Franken won! Again!
Over five months after the election, a three-judge panel has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race.
The judges issued their final ruling late Monday, stating "Franken received the highest number of lawfully cast ballots in the Nov. 4, 2008 general election."
They also have determined that Franken is entitled to receive the certificate of election.
The election certificate is a big wildcard. We know that the this decision will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Will the Supremes issue an injunction to block the issuance of the certificate of election? Will Pawlenty refuse to sign it? And what role will the federal courts play after Coleman inevitably runs out of appeal courts in Minnesota?
Update: MinnPost's Eric Black games out how this will play out:
The likeliest outcome -- no matter whether Team Coleman takes their case to the U.S. Supreme Court and/or tries to get a fresh start in federal district court -- is that Franken will be seated in the Senate in roughly May or June.
(MinnPost, btw, is what we'll see more of as newspapers shut down -- quality online news operations.)