GOP wins election challenge in Washington

[ScreamingEagle]

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/special_packages/election2004/11545173.htm

WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Republicans won an important victory Monday in their legal challenge to the election of Gov. Christine Gregoire when a judge allowed them to use a type of statistical analysis to try to prove illegal votes swayed the race.

Republican Dino Rossi is trying to have the election results from November declared invalid. Rossi won the first count and a machine recount, but his Democratic opponent won by 129 votes in a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots.

The trial is set for May 23.

State law includes provisions for challenging and nullifying an election, but they have never been used to try to remove a governor.

Republicans claim they have identified more than 1,000 illegal votes - mostly ballots cast by felons, but also unverified provisional ballots and votes cast in the names of dead people.

Superior Court Judge John Bridges gave the GOP the go-ahead to apply "proportional analysis" to the illegal votes.

 

[musicman]

These problems are going to continue until we figure out how to Democrat-proof the election process.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

These problems are going to continue until we figure out how to Democrat-proof the election process.

Right, the Democrats are just fine with leaving things as they are (Gregoire (D) as last-count governor) even though there is plenty of proof that there is no clear winner in this governor's race. With that kind of attitude anything can happen in this country...and we voters might as well just forget about going to the polls to vote. It is obvious that we need to clean up our voting system so it is fair to both parties.

This issue is likely to go to the WA Supreme Court so maybe something good will come of it.

 

[William Joyce]

Now you know why Democrats want to restore the franchise to felons.

 

[musicman]

Now you know why Democrats want to restore the franchise to felons.

Hell, yeah - birds of a feather! Or, yardbirds, more like.

I think their heroic efforts on behalf of the dead deserve a tip o' the hat, as well!

 

[GotZoom]

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/special_packages/election2004/11545173.htm

..... more than 1,000 illegal votes - mostly ballots cast by felons, but also unverified provisional ballots and votes cast in the names of dead people.

I see a new Democratic election slogan coming.........

 

[freeandfun1]

I see a new Democratic election slogan coming.........

Yeah like, "join the democratic party and we guarantee you'll get to vote forever".

or

"be a democrat in this life and the hereafter!"

or

"where your vote is ALWAYS counted...." (even after death)

 

[insein]

Putting the partisanship aside for a moment, this is a major achievment in reforming modern politics. This could set a positive precedent on challeneging REAL cases of fraud in elections.

If the roles were reversed and a Rep got in on these shady circumstances, i'd be calling for the same investigation. Politicians need to be held to the fire. they are NOT above the law. They serve the people and the people demand to know that they are being represented accurately. :usa:

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Putting the partisanship aside for a moment, this is a major achievment in reforming modern politics. This could set a positive precedent on challeneging REAL cases of fraud in elections.

If the roles were reversed and a Rep got in on these shady circumstances, i'd be calling for the same investigation. Politicians need to be held to the fire. they are NOT above the law. They serve the people and the people demand to know that they are being represented accurately. :usa:

Absolutely. The Democrats in WA were hoping that Dino Rossi was just another Republican that would quietly go away after hitting the huge Democrat-controlled wall that exists here in King County/Seattle.

But Rossi does not need a job. He does not need to get elected. In fact, he has decided to forego running against Maria Cantwell for Senator next year and instead focus on the governorship (and hopefully a rerun election) and even if he does not win this attempt, he hopes to clean up King County as much as he can. This makes him a very dangerous man. (to the Democrats) But for those of us here that want fairness and clean elections - he's a hero!

 

[nosarcasm]

the election seemed to have ended within the margin of error.

Similar to the outcome in Florida is was up to the courts to make
the final call.

I am not sure if in these cases a second round of elections are really
the solution.

 

[dmp]

the election seemed to have ended within the margin of error.

Similar to the outcome in Florida is was up to the courts to make
the final call.

I am not sure if in these cases a second round of elections are really
the solution.

One crazy thing is, Hand-recounts have a WIDER margin of error...the first two counts went one way, but She was awarded office based on the LEAST accurate method of counting...

 

[William Joyce]

But then the lawyers will miss out on fees!

Seriously, I think that all the election squabbles and lawsuits and uncertainty are a reflection of a society that has become nothing but squabbles, lawsuits and uncertainty. Third-World countries are usually the ones we think of when we think of election fraud and sham elections. But, now that we have decided to import half the Third World population INTO this nation, we're getting the expected result. The fact is that when you've got relative stability and relative agreement, elections aren't suspected of being fraud-ridden each and every time.

Think about it: if you've got no faith in the election system, i.e., the people who run the elections, count the votes, etc., what makes you think that partisan lawyers and the court system will do so much better? If you're living in a society where a pretty basic assumption -- i.e., the validity of elections -- is MISSING, seems to me there's something more seriously wrong with your society than missing chads. I know many disagree, but I think the multiracial anarchy, exploding population and Tower of Babel of languages has a lot to do with it. Where I live, they vote in Spanish, Haitian, Korean, etc. WTF? How can there possibly be democratic will expressed with that??? You can't even talk to those people! They can't talk to you! Our nation is coming apart at the seams.

 

[nosarcasm]

I am always annoyed at the ATM that I have to clarify first
that I dont want the Spanish version.