MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Lawyers for Republican Norm Coleman have filed notice to appeal his election-lawsuit loss to Democrat Al Franken.

They filed a notice of appeal Monday afternoon with the Minnesota Supreme Court. The effort will seek to overturn a decision by a special three-judge panel that Franken came out 312 votes ahead of Coleman in the November election.

The former senator contends that local officials used inconsistent standards for deciding whether voters complied with absentee ballot rules. The panel ruled last week that local officials used reasonable latitude in running the election, and that equal protection under the law doesn't require "rigid sameness."

The appeal process could take weeks or longer. Minnesota has been down to just one U.S. senator since Congress convened in January.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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