BY DAVID K. PORTER

Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. was a Democrat when he was mayor of Saint Paul.  There was enough money behind young Mr. Bush’s campaign for President to make Norm decide he was really a Republican after all.  Tim Pawlenty was speaker of the Minnesota House of Represen-tatives, and thought he had a good shot at beating Paul Wellstone for Senate.  Big money really liked the way Norman was so well-mannered. Vice President Dick Cheney persuaded Tim to step aside and let Norm make the run for Senate.

The Federal Aviation Administration, starved of funds by the Bush administration, let its guidance equipment go to hell.  Paul Well-stone’s pilot was misled by its faulty equipment during his approach into a small town airstrip.  Inexperienced, he made a mistake trying to recover.  Everyone aboard the plane died a week before the election.  Norm Coleman became a U.S. senator, chaired the Permanent Senate Sub-committee for Investigations, and did nothing useful for anyone who wasn’t already very wealthy.  Always broke, he kept refinancing his home way beyond its actual value.  He got his clothes paid for by someone he did favors for.  He got his room and board in Washington provided by the guy who ran his election campaigns, did his mailers, and made millions as his “consultant.”

Last winter, on Nov. 4, we got our first chance to elect someone else.  It was close.  At first, it looked like Norm might win.  He asked Al to concede, in order to spare us all the inconvenience and expense of a recount.  The margin was so slender, there was an automatic recount, required by law.  On Nov. 18, the Canvassing Board directed a manual recount of all the ballots cast at every polling place in the whole state.

Jan. 5, the Board declared Al Franken the winner by 225 votes.  The following day, Coleman served and filed a lawsuit complaining that there were some differences across the state in how different election judges interpreted and enforced the various rules governing absentee ballots.  Coleman claimed this amounted to a denial of equal and fair treatment of his voters by government officials.

Responding to Coleman’s complaint, the state Supreme Court appointed an Election Court made up of three judges, only one of whom was a Democrat.  They held hearings from Jan. 26 through March 13, listened to witnesses, studied the rules, the ballot tallies, the absentee ballots, and the various characteristics that left some of the absentee ballots open to challenges by either side.

The federal government by and large leaves it up to the states to decide who can vote, and how. So long as anyone over the age of 18—who is not legally disqualified from voting under reasonable and fair rules—can vote, the federal government leaves the states alone.

Minnesota law makes it clear that absentee voting is a privilege, not a right.  In other words, there is a way to vote without standing in line at your polling place on Election Day, but you have to follow the rules.  The rules are designed to make sure no one votes twice.  There was no evidence of anyone twisting the law in order to deny anyone’s vote for Coleman.  Nothing comparable to the Scott County election judge’s deliberate attempt to undercount Franken ballots was found or reported by Coleman supporters.

On April 13, the Election Court issued its unanimous ruling.  They upheld the Canvassing Board and concluded that Al Franken won the election to be our next senator. Responding to Coleman’s central argument about equal rights they noted, “Qualified voters are entitled to equal protection under the law.  The outcome of an election should rest upon ballots received according to law and should not be determined by illegal votes.”

In other words, the Election Court said, “The election may not have been perfect, but you do not get to cherry-pick illegal votes and add them to your pile while leaving out comparable votes for Franken.”

Predictably, Coleman has appealed to the state Supreme Court.  Briefs (if only they were ever short!) are being filed ahead of the hearing set for June 1.  A total of one hour will be allowed for the two sides to discuss their positions with the five justices of the state Supreme Court who will hear and decide the case.  For most cases these days, the Court takes four or five months to issue its decision.

This case is being rocketed through our court system.  Civil cases can take years

resolve, but the law says the Court shall set aside all other business to take care of election issues.  And there is no real reason for the Court to spend any sleepless nights deciding this one.  The Election Court did all the heavy intellectual lifting already.

The only thing that would slow down the issuance of the final decision in this matter is the need for the appearance of propriety.  They have done everything they can so far to make this process and the resulting decision bulletproof from any criticism by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is assigned to handle the initial decisions regarding any appeals from Minnesota’s court system.  This would include whether to issue a temporary stay, pending a vote by the full Court on whether to accept the case for hearing.  It takes at least four justices to put a case on hold for Supreme Court review.  Justice Alito is a notoriously political and radical conservative, a Bush Jr. appointee, and the face of the second generation of Nixon’s Revenge on America.  If he can find any credible reason to delay Senator Franken’s first vote, he will do so.

It is possible that four U.S. Supreme Court justices will vote to take this case up even further, but quite unlikely.  The Court lost a good deal of its credibility the last time, and it is hard to believe they would dare risk it all on this case.  The results from the last time speak for themselves.

Expect the Minnesota Supreme Court to wait at least a month, into the Fourth of July, before issuing its decision.  Note also that the Senate takes its summer recess from July 6 through Aug. 7.   Golf, walleyes and grandchildren await.  They might just as well take two months to decide.

Incidentally, once Coleman finally and forever loses, he will have to pay “costs” to Senator Franken for having unsuccessfully challenged the election results, under Minn. Stat. 209.07(3). This only means out-of-pocket costs for things like filing and witness fees.  It does not include attorney fees, except for those ordered by the Election Court following a minor fracas involving an improperly coached and hidden witness.