Ill. Court Clears Burris' Path to DC

Blago pick to replace Obama doesn't need secretary of state's signature
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 9, 2009 4:18 PM CST
Ill. Court Clears Burris' Path to DC
US Senate appointee Roland Burris.   (AP Photo)

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that the secretary of state’s signature was not necessary on Roland Burris’ US Senate credentials, Reuters reports. The move effectively validates Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s choice to fill Barack Obama’s seat, and puts the issue back to the Senate. Lawmakers there said they would consider seating Burris if the question of the signature was decided.

The court declined to force a signature, which Burris had asked for, but said the point was moot, the Chicago Tribune reports. “Nothing in the published rules of the Senate,” one justice wrote, “appears to require that Senate appointments made by state executives pursuant to the 17th Amendment must be signed and sealed by the state’s secretary of state.” (More Roland Burris stories.)

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