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Attorneys for
Minnesota Democrat Al Franken said they have filed a petition with the
Minnesota Supreme Court to get their candidate seated in the Senate. The move came a
day after Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie
(D) rebuffed the campaign’s request to certify Franken's election.
Franken’s lawyers
are citing federal law and the Constitution, which state that the governor and
secretary of state must sign off on the winner of an election, and that a state
should have two senators, respectively.
Minnesota has a
law, though, that prevents an election result from being certified during a
legal challenge. Republican Norm Coleman’s lawyers are contesting the result
put forward by a state recount panel last week, which had Franken on top by 225
votes.
Franken lawyer Marc
Elias did not criticize the decisions of Pawlenty and Ritchie, but said federal
law is more specific than the Minnesota law.
“No doubt, in
doing so, they rely on a different section in the law, which we acknowledge
creates a tension,” Elias said.
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