Posted on 04/10/2005 1:43:51 PM PDT by Publius
The discovery of uncounted ballots in a King County elections facility could change the tenor of the governor's-election lawsuit, and it comes just as Republicans fine-tune their case in the final weeks before trial and drop some previously high-profile claims.
Already, attorneys for both sides say the news of 94 uncounted, valid absentee ballots means scrambling to change plans for last-minute collection of evidence.
They will expand the list of officials they want to question under oath and will change the nature of questions they'll ask King County's top two election officials, who were already scheduled for depositions.
News of the latest foul-up could also allow Republicans to introduce the prospect of fraud by election officials.
"This raises a flag that wasn't there publicly before," said J. Vander Stoep, an attorney and adviser to Republican candidate Dino Rossi.
So far, Republicans have been careful not to mention fraud in the courtroom or in legal filings, though backers of Rossi have not been nearly as restrained in the public-relations realm as they attack Democrat Christine Gregoire's 129-vote victory.
The possibility of fraud comes not from a specific allegation but from a so far unexplained statistic:
Out of 91 missed ballots whose precincts were known last week, 61 were cast in precincts Rossi won in November.
Given that Gregoire won King County by a 58-40 split and led the final results in about 70 percent of all the county's 2,616 precincts, Republicans find it suspicious that so many of the uncounted ballots came from Rossi strongholds.
"Can it be random error?" Vander Stoep asked. "What are the odds of that being chance?"
King County elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said no one should jump to conclusions about why the ballots weren't counted.
"There is no evidence at this point of fraud," she said yesterday. "We must wait for the external investigation by election professionals to conclude how these ballots were handled."
Republicans do not need to prove fraud by election officials to get the election overturned by Judge John Bridges, the Chelan County Superior Court judge presiding over the lawsuit.
So far the case focuses on alleged widespread illegal voting by felons and enough errors by election workers to show Gregoire was not the legitimate winner.
"The focus of the trial will be on whether or not we can reliably say who won," Vander Stoep said. "On that basis, new ballots showing up makes it far easier for the judge to say, 'We don't know.' "
Democratic Party attorney Kevin Hamilton laughed at the allegation.
"Now the theory is what? Somehow they went through Rossi precincts and stuffed ballots under the rug so they wouldn't get counted?" he said. "I'm sorry to laugh. But it's so implausible.
"The fact that they are raising this issue at this point suggests to me they have lost confidence in their case."
As Republicans consider whether to introduce the prospect of fraud, they are dropping other, well-publicized claims in their lawsuit.
Last week Republican attorneys told their Democratic counterparts Rossi was dropping two claims: that election officials failed to mail military ballots on time and that King County used illegal methods to enhance ballots that could not be read by vote-counting machines.
"It's a question of time and resources," Vander Stoep said. "We're at a point now where we're having to choose between valid claims. Which ones are the strongest.
"We're having to make hard decisions based upon what gives us the best likelihood in the shortest period of time to prevail."
Republicans have just this week to file with the court a list of all expert witnesses they plan to have testify during the May trial.
Of the claims Republicans have dropped, military ballots were among the more high-profile allegations.
Rossi's initial legal challenge filed in January claimed, "Military overseas and other absentee voters may not have received or been sent their absentee ballots in a timely manner and could have been disenfranchised by the neglect, mistake, or error of election officials."
Soon after the November election, state Republican Party officials said several members of the military, including some serving in Iraq, had told them they wanted to vote but didn't receive ballots in time.
In December, Rossi held a news conference alongside the parents of Tyler Farmer, a Marine wounded in Iraq who didn't get his ballot until the day after the election. A news release from Rossi that day was headlined, "With so many disenfranchised military voters, how can this be a fair election?"
Republicans featured Farmer's story in a radio ad that called for a re-vote in the governor's election. A rally, promoted by conservative talk-show hosts, was held near Fort Lewis to protest the alleged disenfranchisement of military voters.
"It's sort of the loose-cannon approach to litigation," Hamilton, the Democrats' attorney, said. "They file litigation with a loud, flamboyant press conference, and then there's no 'there' there."
But Charles Farmer, Tyler's father, said yesterday he was glad he and his son played a role in Rossi's effort.
He said he knew the issue of military ballots wasn't likely to be part of the final legal battle because his son's commanding officer had told him the Marines would not want to get involved in a political dispute and have to testify about military personnel who didn't receive ballots.
He said he understands and supports the Marines in that, but still thinks it is a shame that stories of what he believes are hundreds of Marines and soldiers unable to vote won't be part of the trial.
"I believe wholeheartedly that Dino Rossi won this election, and it was stolen and he should be governor," Farmer said. "But most importantly, I'd like to have seen my son have the chance to vote."
The governor's election lawsuit
The basics
Filed: Jan. 7 in Chelan County Superior Court.
Petitioners: Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance and Rossi supporters.
Claim: The election of Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, should be nullified because of illegal votes and errors by election workers.
Key issues
Illegal votes: Will Republicans have to prove which candidate received each illegal vote? Will Democrats be able to cite votes and errors that improperly benefited Rossi?
Errors: How will Judge John Bridges factor evidence of improperly counted provisional ballots, mishandled absentees, vote tallies that don't add up and other mistakes by election workers?
Appeal: Regardless of the outcome in Bridges' court, the case is expected to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Upcoming in the case
Wednesday: Pretrial motions are due.
Friday: Republicans must submit final lists of alleged illegal votes and errors by election officials and disclose list of witnesses.
Next week: King County officials will be questioned under oath by attorneys for both sides.
April 20: Final replies to pretrial motions are due.
May 2: The judge will hold a hearing on pretrial motions.
May 6: Democrats must submit final lists of alleged illegal votes and errors and disclose witness lists.
May 20: Cutoff for evidence gathering for both sides.
May 23: The trial begins.
Hey there IK! Hoep all is well with you and look forward to seeing you back in WA sometime :)
They introduced just such a motion in court. They asked that Judge Bridges call off all court action for 6 months -- just until after the November general election. Bridges shot them down in flames.
My question is, WHICH laws can be overturned when Rossi takes office? If the election is a fraud then what about all about all the post-election legislation?
Gregoire's election was certified by the Secretary of State and the state legislature, and she took the oath of office. Until a court invalidates the election and throws her out of office, she is the Governor of Washington. As a result, everything she has signed into law stands. If Rossi wins in November, he can fire all her appointees, but he can't retroactively veto the laws Gregoire signed.
He can, however, ask the legislature to change those laws. If his margin of victory is large enough, the Democratic majority would have to take his request seriously.
Widespread vote/voter/elections officials/ballot fraud in King county is the only way to describe the situation. "Hmm, this mark next to Rossi's name looks like an arrow pointing to Gregoire" and "These ballots are probably for Rossi, let's hide them." Sure, there might be a few elections workers in King country who aren't corrupt, but we have yet to know who they may be.
I miss Ivar.
Actually, the United States does not have an official language. Everytime someone tries to make one (usually English), the legislature strikes it down and calls it a states' right issue. In New Mexico for example, English and Spanish are both official.
This idiot Goldstein is trying to make it out like its a PR battle.
PR has nothing to do with illegals voting. With missing ballots and military folks being denied by hook or by crook.
What a twit...!!!
Thank you for posting this. Stephen was great and talked about what he did, but then King 5 asks the leftie to spew about SHARKANSKY. Figures. Then the liberal blogger says he doesn't focus on facts, and of course is not asked about HIS "ethics." Also, he said he writes FOR the MSM, so THEY can know what to say. He blatantly infers they are an arm of the democrat party.
But Stephen was obviously more educated and believable. I've no idea who the odd duck is they have on now, and turned it off. Shark BMP
OK, now that we have that out of the way can we please move forward with a REVOTE and kick Chris G.'s a*@ out of the Governor's mansion!
I hope that the MSM starts to act like sharks that smell blood in the water and start chewing on the Dem's especially Sims, Phillips & Chris G.
All I can say is THANK GOD my house is one mile south of the King/Pierce county line!!
ROTFLOL Yeah, that will happen )
Then what the heck was my high school US history teacher talking about when she taught us that English was voted over German as the national language?
I'm sure your teacher just bought into the common story about it. In fact, before I looked it up myself, I had been told (and believed) that too.
Take a look at...
http://tafkac.org/language/german_us_official_lang.html
Judge Bridges invalidates the election, and the Washington Supreme Court upholds him. Gregoire leaves office, waves and says, "I'll be back." Lt. Gov. Brad Owen becomes acting governor in addition to remaining lieutenant governor until the November general election.
Phil Talmadge, Ron Sims and Brad Owen jump into the primary against Gregoire. The winner -- with only 35% of the vote -- gets to run against Rossi. Rossi wins 62% of the vote and claims a mandate.
Rossi is inaugurated in December, and in January he asks the new session of the legislature to "reconsider" certain bills signed by Gregoire. If the Democratic legislature spits in Rossi's face, he has issues on which to bludgeon them in the 2006 election.
If Rossi's margin is big enough, the Democrats will want to cut a deal with him.
No more will be done about this democrat operation than was done in Bob Dornin's case. Fraud is part of the democrat (not democratic) process.
I wonder if there are any pubbies in KingCo that have refused to send in their property taxes....
Hit em where it hurts!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.