[Sideshow Bob]

Yes, Jesse could appoint himself - but he earlier said he would not do so.

Also, the term of service of ANY appointed senator does NOT run until the new Congress is seated in January. Per Minnesota law, the appointment will only last until the winner of November 5th race is certified and sworn in.

Unless there is a significant delay in certifying next Tuesday's winner, any appointed Senator will serve for not more than a week.

Why bother?

[Eva]

The reason to bother is that the Democrats have already filed a court case regarding the absentee ballots which promises to delay the swearing in of any candidate. This would not have been a problem for the donkeys if Ventura appointeed one of their members, but an independent will throw a monkeywrench into their plans.

[skeeter]

The appointment will last until the new congress is sworn in - early next year. Even so I'm not sure what difference this can make.

[JackIV]

Significant delays expected in Minnesota. Why?

Because of the absentee ballots.

Current Minnesota law states that absentee ballots with Coleman's name will count, but NOT those with Wellstone's name. Instead, the absentee voter wishing to vote for Mondale will either have to vote in person OR request a new absentee ballot and write in Mondale's name.

The Democrats have already challenged this in the Minnesota courts. They want a vote for Wellstone to count as a vote for Mondale, even though this is explicitly forbidden under Minnesota law. A vote for one candidate CANNOT be counted as a vote for another candidate: presumably under the assumption that a person favoring Wellstone might NOT favor Mondale.

In short, the Democrats (as in New Jersey) as seeking to over-turn Minnesota law. If they win, the Republicans will certainly appeal -- as Minnesota usually has about 100,000 absentee voters in an off-year election.

Thus, regardless of who is elected (Coleman or Mondale), NEITHER will be certified by the Minnesota Sec. of State until the court process is over. Therefore, the U.S. Senate will NOT accept either as the Senator-elect.

The result: Ventura's appointee may be serving in the Senate for 6 months or more. (The only way out would be for Mondale OR Coleman to win by such a huge margin that both parties would drop their law suits.) And don't count on the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved. As it showed in staying out of the NJ controversy, the USSC is still pretty "gun shy" due to the flack it took following the 2000 presidential election. What NJ did after Torricelli withdrew was clearly against NJ state law, but the USSC members didn't have the "balls" to do anything!!

[JackIV]

Significant delays expected in Minnesota. Why?

Because of the absentee ballots.

Current Minnesota law states that absentee ballots with Coleman's name will count, but NOT those with Wellstone's name. Instead, the absentee voter wishing to vote for Mondale will either have to vote in person OR request a new absentee ballot and write in Mondale's name.

The Democrats have already challenged this in the Minnesota courts. They want a vote for Wellstone to count as a vote for Mondale, even though this is explicitly forbidden under Minnesota law. A vote for one candidate CANNOT be counted as a vote for another candidate: presumably under the assumption that a person favoring Wellstone might NOT favor Mondale.

In short, the Democrats (as in New Jersey) as seeking to over-turn Minnesota law. If they win, the Republicans will certainly appeal -- as Minnesota usually has about 100,000 absentee voters in an off-year election.

Thus, regardless of who is elected (Coleman or Mondale), NEITHER will be certified by the Minnesota Sec. of State until the court process is over. Therefore, the U.S. Senate will NOT accept either as the Senator-elect.

The result: Ventura's appointee may be serving in the Senate for 6 months or more. (The only way out would be for Mondale OR Coleman to win by such a huge margin that both parties would drop their law suits.) And don't count on the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved. As it showed in staying out of the NJ controversy, the USSC is still pretty "gun shy" due to the flack it took following the 2000 presidential election. What NJ did after Torricelli withdrew was clearly against NJ state law, but the USSC members didn't have the "balls" to do anything!!

[JackIV]

Significant delays expected in Minnesota. Why?

Because of the absentee ballots.

Current Minnesota law states that absentee ballots with Coleman's name will count, but NOT those with Wellstone's name. Instead, the absentee voter wishing to vote for Mondale will either have to vote in person OR request a new absentee ballot and write in Mondale's name.

The Democrats have already challenged this in the Minnesota courts. They want a vote for Wellstone to count as a vote for Mondale, even though this is explicitly forbidden under Minnesota law. A vote for one candidate CANNOT be counted as a vote for another candidate: presumably under the assumption that a person favoring Wellstone might NOT favor Mondale.

In short, the Democrats (as in New Jersey) as seeking to over-turn Minnesota law. If they win, the Republicans will certainly appeal -- as Minnesota usually has about 100,000 absentee voters in an off-year election.

Thus, regardless of who is elected (Coleman or Mondale), NEITHER will be certified by the Minnesota Sec. of State until the court process is over. Therefore, the U.S. Senate will NOT accept either as the Senator-elect.

The result: Ventura's appointee may be serving in the Senate for 6 months or more. (The only way out would be for Mondale OR Coleman to win by such a huge margin that both parties would drop their law suits.) And don't count on the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved. As it showed in staying out of the NJ controversy, the USSC is still pretty "gun shy" due to the flack it took following the 2000 presidential election. What NJ did after Torricelli withdrew was clearly against NJ state law, but the USSC members didn't have the "balls" to do anything!!