It's March, and Minnesota is still only represented by one Senator. According to Michael Barone at U. S. News & World Report, that might be the situation for a while. It's no secret that Harry Reid is not even-handed in how he deals with Democrats and Republicans, and Michael Barone feels that if Al Franken is declared the winner, Harry Reid will seat him; and if Norm Coleman is declared the winner Harry Reid will not seat him. The problem is not the election--it's the recount.
According to Michael Barone:
"My understanding is that the legal case currently before a three-judge panel is hopelessly compromised. Previous rulings in different counties have been inconsistent, with ballots with one kind of alleged defect counted in some counties and ballots with the same kind of alleged defect not counted in others. Most of the inconsistent rulings have tended to favor Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate Al Franken, which is why he has overcome the lead Coleman had when the votes were being tabulated in November. Some allegedly defective ballots have been counted and then commingled with others, so that the decision to count them cannot as a practical matter be reversed. This would seem to me to raise equal-treatment problems as described in Bush v. Gore , even if the Supreme Court tries to say that Bush v. Gore was a one-of-a-kind case and not really precedent."
The concept of one man, one vote and all votes treated equally has not prevailed in this election (actually it may have prevailed in the election, but not in the recount). Governor Tim Pawlenty has stated that a second election is unlikely, but I'm not sure there is any other fair way to settle this.
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