AP – FILE - In this April 13, 2009
file photo Al Franken talks with reporters outside his home in Minneapolis. …
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday
ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as
the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for a
resolution in the seven-month fight over the seat.
The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose
options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.
Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to
assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats
will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters.
Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention.
Jim Manley, 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.
Franken, a former Saturday Night Live star making the leap from life as a
left-wing author and radio talker to the Senate, planned a news conference later
Tuesday and didn't immediately comment.
Coleman's campaign didn't immediately return a call for comment. Nor did
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose signature is required on the
election certificate Franken needs to be seated.
Pawlenty, a Republican, has said he would sign the certificate if ordered to
do so by the court. The court's ruling stopped short of explicitly ordering the
governor to sign the do*****ent, saying only that Franken was "entitled" to
it.
Coleman's appeal hinged largely on whether thousands of absentee votes had been unfairly
rejected by local election officials around the
state.
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