Al Franken’s campaign has asked Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to issue a certificate declaring Franken the winner of the U.S. Senate contest. Last week the state Canvassing Board certified results showing that Franken won the election by 225 votes. But former Sen. Norm Coleman has contested the results in state court.

Franken’s campaign argued that he should be seated as the state’s junior senator while that lawsuit works its way through the courts. “The interests of the State, its constituents, and the Nation are best served when Minnesota is fully represented in Washington, D.C.,” read the letter from Franken attorney David Lillehaug.

It seems unlikely, however, that the Franken campaign’s argument will prove persuasive. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie immediately issued a statement taking issue with his fellow Democrat’s reading of the law.

“Minnesota law is very clear on when a certificate of election can be issued,” he stated. “Neither the governor nor I may sign a certificate of election in the U.S. Senate race until all election contests have reached a final determination. Even if the governor issues a certificate of election prior to the conclusion of the contest phase, I will not sign it.”

Marc Elias (pictured above), Franken’s lead recount attorney, declined to say whether the campaign is prepared to go to court if Pawlenty and Ritchie do not immediately certify the election. “We don’t take any options off the table,” Elias said in a conference call with reporters this morning. “Certainly we are eager for Sen.-elect Franken to receive the certificate he’s entitled to.”

Elias also announced that the campaign will be filing a counterclaim to Coleman’s legal contest in Ramsey County District Court today. In addition to rebutting Coleman’s petition, which Elias characterized as “riddled with errors,” it will lay out three groups of voters that the Franken campaign believes had their ballots wrongly rejected during the recount.

The first class consists of 35 Duluth voters whose absentee ballots were rejected because their signatures were improperly dated — which isn’t one of the four reasons laid out in state statute for why a ballot can be properly invalidated. The second group consists of 87 ballots for which the Franken campaign had submitted affidavits to the state Canvassing Board supporting the belief that they were wrongly rejected. Finally, there is a group of roughly 700 ballots that the Franken campaign has scrutinized less rigorously, but believes may have been improperly invalidated.

UPDATE: Gov. Tim Pawlenty has weighed in on the Franken campaign’s request. In a statement he said:

“I have a duty to follow state law and our statutes are clear on this issue. I am prohibited from issuing a certificate of election until the election contest in the courts has been resolved.”