Franken Requests Election Certificate; State Official Refuses

[sabra]

Source: Bloomberg

Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Al Franken asked Minnesota officials to certify him the winner of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race even though Republican Norm Coleman is pursuing a legal challenge.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said no certification can be made while legal challenges continue. Coleman filed a lawsuit last week contesting the election results.

“Now that the recount is complete and the new Congress has convened, state law does not provide for further delay,” Franken’s lawyers wrote to Minnesota’s governor and secretary of state today.

Ritchie responded that a certificate can’t be issued “until all election contests have reached a final determination,” including lawsuits over the election.

“Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it,” he said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aOV...

[robinlynne]

1. Funny how they did not do the same thing in San Diego when the lawsuit was brought by

a Democrat....

[EFerrari]

4. Didn't the then Republican speaker just swear in the Republican,

overriding the state altogether?

[struggle4progress]

29. That's what I remember happening

[robinlynne]

39. exactly.

[melm00se]

6. maybe because the

Minnesota laws are different than California laws?

[Abq_Sarah]

2. Can they fast track

The legal challenges? Since we're talking about an open Senate seat, this needs to be resolved as soon as humanly possible.

[GinaMaria]

8. Agree. This is impacting the entire state

Minn. is under-represented in the Senate. They need someone there voting on their behalf. Norm is hurting people from his 'home' state.

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

12. I agree with this. The state needs to at least...

register a plea for this case to be expedited. The Constitution provides for representation by two, not one, U. S. senator and all reasonable efforts should be made to ensure that this occurs. (Regardless of the result, no foot-dragging...period.)

[goodhue]

18. The legal challenge is an election contest under Minnesota election law

After state certification of results, which happened last Monday, there was seven days to file an election contest which Coleman did. There will not be any further or more contests in state court.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. That Mark Ritchie is SUCH a PARTISAN DFLer!

...um, wait.

[Barack_America]

5. Wow. Another SOS who thinks he's above his Governor.

[elocs]

7. MN SOS is a Democrat who believes he is following MN law.

The MN governor is a Republican and he is certainly not going to sign a certificate to allow Franken to go to the Senate until after everything in the process under MN law is finished. So this has nothing to do with the SOS thinking he is above his governor.

[goodhue]

14. Hardly

Ritchie is following the law, and is a lot more progressive than Franken will ever be . . .

[n2doc]

9. I guess the right of Mn voters to be fairly represented doesn't count

As of now, sorry Minnesota, you only get one Senator. Too bad for you! Maybe someday you can have 2 again...

Why can't the recount winner be seated temporarily while the legal crap is sorted out?

[Infinite Hope]

40. We have a good process here in MN. Franken will be certified in the end.

But public confidence is crucial to Franken being an effective Senator and it's important to just let the process play out. Minnesota has the best and fairest election in the country and the courts have been fair. Don't worry.

[bluestateguy]

10. How long is this going to be allowed to go on?

Minnesota will only be half-represented while all of this paper pushing is going on.

[goodhue]

15. Until completion of the election contest under Minnesota law

This is not mere litigation but rather a specified part of Minnesota electoral process

[bluestateguy]

34. And how long can we expect that to take?

Too much "due process" results in more "process" and less "doing".

[Hugabear]

11. Norm Coleman should be thrown in jail for obstruction

He lost fair and square. The only thing these challenges are accomplishing is delaying Franken from taking his rightful seat in the Senate. What Coleman is doing now should be considered criminal. But what else is new for the rethugs.

[struggle4progress]

32. DFL: Coleman, GOP lawyers are raising illegal election challenge cash (MN Indy)

By CHRIS STELLER 1/12/09 4:23 PM

... The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party charged former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and a GOP lawyers’ group with violating Federal Election Campaign laws by raiseingmoney for a post-recount lawsuit challenging the results of the Senate recount.

The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) is soliciting donations for a legal contest of election results certified by the state Canvassing Board. The results show Al Franken defeated Coleman by 225 votes. But the DFL Party’s complaint says the RNLA has failed to register with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and is breaking the law by taking sums in excess of legal limits and from corporations that aren’t allowed to donate.

The DFL complaint also names Coleman for having failed to report contributions to his campaign from the RNLA.

Federal law allows a new contribution limit separate from the pre-Election Day campaign in the case of a recount, the DFL complaint acknowledges, but so-called “soft money” is not allowed. The RNLA is an unregistered 527 organization under Internal Revenue Service code, Democrats contend, and cannot steer cash to Coleman’s campaign, his recount committee or the state GOP’s federal account. Yet that’s what appears to be happening at a NewsMax Media Web page, where check boxes indicate donations for as much as $5,000 are being accepted — far more than the $2,300 maximum allowed by law ...

http://minnesotaindependent.com/22871/democrats-say-col...

[groundloop]

13. Maybe a stupid question...

but what's to keep Coleman from filing lawsuit after lawsuit and keep Franken's seat tied up for years?

[goodhue]

16. The present "lawsuit" is actual an "election contest" under Minnesota election law

The law only provides for one election contest, which got underway last week when Coleman filed and will be heard by a special 3-judge panel. The panels decision may be appealed to state supreme court and then we will be done, probably March.

[Doctor_J]

37. Especially since Norm is an inveterate suer

The man averages four lawsuits every time he runs for an office. He needs to be jailed for deliberately obstructing government business. He's an incorrigible repeat offender.

[gratuitous]

17. Ritchie is probably following the law

Which doesn't mean that Ritchie is an ass, but that in this case, the law is an ass. As long as a sore loser of a candidate can keep thinking up ways to contest the election results, the election can't be certified. The Minnesota legislature should change the law to provide for provisional certification or something, because the way it is now, and with the courts moving as slowly as they often do, it's forseeable that a congressional race could drag on until the next election.

Another alternative is that all election contests be filed within a certain number of days after a final count is obtained. I don't know if there is such a provision in Minnesota law, but there really should be. Fourteen days would seem enough. But as it stands, if Coleman doesn't prevail on his current contest(s), there's nothing stopping him from filing another contest to hold up certification.

[goodhue]

19. The law is that the election contest must be filed within 7 days of state certifcation of results

The seven days ended today. Coleman filed the contest last week. There will be no more contests. The current contest will be heard by a special as yet to be appointed three judge panel. Their decision could be appealed by supreme court. Then we are done.

[gratuitous]

20. Thanks

That's good news, to know that there is a deadline and that it has now passed. So, indeed, when Mr. Coleman's latest bite at the apple is adjudicated, he will get no more.

Although I can't for the life of me understand why Coleman counseled Franken not to contest the count when it was in Coleman's favor, and Coleman said that if the positions were reversed, he wouldn't be dragging things out. It makes him look sort of, I dunno, hypofuckingcritical.

[Cleita]

25. And a liar but that's what Republicans do. n/t

[struggle4progress]

30. As judges named, Minn. Senate legal fight grows (Star Trib)

The three-judge panel that will hear a lawsuit over Minnesota's contested Senate election includes one Republican appointee, one Democratic appointee and one named by an independent governor.

By BRIAN BAKST , Associated Press
Last update: January 12, 2009 - 8:16 PM

... The three district judges are:

- Elizabeth Hayden of Stearns County, who has been a judge for more than two decades. She was appointed in 1986 by Democratic Gov. Rudy Perpich

- Kurt Marben of Pennington County, a judge since 2000. He was put there by Independence Party Gov. Jesse Ventura.

- Denise Reilly of Hennepin County, a judge since 1997. She is an appointee of Republican Gov. Arne Carlson ...

W3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUZ" target="_blank">http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/374...

[geardaddy]

21. Mark Ritchie is following the law.

n/t

[newtothegame]

22. If a Dem had been up by hundreds the day after the election, then suddenly been down by hundreds...

after a recount, we'd want to let the legal challenge play out. Just give it some time, Franken will be officially declared the winner soon.

[geardaddy]

23. Exactly.

Mark Ritchie is all about FAIR elections. That's why I volunteered to work for his campaign. The alternative (crazy Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Obviously)) would have been a disaster if this had happened on her watch.

[cascadiance]

24. Hmm.... Local judges didn't stop swearing in of Brian Bilbray over legal challenges!

The precedent is ALREADY THERE where the Republicans have used procedural rules in congress to dismiss lawsuits and had Bilbray sworn in by Dennis Hastert even before official counts had been all turned in. If they bitch, then show them those events and ask them to EXPLAIN why this is different! And this time there WAS a recount done where there wasn't one done in the 50th district special election.

A local judge ruled against a legal challenge in 50th district case, saying that when congress swore Bilbray in, that local courts no longer had any jurisdiction to interfere.

[LeftyMom]

28. Different state, different laws. I know it's hard to understand, but some people don't live in

California, the poor things.

[cascadiance]

38. It seems though that federal laws should be the same for everyone...

If Dennis Hastert can use federal law/institutions to trump California law by declaring Bilbray a member of congress, then Harry Reid should also be able to swear in Al as a member in the Senate in the same fashion and trump what Minnesota wants to do. Federal law and mandates should be applied equally, even if states laws are different in different locations.

If what you say is true, then the court justice in California who ruled that California courts no longer had jurisdiction was in fact ruling incorrectly, and state courts should have been able to deal with legal challenges then before accepting federal mandates then.

Now perhaps the federal laws are bad, in that they don't allow for legal challenges properly, but as I noted, the Republicans had already set precedent that they would use federal mandate to trump state law in this situation. They can't have it both ways!

[bvar22]

26. If the Democrats had any balls,....

....they would dump several Million dollars into Minnesota to buy adds slamming Coleman & the Republicans as "Sore Losermans".

All they would have to do is constantly play the clip of Coleman asking Franken to concede for the good of the country.

Oh, My bad.
I forgot.
This is the era of "Post-Partisanship".

[Piewhacket]

27. I think it proper to ask... no harm to ask..

on the other hand, folks don't always know what Mn law is on the
subject, and asking is one way to find out. What if he was entitled
and he didn't ask? Why MN wouldn't have a Senator it was entitled to.

And even if Richie refuses what if Ritchie is wrong? What if Franken's
lawyers are actually right that: “Now that the recount is complete and
the new Congress has convened, state law does not provide for further delay,”

Does MN want to wait further? Does MN want the US Supreme Court to weigh in
when Coleman goes sniveling like a spoiled baby to Scalia and Thomas .... ?

He had to ask. Franken had to ask. Of course he (his lawyers) did.

[struggle4progress]

31. Franken Launches Three-Front Offensive in Minn. Senate Dispute

By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff – Mon Jan 12, 4:20 pm ET

... The Franken campaign responded to Coleman's suit on three fronts.

First, it sent the letter to Pawlenty and Ritchie asking both officials to immediately sign the election certificate declaring him winner of the Nov. 4 race. Franken's legal team argued there is precedent to seat a senator provisionally in the midst of ongoing legal challenges ...

The Franken campaign Monday filed its response and counterclaim to Coleman's lawsuit, as well as a separate "petition to dismiss" document, claiming the suit attempts to raise issues beyond the scope of an election contest ...

Finally, Franken's attorneys are lending support, but are not party to, a suit Elias said will be filed later Monday on behalf of a group of voters whose absentee ballots were not counted ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20090112/pl_cq_politics/poli...

[JDPriestly]

33. Woops! I thought that Franken already had the certificate.

I thought the Minnesota court had already ordered that the Sec. State had to sign it.

[coruscate]

35. So this is like the Burris situation...

....Burris got in because that's the law. Franken is (temporarily) not in because of the law.

...well you gotta' admit this is better than 2000, at least people are following what is written and not pulling stuff from out their behind.

[underpants]

36. When Franken is sworn in, will Cheney administer the oath?

[Fluffdaddy]

41. Cheney will be long gone before Franken is sworn