MINNESOTA SUPREMES RULE FOR FRANKEN.

Just now, the Minnesota Supreme Court handed down its unanimous verdict [PDF] on the long-running, unresolved contest between Al Franken and Norm Coleman to determine who will fill the state’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. Specifically, the decision pertains to which candidate received the most votes and whether those votes were counted (and recounted) properly. This was the whole basis of Coleman’s case against Franken, rejected by a lower court, and now rejected by the state’s highest court as well.

What remains to be seen is whether Norm Coleman will concede — which leaves Gov. Tim Pawlenty bound to multiple statements claiming he will certify the results — or appeal his case to the federal level. Legal scholar Rick Hasen explains that there’s a ten-day “rehearing” period before the opinion is final, in which the litigants could file an emergency stay application to the U.S. Supreme Court. Such an application would be considered by Samuel Alito, who handles the Eighth Circuit.

—Mori Dinauer