To sign or not to sign

From NBC’s Pete Williams Acting on the last possible day under local court rules, lawyers for the Illinois Secretary of State today urged the state supreme court not to order him to sign the appointment certificate for Roland Burris . The Illinois Supreme Court allows seven days for filing objections in a case like this, and that deadline was today, given that lawyers for Burris asked on New Year's Eve for the court to order Secretary of State Jesse White to sign the certificate. U.S. Senate leaders say the lack of that signature is the reason he wasn't immediately seated. But in today's filing, the state attorney general said, "It would be a violation of his ethical obligations to the people of Illinois to lend his name and the state seal" to further Gov. Blagojevich's appointment. What's more, said state Attorney General Lisa Madigan , White isn't required to sign anything. What White has done, she said, is register the appointment in state records, which is all he is legally required ... (link)