Almanac: At the Capitol

Al Franken expanded his lead over Norm Coleman as more ballots were counted and the Senate passed its education bill that cuts K-12.

View the Capitol Update for April 7, 2009.

Lawmakers debate a bill that would commit them to balancing the state's budget and Coleman's team could conclude their arguments in the Senate election trial this week.

View the Capitol Update for February 26, 2009.

Cameras will be allowed for today's hearing before a 3-judge panel in the Coleman-Franken election contest.  Other surrounding states I've worked in like Wisconsin and North Dakota allow cameras in court without any prior approval.  Media have long been seeking the same access in our state.  Perhaps this could start to move Minnesota towards seeing what happens in the courts that are begging for more money in the budget cutting deficit world in which we live.  When I asked Chief Justice Eric Magnuson about getting cameras in the courtroom last week he said "we're working on it." 

Here's the statement from the high courts on cameras:

Camera access to hearings

The court has told us that cameras and audio recording will be allowed in the Coleman/Franken election case hearings starting today. For today, WCCO TV will be the video feed...AP will be the still photographer....  We expect an order from the court later today detailing this, which we will let you know about as soon as we get it.

The hearing is at 2:30 pm today in the Minnesota Justice Center, Courtroom 300, which is normally the Supreme Court courtroom.  Seating will be on a first come, first served basis. We will have overflow seating in the auditorium.

John Kostouros
Court Information Office

So Al Franken wants Governor Pawlenty to sign his election certificate.  I asked the governor about this exact scenario last week and he shot me down--and this is the face I got from him as I asked the question.  I inquired if there was "any scenario" where he would sign the certificate, even if Minnesota went unrepresented for months and months.  He said "I can't Mary, the law is very clear on it.  I don't have the authority to sign unless and until the litigation is resolved."  That pretty much says it all. And now the opposition to Franken's request is bi-paritisan:

Statement from Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie regarding a request from the Franken campaign to have the secretary of state and the governor issue a certificate of election to candidate Al Franken in the 2008 U.S. Senate race.

Jan. 12, 2009
"Minnesota law is very clear on when a certificate of election can be issued. Neither the governor nor I may sign a certificate of election in the U.S. Senate race until all election contests have reached a final determination. Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it."