Oh yeah right...going all the way to the Washington State Supreme court is DEFINATELY ROLLING OVER!
Have you heard that the canvasing board in King County is APPOINTED???
Did you know that each and every time "new ballots" were found in King County they were challenged in court?
I suggest to you, that the "pubbies" did not Roll Over...Good Grief...
I guess we should have "Fired Shots"...
I thank you for your work in Florida....
But you are using words like "go for blood".."the one with the knife wins"...
How about some ACTUAL SUGGESTIONS???
Challenge every vote???
What do you think has been happening????
A bunch of the votes were even thrown out one week and then let back in the next!
I guess we should have Knifed them..that always works..
I just received two very different replies after writing my local legislators/representatives regarding my desire for a gubernatorial revote in the state of Washington.
Dave Schmidt, a Republican, seemed to take my heartfelt (if somewhat peeved) comments to heart ... he gave me a thoughtful reply.
John Lovick, a Democrat, gave me a reply that my wife said was terse to the point of being rude. As she describes it: "Rep. Lovick's reply reeked of the arrogance of someone who feels that even though they are being terribly unfair, they have you over a barrel and they don't care. His terseness was really this: ' Scr*w you -- we've put our thumb on the scale, we snatched it by hook or by crook, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it' ..."
Needless to say, I'm furious at the arrogance of Washington state Democrats, and especially because it reveals much about their double-standards (what if the exact roles were reversed, ie: those provisional ballots); and I'm also amazed at their complete lack of a sense of fairplay.
What follows: First, my letter, the same to both representatives. Second, the reply from WA state Sen. Dave Schmidt. Finally, the "well thought-out" reply by Rep. John Lovick.
Here is what I wrote to Sen. Dave Schmidt:
Dear Sen. Schmidt:
I must add my voice to the ranks of those that are calling for a re-vote in the recent Washington state gubernatorial election.
I believe that if a re-vote does not occur, the effects will be far-reaching and will hurt the political process in this state, as well as politicians on both sides of the aisles (although I suspect an eventual backlash against Democratic candidates). It will hurt Washington state's reputation as a whole, something we cannot afford -- to appear foolish to companies that may seek to relocate or do business here. In short, if there is no re-vote, the entire state of Washington will suffer the consequences of the incredible incompetence displayed by election officials.
It goes without saying that Dean Logan -- head of King County Elections -- should lose his job. The recent news about the variance between actual votes cast in King County and registered voters (not to mention provisional ballots put through machines without checking for valid registrations) makes a mockery of the political process in this state. Why should we not, as voters of this state, band together and call for an investigation -- to see just how much of this mess was caused by incompetence and, perhaps, outright fraud?
If future investigations by any party or media revealed that there WAS any type of fraud (or even gross incompetence) -- and Washington state politicians had previously buried their heads in the sand and stymied voter desire for a recall -- it would leave a stain on the reputation of any state legislator who had gone against the will of a sizable portion of this state. I don't think any politician should discount this possibility.
What many Republicans may not realize: A RE-VOTE DOES NOT GUARANTEE A ROSSI VICTORY
But that's fine -- it's about doing all that is possible (in addition to firing Dean Logan) to correct horrible mistakes, to GENUINELY ENFRANCHISE VOTERS (forget PC rhetoric, a "phony populism" that fooled the Supreme Court, designed to create a smokescreen to protect Dean Logan's job) ... and to reinstill confidence in Washington's political processes.
What many Democrats may not realize: WITHOUT A RE-VOTE, THERE WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE AN EVENTUAL BACKLASH AGAINST THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THIS STATE ... Basically, they will have "won the battle, BUT LOST THE WAR."
Any politician who discounts the degree to which Washington state voters may hold Democrats responsible for any small thing that goes badly for this state in the next four years (because they did NOT have the chance to re-vote) is, well ... very, very naive. If this election has shown us anything, it's that issues sometimes revolve very importantly around perceptions, emotions, and less about logic. Voters that may not be so forgiving in the future may well include many Democrats. Does the Democratic party want to risk this? THAT remains to be seen!
And Sec. of State Sam Reed should be ashamed in his position, allowing provisional ballots to be allowed to count after the actual election, even as he stood a hardline position regarding a deadline that disenfranchised many of the fighting men overseas who did NOT have their votes count. It's NO GOOD to just brush this issue aside and say: "Oh, we'll do better next time." That's NOT good enough!
A RE-VOTE IS THE ONLY FAIR SOLUTION AND I, FOR ONE, INTEND TO BAND TOGETHER WITH OTHER VOTERS TO DEFEND OUR RIGHT TO A FAIR ELECTION AND TO HOLD POLITICIANS ACCOUNTABLE (IN FUTURE ELECTIONS) IF WASHINGTON STATE POLITICIANS DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS FAIR, JUST, AND THE WILL OF MANY, MANY STATE CITIZENS.
Angrily, but respectfully,
XXXXX XXXX
XXX XXX XXXX
XXXX XXXXX, WA XXXXX
XXX-XXX-XXXX
And here was his thoughtful reply:
Thank you for contacting me with your support for calling a new election. I would welcome a new election for governor; I believe too much is at stake not to have a re-vote.
The procedure for the Legislature to call a special election is as follows: Any member of the House or Senate can introduce a bill specifically tailored to force a runoff between Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire in a special election for governor.
I'm not optimistic at this point that we would have enough votes be able to accomplish this with both the House and Senate under Democrat control. Not to mention Democrat governor-elect (who will have veto power) not wanting a runoff. There is little chance that such a bill would become law.
Clearly, there is a lot of work to do to make its process reliable and trustworthy in the future. Specifically, King County's elections department has been plagued with far too many inconsistencies. Election reform will certainly come before the 2005 legislature, I will support any proposal that protects the integrity of the ballots and restores
confidence in the process.
You may also be aware that any citizen may file a challenge to the November 2 election until January 22, 2005. This would force the issue into the courts to decide if the election is valid or not.
Currently, there is a website available for people to sign a petition supporting a revote of the governor's race.
www.revotewa.com
Additionally, a Re-Vote Rally will be held at 10:30 A.M. next Tuesday (January 11) at the State Capitol in Olympia. Bring your friends, family, and neighbors and help us show that Washingtonians are serious about a revote.
Sincerely,
Dave Schmidt
Senator, 44th District
Now, here is what I received back from
Rep. John Lovick:
Mr. XXXX:
Thanks very much for your message. I'll keep your comments in mind.
Rep. John Lovick
Very interesting, don't you think?
It's quite amazing: Dean Logan -- incompetent head of King County Elections (and someone I can NOT be sure isn't "in the pocket" of King County Democratic Party head Paul Berendt) -- waves the "PC Flag" of a supposed "voter disenfranchisment," thus encouraging the trend-following (not "law following") state Supreme Court to make a ruling that ALLOWED provisional ballots to count (AFTER the election was over ... they weren't worried about any deadlines) ...
... But THEN, large numbers of provisional ballots are run through voting machines and counted, NOT HELD BACK FOR VERIFICATION, giving rise to my afore-mentioned variance between legitimate voter roll numbers and actual votes counted. I mean, this is the sort of thing that any U.S. govermental election observers would howl about, were they to observe this in a hotly contested third-world country ... can you imagine the outcry?!
And then, in a hugely gutless move, Sec. of State Sam Reed (whom I will NOT vote for again), disallows votes (based on strict deadline issues) by some of our brave fighting men stationed overseas. SO-O-O-O, for THEM, there IS a deadline, written in stone with no chance for appeal. I suppose there is no "PC FLAG" of theirs to wave, to garner public sympathy and attention -- only for whining Seattle baristas with orange hair, Marxist bookstore owners, and clueless-looking, tousled-hair grandmothers (waiting for Metro buses in coats that look like shabby old couches) who vote for left-leaning candidates because their sons and daughters shame them into voting (regardless of issue or logic) a straight Democratic ticket.
You can tell I'm pretty p*ssed off, but this ain't over, yet ...
-- Keeso
