Republicans, you might need a tissue.

[vinnieponte]

GOP Demands Voter List in Wash. County

Tue Dec 28, 1:12 PM ET Politics - AP


By DAVID AMMONS, Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Republicans are demanding a list of voters in Washington state's most populous county as the party considers a court challenge of Democrat Christine Gregoire's razor-thin victory in the governor's race, officials said Monday.

A hand recount put Gregoire ahead by 130 votes out of 2.8 million cast. Previous counts had favored Republican Dino Rossi, an affluent former state senator.


Chris Vance, state Republican party chairman, said officials will decide whether to challenge the recount results after studying the voter rolls from King County, a Democratic stronghold that includes Seattle.


"We're mostly posing questions," he said. "King County is where we saw the votes changing. King County is the one county that was allowed to take ballots that were declared dead in November and bring them back to life in December."


Democrats accused the Republicans of being on "a fishing expedition" and urged them to concede or risk damaging Rossi's political future by dragging out an election already eight weeks old.


State officials will certify the statewide hand recount on Thursday, declaring Gregoire, a three-term attorney general, the victor.


The latest tally included 732 disputed ballots from King County, which the state Supreme Court last week ruled could be counted despite objections from Republicans. The ballots had been mistakenly thrown out because of problems scanning signatures into a computer.


Vance said any voter can contest the election within 10 days of certification.


"Overwhelmingly, from the grass roots of the party, the feeling is `Don't give up. Keep fighting,'" he said.


Democrats scoffed at the GOP demand for voter information.


"It's a fishing expedition," said state party chairman Paul Berendt. "They (the Republicans) know a challenge in the courts would have to be based on fraud or gross negligence, neither of which is the case here."


___

[Dooby]

I made this point to a buddy of mine that is a democrat. He was talking about the recount that no one else cares about in Ohio. Nevermind that there was no actual evidence of anything wrong. I warned him "Watch Washington; watch that governor's race." Why? Let us assume for the sake of argument that the Republicans are just as bad as Mavdog and vinnieponte think they are and are capable of all the dirty tricks in the books. Do you really want to open the door to court challenges of election results? Again, for the sake of argument, we are assuming that the GOP, led by the evil Karl Rove, is full of unscrupulous, nasty people who will do anything to win. And the democrats have said over the last two elections that it is OK to challenge elections in court.

Truth is that the most heavily democratic county "found" votes that had not been counted long after the second recount was completed again showing the GOP the winner, and those votes were mysteriously enough to carry the Democrats over the top. If this were the GOP, the Dems would be crying foul, as they have done in the past. Now its the GOP's turn.

Now watch the GOP, to paraphrase Spinal Tap, ratchet it up to 11.

Great. Just what you hoped would happen.

[dude1394]

The democrats continue to do damage to our political system. It's become a given that elections are not conceded but ajudicated. They no longer really even try to hide the vote mining as it's become accepted.

I think to be honest that it's a longer-term plan to get to a point where judges become even more involved in our electoral process.

[vinnieponte]

Wash. GOP Demands New Governor Election

Thu Jan 6, 9:04 AM ET Top Stories - AP


By REBECCA COOK, Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. - State Republicans Wednesday charged that hundreds of provisional ballots may have been counted on Election Day without being verified.

It's the latest in a series of allegations from Republicans who are pointing to flaws in the governor's balloting and demanding a new election. After losing the first two counts, Democrat Christine Gregoire beat Republican Dino Rossi in the third count by 129 votes out of 2.9 million ballots cast.


State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said an admission by election workers in King County that provisional ballots had been counted without verification is "absolute proof" of the need for a new election. The heavily Democratic county includes Seattle.


"It's enough right there to invalidate the election," Vance said. "This is a bombshell."


Gregoire's inauguration is scheduled next Wednesday. Republicans are preparing for a possible court challenge to the election — the deadline to file such a challenge is Jan. 22.


Democrats downplayed the importance of the GOP claim.


"There would have to be thousands before it would make a difference," said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost. "This is just the attack of the day from the Republicans."


County elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said Wednesday that 87 percent of the 31,545 provisional ballots issued in King County have been validated and included in the official count.


Provisional ballots are given to people who go to the polls on Election Day, but who aren't listed as registered voters in that precinct. Election workers research afterward to determine whether the vote is valid and should be counted.


GOP election observers in King County said they saw hundreds of provisional ballots go straight into the voting machines on Election Day without any checks. Election workers said a review of polling place records should indicate the extent of the problem, but it may be impossible to determine exactly how many provisional ballots were fed into the tabulating machines on Election Day.


King County this week is reconciling its list of voters in the 2004 election, which is about 3,500 names short of the number of ballots cast. At least four other counties have similar discrepancies, which county auditors say is common.

[Chiwas]

[dude1394]

betsy

Sen. Boxer Quits 'Flawed' Political System
by Scott Ott

(2005-01-06) -- Just minutes after failing to halt the certification of President Bush's electoral victory, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, announced her resignation from the Senate today, saying she is "wracked with doubt" about the precise margin of her own victory in November.

While the official vote count showed that Mrs. Boxer trounced Republican Bill Jones by nearly 2.4 million votes, she said today that if even one voter was disenfranchised in California, then her "election is tainted and American troops in Iraq are dying in vain."

"I feel dirty," she said at a hastily-called news conference. "I'm leaving the senate so I can sleep at night and face myself in the mirror. If I stayed, I would be no better than George W. Bush."

Former Sen. Boxer encouraged her Democrat colleagues to "follow my principled leadership and abandon your ill-gotten seats of power."

President George Bush, when told of the resignation, said, "Sen. Boxer has fought for years to make America better. Today, she has won that fight, and deserves the gratitude of all Americans."

[#1MavsFan]

Nice, little story that has no truth to it just like the bush administration.

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: #1MavsFan
Nice, little story that has no truth to it just like the bush administration.

Ah the deep reaparte', the intellectual curiousity, the sheer time spent in thought. It just astounds one.

[dude1394]

Oh my goodness what have the dems wrought! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

polipundit

Washington State Supreme Court Awards Win To Seahawks

Establishing a trend begun in the Gubernatorial Election, the Washington State Supreme Court reversed the apparent results of the on-field play, and awarded a playoff game victory to the Seattle Seahawks over the St. Louis Rams.

The play on the fielded ended with St. Louis ahead on the scoreboard, 27-20. But because the margin was only one score, King County filed suit to review the play results, and because (in the opinion of the WSSC) the Seahawks “clearly intended to score a tying touchdown“, the Seahawks were awarded that touchdown by the court. Then activists from SOS (Seattle-Only-Success) turned up an additional field goal left somehow in Alaska, and the courts agreed to apply that field goal to Seattle’s tally, and at that point disallowed further review, declaring Seattle to be the winner by a revised score of 30-27.

“It’s a good thing” commented Steela Lection, “that we were competing against a team inclined to play only by the rules at the time of the contest. If we played a team from New York or California, they could easily have come up with new rules and friendly judges of their own.

“As it is, we can take this win for the greater good. Seattle’s good, anyway.”

The NFL admitted the after-game review was unusual, but noted that professional sports are about money and presentation, and the league spokesman, Ugota Bikidn, noted “liberal politicians are very good at raising unique arguments and funds from unusual places very quickly, and Seattle is as liberal and revisionist as any place in the country“.

[vinnieponte]

Gregoire Sworn in As Washington Governor

17 minutes ago U.S. National - AP


By DAVID AMMONS, Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Democrat Christine Gregoire, winner of one of the closest governor's races in U.S. history, was inaugurated Wednesday amid a legal challenge that could undo her election.

Gregoire, 57, a scrappy three-term attorney general who took on the tobacco industry, took the oath of office before a joint session of the Legislature. Republicans had battled for weeks to delay her inauguration.


Republicans in the House Chamber rose along with cheering Democrats to greet her swearing-in, but did not join in the applause.


Backers of her GOP rival, Dino Rossi, continue to push for a whole new election to decide the race.


"This is not an easy time to lead," Gregoire said in her first official speech. "Many have asked how I can govern without a clear mandate from the voters. I believe the voters have given all of us a mandate — a mandate to overcome our differences and to solve problems."


Although the state is dependably Democratic, Gregoire narrowly lost the first two vote counts. But when Democrats ordered one final hand recount, she pulled ahead for the first time, winning by a minuscule 129 votes out of 2.9 million ballots cast.


Republicans say widespread irregularities, including votes cast by felons and dead people, spoiled the election to the point where it is impossible to truly know who won.


Republicans also contend that King County, a Democratic stronghold and the state's largest county, cannot match more than a thousand votes to actual voter names.


Invoking a rarely used law that allows an election "contest," Republicans have asked the courts to set aside the election and order a redo.


The case is expected to end up in the state Supreme Court.


Gregoire said the state is more unified than might be apparent from the disputed election. Voters everywhere want good-paying jobs, affordable health care, efficient government, good schools and a clean environment, she said. She also announced creation of a commission to look at election reform.


"Clearly the election recount ordeal of the last two months has challenged us, and among our challenges this session is election reform," she said. "We want every vote to count — and to be counted right the first time."


___