Reply #14: The Illinois Supreme Court addressed this alleged "requirement" [View All]

[goodhue]

http://www.state.il.us/COURT/Opinions/SupremeCourt/2009/January/107816.pdf

In their pleadings, Petitioners suggest that the United States
Senate has taken the view that the Governor’s signed, hand-delivered
certificate of appointment is insufficient to meet the requirements of
the Senate’s own internal rules. We note, however, that nothing in the
published rules of the Senate, including Rule II, appears to require
that Senate appointments made by state executives pursuant to the
seventeenth amendment must be signed and sealed by the state’s
secretary of state. Moreover, no explanation has been given as to how
any rule of the Senate, whether it be formal or merely a matter of
tradition, could supercede the authority to fill vacancies conferred on
the states by the federal constitution.