Minnesota court declares Franken winner; Coleman considers appeal

April 14, 2009 The panel of three judges overseeing the legal proceedings surrounding Minnesota's 2008 Senate election has declared DFL candidate Al Franken the winner over Republican Norm Coleman, by a margin of 312 votes.

Coleman has ten days to appeal the decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and has said he intends to do so, but has not yet filed a notice of appeal.

Minnesota has been without a second senator since Coleman's term expired in January. A close result narrowly favoring Coleman in the initial election result in November triggered an automatic recount; during the course of that recount Franken slowly but steadily gained a few hundred additional votes, enough to put him in the lead.

Both the Minnesota Secretary of State and Governor have refused to certify the results of the election without a final court decision and the United States Senate's Democratic majority has said that the winner will not be seated until all court cases in Minnesota &mdash; of which Coleman's appeal to the Supreme Court would be the last &mdash; have been resolved.