Posted on 02/04/2005 11:21:16 AM PST by SW6906
Live discussion of the hearings in Chelan County on Dems motions to dismiss the Rossi con test of the governors election. King5.com is streaming live!
what neighborhood is that?
Thanks
They lost the live feed a g a i n
But so far, it's all going pretty much for Rossi and the Revote Faction of the populace.
woooHOOOOO
Am really eager to hear if the judge says we need a revote in order to get a clean election.
If the dems lose the whole enchilada, I expect an appeal to be filed *yesterday* to the State Supreme Court.
Right On! But, As I tell everyone who discovers the true Pacific Northwest, SSHHH!!! Don't let on, keep 'em thinkin' it's constantly gray and wet here, otherwise we'll be up to our necks in 'em!
8^)
Please see my post #327.
8^)
Carlson is saying the judge is not messing around, and expects todays actions to go a long way towards resolving it.
Yes and he said that the judge had done his homework and was well prepared.
If a revote is ordered, can the Democrats play calendar games to try to delay the revote as long as possible?
-PJ
There is precedent. Another election a few years back was overturned, and it was nowheres near as close as this one.
This is what I'm thinking.
Can that judge order a revote and dare the Supreme Court to overturn him?
I don't think so, because I think part of the outcome will be that her certification will be voided.
You expect me to believe that?
No, I LIVED IN SPOKANE FOR YEARS. Sorry about the typo.
Here's the first news paper article to come out...
Judge rules Republican Rossi's election challenge can go forward
By REBECCA COOK The Associated Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — Democrats on Friday lost their initial attempts to derail Republicans' challenge of Gov. Christine Gregoire's election.
Addressing a packed courtroom in this Eastern Washington city, Chelan County Superior Court Judge John E. Bridges denied Democrats' motion to dismiss the case on grounds that it should be decided by the Legislature, not the courts.
He also rejected Democrats' argument that the election challenge should go straight to the state Supreme Court, rather than a lower court that can't set legal precedent.
And in a move that will simplify the case, Bridges dismissed all 39 counties and their auditors as defendants in the case.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi and the state GOP are challenging Gregoire's election, saying the results were tainted by so many errors and illegal votes that the courts should throw out the results and order a new election. They sued Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican, and the state's counties.
As interveners in the case, Democrats are defending the election results, saying Rossi doesn't have enough proof to nullify the election and that a revote would be unconstitutional.
Gregoire, who took office last month, won by a mere 129 votes after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots. Rossi, a real estate agent and former state senator, had won the original count by 261 votes and won a machine recount by 42 votes. But to his dismay, the third and final count flipped the victory to Gregoire, Washington's three-term attorney general.
Since being sworn in early last month, Gregoire has been busy trying to solidify her hold on the governor's office — and trying hard to ignore the legal challenge to her legitimacy.
Rossi and his supporters have been steadily beating the drum for a revote. Among other things, the state GOP alleges that hundreds of felons voted illegally.
"The state of Washington needs an open, transparent, public display of what happened in this election," Robert Maguire, an attorney for the Republicans, said in court Friday. "Without it, many — and perhaps the majority — of Washington voters will not believe the person sitting in the governor's office truly won the election."
Jenny Durkan, a lawyer for the Democrats, said it's simply too late to start over.
"You have a vote, you do it the best that you can, and it may not be perfect, but you don't do it over," Durkan said.
Democrats also tried to have the case tossed out for lack of timeliness. The judge denied that motion, too.
Bridges indicated he would rule on other motions Friday, including one to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that Republicans have no legal basis to challenge the election. In another, Democrats want the judge to take a potential revote off the table.
Republicans have said a new election is the only way to go and that it could be held soon. Democrats say the state constitution has strict rules about when a governor's election can happen: only during a general election when other statewide candidates are running for office.
At the start of Friday's hearing, Bridges asked lawyers on both sides to explain what was happening to a courtroom full of observers, many of them high school students.
At one point, Bridges talked about one of the cases cited in the lawsuit, a late-1800s election challenge in Arkansas. Both governors had their own militia, and state Supreme Court judges were kidnapped, he said.
"We think this is not what should go on in this system" Bridges quipped, "not that I don't wish I were kidnapped so I didn't have to make these decisions."
I believe he can order a revote, but the dems have the right to appeal to the supreme court, however, the supreme court does not even have to hear it.
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