Posted on 01/14/2005 8:43:10 AM PST by Mike Fieschko
OLYMPIA — Republicans want a copy of the state's criminal-records database to compare it with the names of the nearly 3 million people who voted in the governor's race, as party attorneys search for felons who cast illegal ballots.Yesterday, attorneys for Dino Rossi and the Republican Party asked the State Patrol for an electronic copy of that database, the Washington State Identification System. The list contains more than 1.2 million records. Republicans are hoping to do a quicker and less expensive search than what is available to the general public.
The records include names, birth dates, charges and outcomes of the cases, including felonies and some misdemeanors. Republicans are looking for felons because felons are not allowed to vote unless their voting rights have been restored.
The move is part of Rossi's legal challenge to the election of Democrat Christine Gregoire, who was sworn in as governor Wednesday. Rossi, who lost the final recount by 129 votes, filed suit last week in Chelan County Superior Court asking that the election be thrown out and a new one held.
The Republican lawsuit doesn't include any specifics about felons who voted, but it lists them as a potential source of illegal votes. There is evidence that dozens of felons cast votes in Pierce and Snohomish counties. The Building Industry Association of Washington compiled a list of felons on Rossi's behalf, but attorneys want to do a much faster statewide search.
Republicans also included in their case evidence of errors in King County, including an 1,800-vote gap between the number of ballots cast and the list of voters, and 348 mishandled provisional ballots.
Democrats say Republicans are using the lawsuit as a "broad fishing expedition ... to prop up their otherwise unsupported allegations."
That's what attorneys for the state Democratic Party said in papers filed in court Wednesday. They want to curtail Republicans' ability to conduct discovery, or gather evidence, in the case.
If the Democrats succeed, Republicans will be unable to compel state and local officials to produce evidence and witnesses.
Democratic Party attorney Jenny Durkan said searching for felons who voted is the sort of work Republicans should have completed before the lawsuit was filed.
"I find it beyond offensive that exercising your right to vote would trigger any kind of criminal-background check," Durkan said. "If the state did this it'd be a huge violation of civil rights."
Secretary of State Sam Reed's attorneys filed papers opposing Rossi's request that discovery be allowed on an expedited basis, but they didn't claim all discovery should end, as the Democrats did.
"Sam Reed's position is the facts should come out but not on this chaotic, truncated schedule," Reed attorney Thomas Ahearne said.
In papers filed Wednesday, Democratic attorneys said if the court sides with Republicans, it should at least delay discovery until some legal questions are answered. Those include:
* Should the election contest be heard by the Legislature instead of the courts?
* If it is heard by a court, should the case begin at the state Supreme Court?
* Is the new election Republicans want allowed under the state constitution?
"It's a clear attempt to make sure the voters don't find out what happened in this case," Republican attorney Diane Tebelius said.
She said there is already enough evidence to warrant a new election. But, she said, Republicans want more because "We want to lock it up."
The criminal records Republicans want are available to the public on the State Patrol's Web site for $10 a search. But Rossi wants an electronic copy of the database so a computer can search for matches with the list of voters, Rossi attorney Peter Schalestock said. That would save time and money, he said.
State Patrol Capt. Jeff DeVere said the request "is outside our normal business practices" and is being reviewed.
The fight over the pre-trial investigation is just one of many issues that will be argued before Chelan County Judge John Bridges can consider the substance of the case.
Yesterday, attorneys for Benton, Snohomish, Jefferson and Lewis counties filed a request that they be dismissed from the Republican lawsuit, which named all 39 counties.
The papers say Republicans have made no claims against the four counties and they "are not proper parties to this election contest."
There now are so many attorneys representing what by one count is more than 90 parties in the suit that court officials will hold hearings in the Chelan County Auditorium, across the street from the courthouse.
Bridges was assigned the case Wednesday after several counties decided they would ask the original judge, T.W. Small, to recuse himself.
Small had written to all parties in the case outlining his potential conflicts of interest and telling attorneys they could ask him to step down, no questions asked.
Among the conflicts were his wife's donations to the Republican National Committee; his consideration for a federal position; and connections between him and family members to people involved in the case.
The request that he step down came from Franklin County. But attorney Chris Mertens, the county's newly hired outside lawyer, said it came after "communications with lots of counties."
It was not in response to any one conflict listed by Small, Mertens said.
"People felt that he had so many ties to so many parties" that there was the potential for conflicts, Mertens said.
yessss!!!
Thanks Foo. I've been following this too....Looks like they're "gettin er dun!"
Are you/and yours going to the festivities next week?.....Sure wish I was!
On one hand, the judge recusing himself is admirable and honorable. This is also, however, the reasons we never have a level playing field. You think a liberal judge with a thousand conflicts would recuse himself? Hardly. He'd relish the opportunity to settle a case for his side of the fight, conflicts be damned.
To those of you in Washington, what's your sense of how this thing is gonna play out? Is there a real chance of a re-vote? The evidence of a tainted election is incredibly strong on its face, but that's certainly no guarantee that a court will do the right thing.
MM
Let me say the Washington state GOP has a spine. It's about time someone stand up to the Demonrats and this attempt to steal this election. Demonrats are so comfortable that Republicans will just step back and let them get away with it as in a 'new tone' and it is apparent the Washington state GOP is nothing like the spineless ones in Congress and the White House. The Washington vote has many discrepencies and this is a case where it needs to be confronted and examined thoroughly to find out what was going on with the fraud.
Wonder if its because they're worried that we'll find that 98% of felons are Democrats?
Ping if you haven't read this one yet
If not now, when?
The libs wouldn't be stalling and dissing discovery if they didn't have something(s) to hide.....
Leave no stone unturned to keep Fraudoire from illegally taking the reins of the state.
George Washington was the first President of the first nation founded on the principle of government of the people by the people and for the people. All legitimate government is based on the consent of the governed. Fair elections are at the very heart of ascertaining and signifying that consent. Allowing King County's flawed elections office to reverse the winner of two prior counts is an insult to the whole idea of fair elections.
The State's public employee's unions are the single largest contributor to Christine's efforts since Election Day. Union employees run King County's elections office. In Washington State we now have two political parties, one that represents the government and one that represents the citizens. The government party has now sanctioned the handiwork of their comrades in King County; handiwork that mysteriously resulted in hundreds of ballots for which no real voters can be found, handiwork that reversed the outcome of two prior vote counts and resulted in the government party's candidate proclaiming victory.
Christine declares our election system to be a model of how "democracy" should work. Democracy is not the right term for government of the government by the government and for the government. Tyranny would be the correct term for a system were the citizens role is limited to paying the taxes that support the lavish lifestyle of their rulers.
Well....yesterday a fellow called into a local radio show and said he'd been a felon, but released 10 years ago....went to renew his drivers license this past year and they asked if he wanted to vote.....He said "sure." He thought he would be OKAY since he was out....BUT, now he's wondering if he's one of "those" felons on the list.....in other words....enablers are at the licensing offices, too....
The assumption, of course, is that felons only voted for Dems. Which is probably the case. What a horrible surprise it would be to find felons voting for Rossi.
Dino's request brings into sharp contrast the whiny, obstructionist comment by a SW WA county elections official (can't recall name) who said it would be too difficult to validate every voter. It's their, HELLO, job.
!#@~~##@Ae!!%(*&
2. Secretary of State Sam Reed's attorneys filed papers opposing Rossi's request that discovery be allowed on an expedited basis, but they didn't claim all discovery should end, as the Democrats did.
3. Democratic attorneys said if the court sides with Republicans, it should at least delay
4. Is the new election Republicans want allowed under the state constitution?
The first paragraph quoted is certainly expectable.
The second paragraph = Hero of the people, Sam Reed.
The third paragraph's bolded word reveals the dem strategy in its entirety. Delay till 2008 or infinity.
When fraud is this rampant, and thankfully it is still illegal, people on both sides of the political divide have to stop thinking inside any box. This is untrod territory and we are going to have to find the path as we go.
What's the buzz on Judge Bridges?
Who knows, really, how fairly any court will treat the will of the people in this state ... that will been body-slammed for months and if the dems had their way (God only knows what tactics they continue to use behind the scenes), the answer would be a resounding No. For me it's a pray, wait and see thing. The majority of people here certainly want a revote, which in itself is amazing, given how liberal the state has been. The GOP apparently (and IMO, wisely) judge-shopped but now that that judge recused himself and I don't know anything about Judge Bridges, it's a bigger question.
What I am not sure of is if you fulfill those things below, yes it will allow you to vote etc, but I don't know if it takes you off a felon list. I doubt it.
Persons convicted of a felony in Washington lose their right to vote until they have completed all the conditions of their sentence, including their legal financial obligations.
What you need to do to regain the right to vote depends on where you were convicted and when you were convicted. The following information explains how to get your right to vote back.
I was convicted by a state court in Washington after 1984 and I have satisfied all of my legal financial obligations (LFO’s).
If you paid your LFO’s while you were still in Department of Corrections (DOC) custody or under supervision, the DOC will notify the sentencing court that all terms of the sentence have been completed, and the court then will issue a certificate of discharge. The court sends a copy to you at the address listed in the court file.
Your right to vote is restored, and you do not need to take any further action. Your right to serve on a jury, sign initiatives, and run for office is also restored. The certificate does not restore the right to possess firearms and does not clear your conviction for employment background check purposes.
If you paid your LFO’s after the DOC terminated their supervision of you, you have a right to petition the court to issue a certificate of discharge. To petition the court for a certificate of discharge....
Felon Voting Rights
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