Word that the Minnesota Supreme Court won't hear Norm Coleman's election contest appeal until June 1 must have landed with a lot of groans among Minnesotans impatient to see the state's longest U.S. Senate race end. This newspaper was hoping for an earlier hearing date when it argued on April 15 that the high court should act "with as much expedition as appellate jurists can muster."
The court's decision to take its time might provoke a quickening at the Legislature of bills aimed at keeping the next close election from getting hung up in the courts over disputed absentee ballots. Bills to make absentee voting less error-prone ought to be enacted this session.
