Disputed Minnesota Senate race heads to state Supreme Court

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) - The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday about the contested U.S. Senate race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman.

Coleman's attorneys announced in April that they would file an appeal seeking to overturn a district court's decision that he lost his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate last November.

The three-judge district panel ruled Coleman did not prove his key argument, which is that potentially thousands of voters' absentee ballots were wrongly rejected because of inconsistencies among counties.

The state Supreme Court will hear brief oral arguments from both sides Monday, before issuing its opinion on this case some time this summer, said Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

What the court won't do is pick a winner. The judges can only affirm to the lower court's ruling or send it back to reconsider its earlier decision.

"No one really expects the Minnesota Supreme Court to send it back, but you can never expect with 100 percent certainty what is going to happen," Ritchie told CNN Radio.

While it's unclear when the court will hand down its decision, it's widely expected to be issued in the next month, he said.