#senate #burris #obama A little-noticed federal appellate panel ruling may trigger two elections for an Illinois Senate seat on Nov. 2 -- one to fill a new six-year term and, in a stunning development, another to elect someone to finish the remaining days of Barack Obama's original Senate term.
"There is still time to do it right," said Marty Oberman, the former Chicago alderman who is the lead attorney on the case. He argued that the 17th Amendment was violated by not having an election.
Oberman's lawsuit was not aimed at Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), but would have the practical effect of slicing a few weeks off of his Senate tenure, which was set to expire when a new senator from Illinois is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2011.
You may have thought the matter of filling the Senate vacancy created when Obama was elected president was settled when then-Gov. Blagojevich, with much controversy, appointed Roland Burris.
Source: Chicago SunTimes
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