Well, the two new Democratic Senators are seated. Mark Kirk won both the election for the full term starting in 2011, and the remaining amount of Obama’s seat (which Burris had held), in what were actually two separate elections in Illinois on Nov. 2. Where is the Republican from Illinois? Not in DC yet. I see this from Fox News:
The other special election winner, Senator-elect Mark Kirk, R-Ill., must wait a bit longer to join his colleagues. Election officials in his home state need more time to certify the vote there.
Say what? Does anyone out there with connections know what is going on back in my birth state? Is this Chicago politics as usual?
The Chicago Tribune notes today that
Now, if you KNOW that you will be swearing him in on Nov. 29th, why not now? Are they using the Palm Beach ballots up there in Chicago? Someone should be screaming about this. But everyone is silent. I guess they can count faster and better in West Virginia than Illinois. I say there should be no votes in the Senate until Kirk is sworn in.
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
Did you even bother to look this up??
froster (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 12:33AM EST (link)The votes are not certified in Illinois until November 23, which is NOT later than usual or anything like that.
November 19 – Deadline for counting the votes. (Illinois is so big…)
November 23 – Board certifies election results
November 29 – Next practical day he can be sworn in
It’s all a technicality sure, but every Senator has to have their results certified. I believe it’s part of the Senate rules.
Republican from California.
Ignorance Is Bliss, in Your Case
IJB Tuesday, November 16th at 10:02AM EST (link)This special election in IL is the *result of a COURT ORDER*. It is clear the court intended that Kirk be seated immediately after the election to fill out the remainder of Obama’s term.
The fact that Kirk has not been seated yet is clearly in contrivance of a court order – what IL officials is doing here is, in fact, *illegal* (it’s unfortunate that no one will challenge them on it).
The normal certification process should be for the *full-term* part of Kirk’s win.
But he should be seated *now* for the special election part – that is *clearly* what the court intended with its ruling. (Does anyone really doubt that if Alexi G. had won, he would already have been sworn in by now?!)
But I guess none of this bothers you, huh?…
Definitely bugs me .. but who, other than Kirk, has standing...
acat (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 10:39AM EST (link)to ask the court who ordered the special election to review their decision and this foot-dragging.
And Kirk doesn’t seem to be interested in fighting this….
Mew
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Caveat Suffragator
POINT me to where it is illegal. Don't just say it is.
froster (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 9:02PM EST (link)Get me the court case, do something. I found out from Lynn Sweet of the Chicago paper, the Washington Post, and other papers why Kirk’s swearing in is being held up.
Republican from California.
I went to Wikipedia's Illinois senate election in 2010 page.
froster (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 9:05PM EST (link)The first link says:
“Pending the November election, U.S. Senator Roland Burris will continue to serve as the appointed Senator filling the vacancy created by Obama’s election as President. The special election results will be final once the Illinois State Board of Elections certifies the election results. The State Board of Elections expects to canvass the special election sometime in late November. The candidate who wins the race for the unexpired term will serve from late November through January 2, 2011.”
http://triblocal.com/grayslake/2010/08/11/illinois-special-election-for-u-s-senate-seat/
Why not do the research?
Republican from California.
Oh, If Wiki Says It, Then It Must Be True
IJB Tuesday, November 16th at 10:37PM EST (link)I don't mean to be mean but you didn't even bother to read past the title!
froster (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 10:48PM EST (link)You didn’t click on the link I GAVE you, did you?
Republican from California.
I Don't Need To
IJB Tuesday, November 16th at 10:53PM EST (link)All it is is making excuses for what IL officials are doing to drag their feet and circumvent a court ruling.
Let me ask you something – do you really believe that the Federal Court that ordered this Special Election did that expecting that the winner wouldn’t be seated until *DECEMBER* missing virtually *all* of the Special Election, and serving for a grand total of *ONE MONTH*?! (There would have been no point in ordering the Special Election in the first place if that were the case.)
And do you honestly think that if Alexi G. had won that he wouldn’t have been seated by now?
If you answer “Yes” to either of these questions, I literally cannot help you on this one…
Well, yeah, if this article was printed in November, I'd agree with you, it would be a clever way to weasel them out of seating Kirk.
froster (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 11:08PM EST (link)But it was printed in July. Here is the press release announcing it: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs075/1102393881376/archive/1103608511267.html
But back IN July, before a winner was known, the SoS office was expecting that the lame duck Senator might not be sworn in until November 29th. Sure, because Jessie White is corrupt and by default a Democrat, he may have tried to canvass the special election earlier with an Alexi G. win. And by the way, Kirk will be there for 2/3 or more of the lame duck session; they will be missing a grand total of three days at most, and more likely two. (The Senate had no votes Monday, was out of session Tuesday, and will likely have no votes Friday)
Republican from California.
Sorry,
GregInFla (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 12:43AM EST (link)but even so, with today’s technology, that still seems to be a long time to decide who won when no recount is required. It’s just more time to massage the vote counts. There had been talk that Illinois was going to defy the Fed Court that required the election in the first place, and send Burris. I just don’t trust them.
– A true evolutionist would let endangered species die off. Think about it.
– The sign outside the courthouse said no signs allowed. So I took it down.
– Atlas Shrugged is now on the non-fiction aisle at Amazon.
It's all part of the Dem way
Finrod (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 5:44AM EST (link)They certify Democrats immediately, and take as long as they possibly can to certify Republicans. Same thing happened to Scott Brown.
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
So why isn't Kirk challenging this in court? -nt-
eburke (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 10:17AM EST (link)“All that need be done for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
Unified Patriots
This deal was apparently cut before the election.
acat (Diary) Tuesday, November 16th at 10:36AM EST (link)and both candidates signed off on it.
I don’t doubt that, had Alexi* won, the paperwork would have been “completed earlier than expected”, but .. that’s the claim.
Mew
* having worked with the mob before, Alexi knows about doing what he’s told.
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Caveat Suffragator