This is going to get very interesting. I'm thinking that if we make a lot of noise over the next 2 years, we may be seeing more of this sort of thing, but then that's the whole point. :-)
I think it can only get better, not worse. Things are happening....and this is good!
Georgia:
Democrats have the guts to sue even if they are a little foggy on the facts!...Check it out.
Board examines filing by Walker
Web posted Friday, November 22, 2002 10:21 p.m. EST
By Sylvia Cooper
Staff Writer
The Richmond County Board of Elections met behind closed doors Friday to discuss state Sen. Charles Walker's lawsuit challenging the results of the Nov. 5 election.
Afterward, board attorney Jim Wall said he would file defenses to the suit "at the appropriate time" but had not been furnished any evidence of irregularities.
Mr. Walker, D-Augusta, is contesting the results of the election in which he lost the District 22 seat to Republican newcomer Randy Hall by 266 votes. The suit alleges that some voters in District 22 and District 23 races were given ballots for the wrong districts, which he says could have affected the election's outcome.
Mr. Walker says he does not want a new election, although his suit calls for one.
Mr. Wall said he had no information to indicate redistricting had been implemented improperly in Richmond County and no official complaints about the election had been filed with the county Board of Elections.
"I'm waiting for more information coming from the suits," he said.
James Washburn, the Atlanta attorney representing Mr. Walker, said a comparison of precinct maps from the state reapportionment office and voter lists from the local Board of Elections showed that "more than 500 voters were misplaced."
Mr. Wall said that allegation was not part of the complaint at this point.
A similar lawsuit has been filed by the same law firm in Senate District 11.
Democrats at the hearing voiced support for the suit, while Republicans called it a maneuver to maintain control of the state Senate.
"I can see some justice coming out of it," Democrat Walter Thomas said.
Mr. Thomas said he had heard complaints from voters about being "sent to the wrong place to vote."
"Some of the polling locations have three different polling precincts within one location," he said. "And a person may go to one polling precinct, and their name is not on the books for that particular precinct, so they think they can't vote at all there. They get rejected and just walk away."
Richmond County Republican Party Chairman Dave Barbee said Mr. Walker's suit is not about the board of elections or voter fraud but about control of the state Senate.
"The law firm out of Atlanta is driving this case," he said.
The Nov. 5 election - along with several defections by Democratic senators, including Don Cheeks of Augusta - put 30 Republicans and 26 Democrats in the Senate. If Democrats can get the two close Senate elections thrown out and Democrats elected, each party would have 28 members. That would give Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, who presides over that body, the deciding vote in a tie.
"So that's what this is about," Mr. Barbee said. "Who's going to have the committee appointments, and who's going to be able to control the state budget?"
Richmond County Democratic Party Chairman Lowell Greenbaum said the "real conspiracy" is in the Republican camp, with senators elected as Democrats switching parties.
"The people have voted for a Democrat Senate, and now it is a Republican Senate. So that's where the real conspiracy is," he said.
--From the Saturday, November 23, 2002 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle
http://augustachronicle.com/stories/112302/met_098-7252.000.shtml