This just in from Minnesota: Almost eight months after the Nov. 4 election, a winner has been declared in the state's hotly contested U.S. Senate race. Democrat and former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken bested incumbent Republican Norm Coleman.

The Democrat finally will take his seat in the Capitol's upper chamber after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Franken had won. Eight months of court battles, recounts, appeals and arguments about which candidate got the most votes out of the 3 million cast. The race was decided by 312 votes. More than $50 million was spent by the candidates during the campaign; almost $15 million more was expended in the legal procedures following.

All of which leads us to conclude we've got a problem with our voting process. Actually, we came to that conclusion long ago. What with hanging chads, uncounted provisional ballots, votes cast by deceased individuals, courts deciding elections, poll workers deciphering voter intent, malfunctioning electronic voting machines, people voting in incorrect precincts ... the list goes on. And on.

It is long past due the United States develop standards and procedures befitting its status as the most democratic nation on the planet. The election process should not be so approximate it only works when margins are large. Casting votes is an exacting process; tallying votes should be as well.

There exists an appropriate body to carry out such a task: The Federal Election Commission. It was created by Congress in 1975 to oversee the financing of national elections. It would not be much of a stretch in our minds to expand the FEC's authority to include oversight of the overall election process itself.

America does not need one single system to cast ballots. Such a proposition would be overwhelmingly expensive. But a simple inventory of all systems in place for placing votes, registering voters, training poll workers and validating identities -- followed by detailed and precise procedures to utilize -- would go a long way to ensuring fair and accurate election results.

The margins of error are simply too great to have complete faith in the system. And, by all means, we need to eliminate the concession phone call that currently ends close contests. In the framework of one-person, one-vote, there are no provisions that call for a victor to be determined via another candidate's self-declaration of defeat.

We wish Sen.-elect Al Franken well as he finally can begin his freshman year in Washington. But his protracted battle to get there should serve as a wake-up call that the nation's electoral process is less than perfect. In fact, it's broken.

Congress needs to remedy the situation prior to the next election.

Editorial by Patrick Lowry

plowry@dailynews.net