Politics

ST. PAUL (WCCO) ― After an unprecedented eight months of legal wrangling and poring over hundreds upon hundreds of contested ballots, the Minnesota Supreme Court has unanimously paved the way for Democrat Al Franken to fill a long-vacant Senate seat.

And it appears Pawlenty will sign Franken's election certificate, according to comments he made on CNN earlier this week.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.

The unanimous court wrote that "because the legislature established absentee voting as an optional method of voting, voters choosing to use that method are required to comply with the statutory provisions."

They went on to say that "because strict compliance with the statutory requirements for absentee voting is, and always has been required, there is no basis on which voters could have reasonably believed that anything less than strict compliance would suffice."

Taking into account Sen. Arlen Specter's switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party earlier this year and the usual backing of two independents, Franken's addition to the U.S. Senate pushes the Democratic Caucus to a 60-seat majority. This would give Democrats a filibuster-proof edge in the Senate, provided everyone votes according to party lines.

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 4th holiday.

The decision comes after eight months during which Minnesotans kept a close eye on absentee ballots, challenged ballots, the state Canvassing Board and a three-judge panel. For six months, Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office handled the workload of two senators.

The Supreme Court first heard oral arguments in Coleman's case against Franken on June 1. He filed a notice of appeal in April.

The latest election numbers show Franken leading Coleman by 312 votes out of more than 2.8 million ballots cast.

Coleman's lawyers argued to the Minnesota Supreme Court that vote-counting irregularities were severe enough to deny Franken a Senate seat.

Coleman's key argument for months has been that different counties applied different standards to decide whether absentee ballots were legally cast.

So the question is: what's next?

According to Thomas Mann, a political expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Franken can be sworn in with no vote required by the Senate. He said Republicans could attempt to block, but would likely be defeated by a simple majority vote.

Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention, but constitutional experts WCCO contacted said Coleman's changes in a federal appeal would be slim because, unlike the Bush vs. Gore decision, legal precedent puts senate elections in the hands of states, not the federal government.

Still, on Sunday, June 28, Gov. Tim Pawlenty appeared on CNN and said he would sign Franken's election certificate if the Minnesota Supreme Court gave him the green light to do so.

"I'm not going to defy an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court. That would be a dereliction of my duty," he said. "I'm going to follow the direction of the court … I also expect them to give guidance and direction as to the certificate of election. I'm prepared to sign it as soon as they give the green light."

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.

Stay tuned to WCCO.COM to read the latest developments.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)