MN Supreme Court rules unanimously in favor of Franken; Coleman concedes seven months after election

Franken may be sworn in within a week.

Here's a copy of the MN Supreme Court decision.  Essentially, it finds that each of Coleman's legal arguments lacked evidence.  Ironically, the Court notes that because of the prospect of fraud, absentee voters are required to strictly comply with the requirements in casting such a ballot.  Ironic because Coleman, the Republican, argued that the standard should be substantial compliance-- a more lenient standard.

This is more than just a Minnesota issue.  The Republicans, foolishly, made the Senate elections in 2008 a referendum on whether Americans would want Obama to have a super-majority Democratic Senate or a sizeable Republican presence to keep him in check.  They nationalized the Senate races.  And from 2006 through 2008, Americans have largely been saying they wanted a strong Democratic majority in the Senate.  The national Republican Party has spent over a million of dollars trying to block Franken's seat for no other reason than to prevent another Democratic Senator being seated and, since Specter's switch, the Democrats from having 60 members--a number which is sufficient to invoke cloture on pure party-line votes.

Franken's legal victory, and Coleman's belated concession, hopefully is an end to the Republicans attempt to win in the courtroom that which they could not win at the ballot box.

Of course, the Republican attempt to disenfranchise Minnesota voters failed.  But what's even more troubling than the GOP strategy of using the law to prevent democracy is the utter lack of criticism by the media of it.  Remember the public pressure on Al Gore to concede Florida?  The Brooks Brother riots in Florida?  The endless criticism of Gore as a sore loser?  None of that was heaped on the Republican Party as it tried to prevent the results being certified even after they got their automatic recount.

Today is a victory of the rule of law and democracy.  But the people of Minnesota have been without a Senator for six months for no other reason than a national party wanted to engage in legal obstruction to avoid the constitutional consequences of their electorial losses.  Given the hysteria by the Republicans in criticizing Obama over his response in events in Iran, their hypocrisy is, as always, breathtaking.