Does Franken Finally Win? A Legal Analysis
Posted on Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 08:58:37 PM EST
Tags: Al Franken, Norm Coleman, MN-Sen (all tags)
Everyone agrees it was a major story today for the Minnesota State Canvassing Board to declare Al Franken the official winner of the recount -- but is it the end of the story? We all know Norm Coleman can file a lawsuit to contest the results further, but will that really delay Franken's entry into the Senate?
Some blogs have suggested that Minnesota law is kind of unique in that the winner of an election doesn't get officially certified as long as there's a dispute pending in court, and John Cornyn has vowed to filibuster Franken if the Democrats try to seat him before he's officially certified. So can Franken get certified by the state now, or does he have to keep waiting?
As specialized as the Internet is, I'm frankly surprised that there's not some source like the "Minnesota Election Law Blog" that answers all these arcane questions in the most minute detail -- and maybe there is, and I'll be hearing about it soon. But absent some authoritative source, I thought I'd try to research the question myself.