The Republican challenge of Gov. Christine Gregoire delayed

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Initial developments in the Republican lawsuit challenging the 129-vote re-recount victory of Gov. Christine Gregoire make one thing clear: The Democrat will be in office through the first key period of her, or any, administration—the 105-day legislative session in Olympia, which began Jan. 10. The case already has bogged down. It will be no sooner than Thursday, Jan. 20, that Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges rules on two key motions that will determine how—or even if—it proceeds.

On Thursday, Jan. 13, state Republican Party lawyer Diane Tebelius called a press conference to excoriate the Democrats for delaying the legal process. "The Democrats don't want to discover what the real facts are," she said. "If you really believe your mantra—'count every vote'— should be saying, 'Let's get on with this case.'"

But Gregoire is not a defendant in the lawsuit, nor has she a lawyer representing her. Besides, the GOP's losing gubernatorial candidate, Dino Rossi, chose to take the matter to court knowing full well that the legal system is not built for speed. The Rossi campaign and the lawsuit's plaintiffs, which include regular citizens and state Republican Party Chair Chris Vance, are suing many, many people and institutions: all 39 counties, all 39 county auditors, Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. All had a hand, however small, in certifying Gregoire's election. This week, Bridges allowed the state Democratic and Libertarian parties to have their say, too. Everyone—the plaintiffs, the defendants, and the interveners—is entitled to a lawyer, and every lawyer is entitled to make motions on behalf of his or her client. The first consequence is that the trial will be moved from the Chelan County courthouse in Wenatchee to the Chelan County Auditorium, just to accommodate all the defendants and their lawyers.

On Friday, Jan. 7, when Rossi filed his election challenge, his lawyer, Harry Korrell of Davis Wright Tremaine, claimed that the whole matter could be wrapped up in a few weeks. "The court is supposed to hold a hearing in not sooner than 10 and less than 20 days," Korrell said at the time.\

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0503/050114_news_governor.php

[RobertSeattle]

1. They found the one judge in the state who has nullified an election!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/01/19/state1955EST7748.DTL

...

"Five years ago, Judge John E. Bridges nullified the Wenatchee mayoral election because the winning candidate didn't live in the city. "

..

[Carolab]

2. Good thing Christine lives in the state.

I'd like to know what, exactly, they think THEIR evidence is, when the evidence in Ohio is referred to as "frivolous".

[pbartch]

4. The Washington Repukes are sore losers.

I'm in Oregon......and we laugh at "them" all the time!

[claudiajean]

5. Specifically, their evidence is:

The margin was only 129 votes between the two candidates. All that its required for a set-aside under Washington law is showing that 129 votes may have been counted in error, and that the preference of those votes cannot be determined.

All of the following ballot irregularities have been admitted to by various county election offices throughout the state:

437 provisional ballots were counted without first being verified as having been cast by valid registered voters who had not cast another ballot. (King County)

37 felons who have not had the right to vote restored voted in the election. (Pierce, Snohomish, King)

Nine dead people were credited with voting. (King, Pierce)

20 people voted in Washington who also voted in another state. (various counties)

10 people voted twice. (King, Pierce)

1807 ballots were tabulated by King County in excess of the number of voters that can be identified as having voted. In other words, King County counted over 1800 ballots more than voters. The fact that they certified the county results with this discrepancy, and that the Secretary of State certified the election with King County having this discrepancy is in direct violation of Washington law: WAC 434-253-204 Precinct or poll site ballot reconciliation.

As much as I wish it were otherwise, the Republicans are not just blowing smoke. They have hard evidence that backs their claim.

[Carolab]

6. Oh, I see. But in OHIO, the Democrats have no such "hard" evidence.

Uh huh. Of course, we're not allowed to investigate any of the "public" records there for such evidence, now ARE we?

[claudiajean]

8. That is not what I said. Please do not twist my words.

I honestly don't see what sarcasm and in-fighting accomplishes.

I said absolutely nothing about Ohio, at all. My post was entirely about the fact that the Washington situation is not a frivolous suit on the part of the Republicans just to be assholes -- their lawyers have done their homework, and their case is solid under Washington law.

Those of us from Washington need to be prepared for the fact that we will likely be working on another Gubernatorial special election this spring, one that Chris Gregoire will win, again. Hiding our heads in the sand and saying that the Republicans are just sore losers and their case is frivolous is ignoring the facts and does not help to prepare us Washingtonians for this probability.

Keep in mind the Washington margin is just 129 votes STATEWIDE.

And since you brought up Ohio, the margin there statewide is 119,000 votes. Were there both instances of probable fraud, and instances of distributed disenfranchisement (voter suppression simply through poor planning) in Ohio?. Yes and yes. But so far, unlike in Washington, there are not 119,000 identified instances of invalid votes cast or specific voters who were unable to cast a ballot.

I have some of the hard evidence of Ohio fraud sitting on my desk, faxed to me for professional analysis by Andy Stephenson working for Susan Truitt. But not 119,000 instances. 18 specifically in Warren County. And all of the evidence for those instances came from Ohio public records requests...

Knowing that there was fraud or systemic problems, and having enough specific instances of such fraud or problems identified to overturn the election the face of it are two entirely different situations.

The Washington and Ohio situations aren't even apples and oranges, it's apples and aircraft parts.


Edited for spelling

[eridani]

9. OK, answer the following points from the article.

The first and second points are the most important.

The Democrats believe there are four problems with the lawsuit. First, the courts do not have jurisdiction in an election challenge of a governor's race (the state constitution assigns that power to the Legislature). Second, if any court has jurisdiction, it's the state Supreme Court, not a county superior court. Third, it's unconstitutional to hold a special election for governor. And fourth, the Republicans' claims don't have merit under the state law that speaks to contested elections.

[claudiajean]

12. The issues are complex, but here's a thumbnail sketch of the answers...

The Democrats believe there are four problems with the lawsuit.

1. First, the courts do not have jurisdiction in an election challenge of a governor's race (the state constitution assigns that power to the Legislature).

The Legislature simply issues the final election certificate. The Legislature could have refused to issue such certificate, but they did not. Now that the election is certified, it falls under RCW 29A.68 et al, the election contest chapter of the Elections title. RCW 29A.68 et al is clear that contests are commenced in the court of the appropriate jurisdiction, which, for a statewide race, would be state court, otherwise known as Superior Court of any county.

2. Second, if any court has jurisdiction, it's the state Supreme Court, not a county superior court.

I have to believe this was tossed into the Democrats' response simply to throw down and be public about the fact that this case will be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. All cases have to be first heard by a finder of fact. Whether that is a trial court, a hearing examiner, a bar association disciplinary panel, whichever, the Supreme Court rules on interpretation of law. They are not a finder of fact.

The other important item to note regarding jurisdiction is that County Superior Courts are actually the county departments of the Washington State courts (check their official seals). County and City District courts are the local courts. For example, if there is an issue with, say, a state initiative, then it is usually heard in Thurston County Superior Court, as that is where the Secretary of State's Office is located.

3. Third, it's unconstitutional to hold a special election for governor.

Setting aside an election creates a vacancy in the office for which the election was set aside, unless it is done before the previous incumbent has left office. If it was unconstitutional to hold a special election for Governor, then we would never be able to fill the office if there were a vacancy for any reason. The authority for such an election is actually specified in the State Constitution.

Excerpt directly from the State Constitution, Article III, Section 10: "Any person succeeding to the office of governor as in this section provided, shall perform the duties of such office only until the disability be removed, or a governor be elected and qualified; and if a vacancy occur more than thirty days before the next general election occurring within two years after the commencement of the term, a person shall be elected at such election to fill the office of governor for the remainder of the unexpired term."

4. And fourth, the Republicans' claims don't have merit under the state law that speaks to contested elections.

This is actually the strongest part of the Dems' case. The WSDCC is arguing that even if the election was sloppy as all hell, that if all the mistakes that benefited either side were added up, that Gregoire would still be the winner. They have complex calculations of which way all of the various contested ballots would have been voted, based upon statistics for each county, and their calculations show Gregoire still ahead in the end.

If the judge is convinced as the finder of fact that the race outcome would not have been changed, even if all of the errors could be corrected, then we might win.

But statistics aren't absolutes. Both ends of the bell curve still exist, and it is possible that all of the provisionals fed through the machines in King County without being verified could have been Rossi votes, which would, in fact, change the outcome.

There is enough possibility that error changes the outcome of the race that I expect the judge will say we can never know who won, and set the election aside.


edited to remove my messed up html tags

[eridani]

16. Speaking of statistics, I think the Snohomish county machine theft

would more than make up for any potential Rossi gains in provisional ballots. Re felons--the reinstatement of voting rights list is probably not up to date.

I could live with a revote if touchscreens were not used, but basically I'm just damned pissed that the Dems roll over and concede defeat all the time and the Rethugs never do. I'm glad they didn't this time. Don't tell me Rossi would have accepted a 42 vote machine recount lead by Gregoire, or that he gave a flying fuck about election errors until the manual recount was done. There must have been some reason that Reed was willing to certify.

This is from Paul Berendt on talking points--

Talking Points: (are the bolded ones true?)

To overturn an election it is not enough to simply state mistakes were made, you must prove illegal votes would have changed the outcome of the election.

The election contest statute clearly states an election can only be set aside if there is evidence that the outcome would be changed. The Republicans have no such evidence at this point; in fact, their case states that they want time to find evidence.

A court decision calling for them to set aside an election would require evidence of fraud. The Adams County case the republicans are referring to claiming that errors in and of themselves are enough to warrant having the election set aside actually involved fraudulent alteration and possible illegal voters. No one, including the Republicans and Dino Rossi, is claiming fraud in this case.


The GOP Lawsuit: Admissions of Their Own Vulnerabilities

The Rossi Campaign has decided not to challenge the certification of this election and the inauguration of Governor Gregoire. Rossi’s team has realized that they can't prove that Rossi won the election and they are not even going to try. With no evidence of fraud, Rossi is asking for an open ended fishing expedition. Rossi cannot prove fraud in the election; instead he is saying he still has questions and would like more time to look for evidence of fraud. There is nothing new in the lawsuit. Rather than indisputable evidence Rossi won the election. Rossi’s team is making a series of accusations hoping that something sticks.

The standards that apply to these sorts of lawsuits are very demanding and they should be. You have to show not just that there were mistakes—that happens in every election. You have to show that there were mistakes that would change the result. There is no evidence of that.

There is no statute or case precedent authorizing a revote in a gubernatorial race. A re-vote would require an amendment to the Washington State Constitution. The Constitution requires gubernatorial elections can occur only "at the same time and place of voting as for the members of the legislature" (Article III, section 1) and at general elections, which occur in November. It would require amending the constitution for the Governor to be elected separate from the Legislature. A Constitutional amendment requires approval by 2/3 vote of each house of the legislature and the people would have to approve the amendment at the next regular general election in November 2005 (Washington Constitution, Article XXIII, Section 1).

Republican Claims There is Legal Precedent for a Re-Vote are unfounded. Cases involving officials other than statewide executive officers are not relevant for several reasons. The Washington Constitution states that contests for statewide executive officers shall be determined "by the legislature," not the courts (Washington Constitution Article III, § 4). The Court’s ability to order a new vote in an election is limited by the Constitution's specific provisions for gubernatorial elections.

Chris Gregoire Won This Election

This was a close election. Chris Gregoire is the clear, final winner after a transparent hand count, led by the Republican Secretary of State, and observed by both parties. The process followed state law (supported by Dino Rossi when he was a senator) and is now over. The election was checked double checked, and triple checked by bipartisan teams of election officials, workers and observers. It’s time to begin addressing the challenges facing our state.

Rossi refusing to follow the rules

State law clearly states that a hand count is the final count. Now that Rossi has lost that count, he is trying to change the rules and have a “do-over."

We Finished the Most Accurate Vote Count in State History

Votes have been checked, double checked and triple checked under the eyes of thousands of Democratic and Republican county auditors, observers, and elections officials, giving ample opportunity for counties to correct any errors. In the hand count, every precinct is manually counted by teams who must cross-verify their counts. The result is compared to the results from the prior machine count and any difference between the two is investigated and resolved. This approach combines the benefits of both types of count and is far more accurate than either a machine count alone or a manual count alone.

As reported in the Seattle Times 12/29/04 “your questions answered” article, “Under Washington state law, the hand recount is reserved for only the closest elections. John Pearson, the state's deputy elections director, said the most accurate recount is when a machine recount is combined with a manual one, such as in this election, so the counts can be compared and rectified.

Rossi and GOP are making wild, unproven claims about ballot problems

Republicans are using wrong data in order to make unsubstantiated claims about ‘phantom voters.’ GOP never asked for the right records and never gave uditors a chance to explain before making those wild allegations. Republicans used reports from voter registration data bases, not the actual record of who was issued a ballot contained in the poll books and absentee ballots records. County auditors agree that these are baseless allegations. As reported in the Seattle Times, county auditors have said that the GOP’s numbers are flat out wrong.

Provisional Ballots

Republicans claim provisional ballots were tossed into the mix without ever properly being checked to ensure that they were legal votes. However, even if this were true over 90% of all provisional ballots cast in King County were determined to be legal votes. Based on Gregoire’s performance, King County would have had to have counted thousands of unchecked provisional ballots in order to change the election results. The bottom line: after weeks of crying foul, Republicans still have produced no hard evidence of fraud.

Dino Rossi Is Shamefully Misleading Military Voters and Their Families

Fact: the Secretary of State’s Office reports very few complaints from military voters. When Democrats went to the State Supreme Court to be sure that every ballot was counted, Dino Rossi intervened to stop this from happening. Having won the case in the Supreme Court, they are changing their minds because they are behind.

Military voters can use the Federal Write-in Ballot (FWAB) if their absentee ballot does not arrive on time. The military has officers in every unit called Voting Assistance Officers who are to brief all members of the military and hand out registration materials and voting guides. The FWAB's don't even have to be postmarked - they just have to arrive no later than certification day giving military voters had an extra two weeks to get their ballots in. Unlike other voters members of the military can fax, and in some cases email their votes. Lots of soldiers invoked that right. Rossi should stop misleading and using military families to create false doubts about the election process.

Sincerely,

Paul Berendt
Chair, Washington State Democrats

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. The 437 unverified provisional votes were not just King County

They were statewide.

"....more than 400 provisional ballots that were mistakenly fed straight into the tabulating machines in several counties without verification."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WST%20Washington%20Governor

It's likely many of those went to Rossi.

[claudiajean]

14. You are correct, my error. 348 were in King, the other 89 were...

identified as from Pierce and Jefferson. Pierce went nearly 50-50 for the two candidates, Jefferson was 60-40 for Gregoire, just like King County.

The other counties have not yet reported their provisional ballot discrepancies.

[claudiajean]

3. There are many judges in Washington who have set aside elections...

...it happens far more frequently for a variety of errors, than the public has been led to believe.

Judge Bridges is, by all accounts, a stand-up guy and an excellent judge. Very even-handed and fair. Both Democrats and Republicans in Chelan County say so.

He has some experience in high-profile cases. He was the judge who heard the damage lawsuits after the Wenatchee sex scandal mess that ruined so many lives and reputations. All the attorneys who represented clients in that matter had high praise for his work as a jurist.

Actually, I think the people of Washingotn got pretty lucky. We seem to have gotten a fair judge.

[cilla4progress]

10. GOP Challenge

I work in the legal community in Chelan County and I agree - Judge Bridges may not be what the GOP was hoping for! He is a "no strings attached guy," and I assume from history, more inclined towards a progressive slant. The election he overturned was right to be overturned - a Republican candidate who didn't meet residency criteria, versus an excellent (friend of mine) Democratic candidate, who unfortunately lost by 7 votes in the revote, as I recall!

I'm looking forward to the circus here today!

[claudiajean]

15. So was that courtroom actually the County Commission chambers?

I had an idea in my mind that I thought I knew what the Chelan Co Auditorium was (I thought it was over in the convention center), but the room on the streaming video of today's hearing looked like someplace entirely different.

It looked a bit like the room the County Commission meets.

Where, O where were we in Wenatchee?

[RobertSeattle]

11. OK - thanks

I heard on one of the afternoon news radio that he was the "only" but I could find the source - perhaps they misspoke.

[zann725]

7. Wah! Wah! Wah! Widdle Wepug's sometimes MUST learn Patience.

That, and the word, "NO." Helps them 'grow.'

And their attorney said: "Democrats don't want to discover what the real facts are"?!! Sounds like some talking in the mirror there.

I saw Gregroire's "swearing in" a week ago, and she IS impressive, and tough...with lots of plans for her new Term. That's a lady that's NOT stepping aside for Rossi. And I think he's going to learn that...the hard way. Eventually he'll give up and move on.