Posted on 12/10/2004 3:45:48 AM PST by JosefK
Even if Republican Dino Rossi wins the hand recount of the state’s extraordinary governor’s race, a never-before-used provision in the state constitution could allow the Democrat-controlled Legislature to hand the election to Democrat Christine Gregoire. Experts are unsure how to interpret the provision. But the state Democratic Party says it gives Democrats the ability to contest the results of the election before the Legislature.
The Legislature would hold a trial of sorts, like an impeachment hearing, with lawmakers voting on the final outcome, according to a Democratic Party lawyer.
That scenario would seem to favor Gregoire, because Democrats will hold a 26-23 advantage in the Senate and a 55-43 edge in the House when the Legislature convenes Jan. 10.
But some Democratic lawmakers say that if Rossi wins the hand recount – by law, the last – they would support him, even if pressured to support the party in any legislative hearing.
“I don’t know where others are at, but I don’t think anyone will endorse someone who didn’t win the popular vote,” said state Rep. Dennis Flannigan (D-Tacoma).
Sen. Jim Kastama (D-Puyallup) and Rep. Steve Kirby (D-Tacoma) echoed Flannigan’s statements.
But Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, predicted politics would prevail.
Party leaders “would allow some Democrats to vote ‘no’ – the ones in marginal districts,” he said. “But there would be just enough votes to put her in.”
That could prompt a backlash against Democratic lawmakers in the 2006 elections, he said.
The state Democratic Party is focusing on the hand recount, which it paid $730,000 to initiate after Rossi won the initial vote count and first recount. It is also busy with a lawsuit it filed with the state Supreme Court to dictate the terms of the second recount, said state Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost.
“And we’re not going to think beyond that,” she said.
But state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said the lawsuit could set the stage for a legislative challenge.
“This is not academic,” he said. “This is one of the scenarios that worries me.”
‘don’t change the rules!’
Republican lawyers will fight any move to have the Legislature decide the election, Vance said.
But if it does get to that point, he said, Republicans are well-positioned to use public opinion as a weapon.
Lawmakers could expect to face a torrent of pressure from constituents and partisans on both sides, Sabato said.
Respondents in two recent polls narrowly favored Gregoire conceding. But both sides are trying to rally support.
Democrats are framing their efforts on Gregoire’s behalf as a fight to count every vote. Republicans, meanwhile, are portraying Gregoire as trying to steal the election and have printed signs reading, “Don’t change the rules!”
Rossi, a real estate investor and former state Senate leader who was an underdog in the race, beat Gregoire, the three-term attorney general, by 261 votes out of more than 2.8 million in the initial count.
That triggered an automatic statewide recount done by machine that Rossi won by 42 votes. That margin is believed to be the closest statewide race in modern U.S. political history.
The state Democratic Party requested the unprecedented statewide hand recount. It should conclude by Christmas unless prolonged by a state Supreme Court ruling.
dueling interpretations
The state Democratic Party is challenging specific aspects of the election in a lawsuit that the state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Monday. And neither side would rule out suing to invalidate the election if the recount goes to the other candidate.
But Democratic Party lawyer David Burman said in a letter to Secretary of State Sam Reed that, after the final recount, the courts would no longer be the final arbiter of any dispute.
“If there is to be an election contest as to this office, the constitution requires that it be decided by the Legislature, not the Judiciary, and that would drag into the early months of next year,” he wrote.
The Legislature’s constitutional role in certifying election results is largely ceremonial, with two exceptions. If there’s a tie, the winner would be decided by a joint House-Senate vote.
And if there’s a “contested election,” the section of the constitution to which Burman’s letter refers states it “shall be decided by the Legislature in such manner as shall be determined by law.”
Burman, in an interview, said “the language of the constitution seems pretty clear that (lawmakers) are the ones that have to decide the issue.”
But several experts said there’s no consensus on how to interpret that language, which refers specifically to statewide executive offices.
They include Jim Pharris, an assistant attorney general; John Pearson, deputy director of the secretary of state’s elections division; Seattle lawyer Hugh Spitzer, who co-wrote the definitive book on the state constitution and is defending Reed’s office against the Democrats’ lawsuit; and Sen. Kastama, the incoming chairman of the state Senate committee that oversees elections.
“That sentence in the constitution has been looked at by lawyers on both sides pretty hard,” Pharris said.
“It is really uncharted territory,” said Kastama, whose staff has been studying the issue. The state law on contesting elections deals specifically with the process for contesting an election in court, not before the Legislature, he said.
“I suspect that was put into the constitution as a safeguard against some real appearance of malfeasance or some real apparent discrepancy,” he said, adding that the governor’s race doesn’t appear to rise to that level.
‘last-ditch’ effort?
Burman said that in order to contest an election, the challenger would likely have to prove that vote-counting or election administration errors could have reversed the result if corrected.
The party’s lawsuit identifies several ways in which it alleges voters were disenfranchised, particularly in Gregoire’s base of King County. And state Party Chairman Paul Berendt has asserted that the disenfranchised voters in King County would have gone for Gregoire.
But party spokeswoman Brost said “I’ve talked with everybody. No one wants to take this to the Legislature.”
Though Vance said his lawyers believe the constitution would prohibit it, he charged “that’s what (Democrats) are preparing for. The last-ditch, burn the system down, hard-core strategy from Paul Berendt is to try to take this to the floor of the House and the Senate.”
Did not the Nazi's of germany do the same BS legislative games in order to gain political power? It seems the democrats are act in desperation mode to hold onto any scrap of power.
The media has totally skipped over this PR debacle for the Democrats. Even fox has only reported briefly that the recount continues.
This shows the Demoncats at their best...."How to steal an election-101"....This is not an elective course but required.
Uh, he was ELECTED.
This is a different matter. This was following the law, because there was only a plurality, no majority. Remember that we live in a republic, and it's extremely important to select good representation.
I might not like the results in all cases, but I have to stand by the methodology, much like I am a zealous guardian of the Electoral College. By having these provisions in our system, the minority views are strongly protected (note how important third-party or write-in votes were in the election.). No Mobocracy for me, please.
However, it would be nice to do a ranking voting system or one of the others. But I must admit that if the Dem voters can't even figure out how to punch the right hole for a single candidate, we don't have a prayer for the electorate to understand Borda system voting (except maybe the sports fans would do okay), Condorcet selections (especially Cloneproof Schwartz Sequential Dropping!), Approval Voting, Cardinal Rankings, etc.
I appeal to conservatives to always remember that we are in a republic, not a democracy, and that's for a reason. If you forget, please check out Federalist X & XIV, for example.
You bet it would!
Did you see this?
The Democrats wouldn't be that myopic and brazen would they? Americans can be dumb, but we grasp the basic concept of "Guy with the most votes wins." If they overturn an election like this, they'll pay in the next elections.
The more they lose, the more desperate and brazen they are becoming. Remember, these people are of the same ilk as those who took over Russia, China, Cuba, etc.
Some places to start:
http://www.rnc.org/
http://www.nrsc.org/
http://www.gopwing.com/
http://www.renewamerica.us/
www.GOPUSA.com
On what grounds? Note to Dems: If you use the word 'disenfranchised' to speak of the ability of a liberal to cast a vote in Seattle, I will punch you in the nose.
The party’s lawsuit identifies several ways in which it alleges voters were disenfranchised, particularly in Gregoire’s base of King County.
I warned ya!
The citizens af WA are heartily sick of this and of Gregoire-gore as well.
Nah, the current tactic before the court is to include in this count the ballots that have been previously declared invalid for some reason. If they succeed in that then they'll find >43 votes in King County and win.
You wrote:
"Whew, Washington State is taking on the accent of the Ukraine. $750,000 is a lot of money to have already taken from the taxpayers. Now with this latest, no wonder the outrage and panic."
First, the Democratic party contributors (not tax payers) were supposed to raise $750,000 by a particular deadline in order to ask for a recount. They did not have $750,000.
So they asked for contributions from their party faithful. Senator Kerry gave them $250,000 from his left-over monies in his bid for the Presidency. By the deadline - all they could present was a check for $730,000 as a down-payment towards the re-count. If the recount goes against them - they will owe the remaining costs (I hope this breaks their party budget) which are estimated well above a million.
I want to know why the state accepted the $730,000 check when the state said they required a $750,000 down-payment? The press has said absolutely nothing about this. Naturally, our local press is Democrat dominated.
Aleatha
Welcome to our side, and Welcome to Free Republic! A stunt like this ~should~ repell a lot of voters from the Democrat side.
HairOfTheDog, Tumwater WA.
IIRC - if the recount changes the outcome the state reimburses whomever paid for it. IF the outcome stands then the Democrats are not reimbursed. I'm hoping that the outcome doesn't change, but as others have mentioned, I think the dems are likely capable of finding 43 votes in King County.
They already have pulled this before. The "Bloody Eighth" comes to mind (Indiana - 1984). I will let you do the research.
Thanks for your comments. The Rossi campaign is reluctant to dignify this with a reaction.
Yes, Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia -an elite wine slurping cheese nibbling scounderel! We too must count all the votes in Ohio!
Count all the LEGAL votes in Ohio, I say. You posted this to me - so that's what I say.
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