Posted on 01/27/2005 10:21:21 AM PST by SopranoBush
TUKWILA — The state Republican Party said in court papers filed yesterday that it has found 300 illegal votes and more than 400 that can't be verified in the governor's election.
With Christine Gregoire winning the governor's race by 129 votes, Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance says he now has found far more than enough evidence to persuade a judge to nullify the election and call for a rematch between Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi.
Lawyers and Republican staffers are continuing to look county by county for votes cast by felons, in the name of dead people or by people who voted more than once, casting second votes either in other counties or other states.
"I expect this number to literally grow every day," Vance said.
Democrats are unconcerned. Their attorneys have argued that Republicans should have challenged improperly registered voters before the election.
Republicans have identified 240 felons who voted illegally. Party workers have been comparing the state's criminal-history database from the State Patrol to a list of voters kept by the Office of the Secretary of State.
The bulk of those are in King County. Vance said there appears to be so many felons who voted in the county that "we will probably never get to the bottom of this list."
He also said the party has identified 44 votes cast under the name of dead people, 10 voters who voted twice in the state and six who voted here and in another state.
Vance claimed the Republicans had found 737 illegal votes, but 437 of those are mishandled provisional ballots. Those ballots were supposed to be kept separate on Election Day but instead were put in counting machines without being verified. The party has not released the names of the people they say cast illegal votes — such as felons and double voters — but it will have to do that before a trial begins.
Yesterday, Republican lawyers filed their responses to Democratic Party motions to have the case dismissed. Republicans dispute the Democrats' arguments that the Legislature, not the court, should hear the dispute and that the court doesn't have authority to call for a new election.
Republicans also argue that they don't need to show which candidate got the illegal votes, only that there were enough to cloud the results.
But Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said, "There's no proof that Dino Rossi won the election, and that's what you need to show."
David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com
Thank you.
Thanks for the update. There seems to be a glimmer of hope, or not?
Do you know whether a simple recall of Gregoire has been considered? It seems that that approach would 1) avoid the hassle of these legal challenges, 2) give the GOP the re-vote they're seeking, and 3) would prevent the Dems from being able to do anything about it.
I don't think that's right. The law provides that, if it can be shown that the outcome cannot be determined due to any kind of irregularities, then the court can void the election.
It gets dicey when talking about ordering a NEW election. It's been done on the county level, but not for a statewide race. But there seems to be little doubt that the Supreme Court COULD nullify the November results.
However, in California, a recall is also for the cause of malfeasance, but that didn't stop the recall of Gray Davis. He'd done nothing illegal in office, but people wanted him out. If there's a similar groundswell of public support for a recall in Washington, I doubt the case that there was no accusation of malfeasance would matter. Besides, it was the malfeasance of election officials which created this mess in the first place.
A revote can be forced if there is clear-cut evidence of voting "irregularities" on a scale that could have changed the outcome of the election. And there is SO MUCH evidence of that, it's ridiculous. I would say that the mere fact that the outcome was changed by a swing of a mere 450 votes over TWO recounts, in the face of doubt over the validity of many times more ballots than that, is virtual proof of it.
-Dan
bump
Sweet.
Then a revote should be a slamdunk. But, of course, this assumes the judiciary in Washington isn't corrupt.
Ignore my response above. I didn't notice that you were talking about a "recall". Sorry.
Seems to me that this would only trade one legal hassle for another, namely, the hassle of getting a recall election ON THE BALLOT to begin with. The Democrats are gonna fight that all the way through the courts. And even if the Republicans succeed and a recall goes forward, the Dems will just find a judge to declare it invalid. A revote stands on firmer legal ground, IMHO.
-Dan
Now wait a minute.... are the Democrats not here admitting the possibility that there may be a legitimate challenge to the valid registration of voters totalling over half again Gregoire's margin of "victory"? That's all Rossi needs to prove to have the election thrown out -- the Dems are making his case for him!
-Dan
Hi SP. It's bluster; the dems are not *okay, now prepare yourself* telling the truth when their spokesperson says they are unconcerned about the proveably illegal votes, and their effect on the situation.
Re the charge that the GOP should have challenged improperly registered voters before Nov. 2, the voter lists have been purged *after* the elections, usually after the presidential elections, so every four years -- lots of time for fraud to accumulate before the next test of the voter lists. The GOP would have had to be prescient to know to get the funds and authority together to change this situation prior to Nov. 2; I don't know what entity mandates the cleansing of the lists, perhaps the SoS; I don't know if it's set into Washington Administrative Code (the instructions to the state agencies that are based on RCW's -- Revised Code of Washington, i.e., our state laws), but if they are based on law, then the law would have had to be changed before Nov. 2 in order for the GOP to get the lists to challenge them via the usual purge (that needs to be done, BTW, before each election, as the dems point out). There may have been another way to have done this but, as I said, not being prescient is a big stumbling block. It's a specious argument that wouldn't stand up before a legit court in the face of the fraud that is proveable.
The GOP almost certainly judge-shopped this to file it in Chelan County in the hopes of finding a judge who would offer the greatest chance of being fair.
I'm pleased with the progress so far.
If the "judiciary" is, then, isn't this what the 2nd Amendment is about? If you've allowed the water to boil, then you either have to jump out or be eaten.
I call her the alleged governor.
I'd say a big phatte ray of sunbeams is breaking out upon the Evergreen State.
Good, Christy must be feeling real good about herself, be careful, the witch will go on a scorched earth run when she knows it's all over.
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