Burris asks high court to reopen Senate ballot

[September 11, 2010]  SPRINGFIELD. (AP) -- Sen. Roland Burris has turned to the U.S. Supreme Court in his battle to avoid being pushed out of office in November, his attorney said Friday.

Timothy Wright said Burris filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to block plans for a special Senate election that would exclude Burris. The election will decide who serves out the final two months of the term that began when Barack Obama entered the Senate in 2005.

If the Supreme Court were to step in, it could create confusion when the ballot is already supposed to be settled and local officials are making their election plans.

Wright argues the federal courts overstepped their authority by ordering a special election and declaring that the candidates would be the same people running for the new Senate term.

That order meant Burris, a Chicago Democrat, couldn't run and would be out of office shortly after the Nov. 2 election instead of serving until January.

Wright said the U.S. Constitution gives legislators, not judges, the power to set special elections. And he said it was improper to rule on who can and who cannot run.

"This issue is no longer about Burris," Wright said. "It's really about some important constitutional principles that we shouldn't just ride rough over."

Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Burris' appeal.

Republican candidate Mark Kirk's campaign issued a statement mentioning "apparent discord within the Democratic Party" but it did not take position on the appeal or who should be allowed to run.

Burris was appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich after Obama was elected president in 2008. A federal appeals court later ruled the appointment did not cover the entire term and a special election would have to be held.

Now, Illinois residents will pick one senator to serve a six-year term in the regular election and another to serve the final weeks of Obama's old term. The short-timer would serve from after the November election until the new senator is inaugurated in January.

Burris has also filed his objections with a federal appeals court, Wright said, but he feared that would take too long and decided to appeal to the Supreme Court, too.

Wright said he didn't know how quickly the court would decide whether to consider the case.

[Associated Press; By CHRISTOPHER WILLS]

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