…it sends me to the sanford story
K from I: Whoops! Thanks! Fixed the link to the CIA Torture Attorneys story!
Brad, I caught a mistake finally. You’re wrong, dubya did run a business, several in fact. He ran them all into the ground.
http://alaric3rh.home.sprynet.c...ence/bceo.html
I was thinking right along your lines with the Reagan comment though. 🙂
Brad #19
LOL!
I too was wondering exactly who he was talking about.