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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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 Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:33 pm Washington state judge upholds election results |
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| Quote: | Washington state judge upholds election results
WENATCHEE, Wash. - A judge on Monday upheld Washington�s 2004 gubernatorial election, rejecting Republicans� bid to nullify the 129-vote victory of Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges denied Republican claims that election errors, illegal voters and fraud stole the election from GOP candidate Dino Rossi. He announced his decision in court, saying the state�s election process was flawed but that he was not the proper person to remedy those flaws.
�This court is not in the position to fix the deficiencies in the election process,� Bridges said. �However, the voters are in a position to demand of their legislative and executive bodies that remedial measures be taken immediately.�
Republicans were seeking a new election in November. They have said they plan to appeal Bridges� decision to the state Supreme Court.
Bridges� ruling came after a two-week trial that turned over rocks in election departments around the state, exposing flaws and quirks that usually don�t matter because the results usually aren�t so close. But in an election decided by 129 votes, every little mistake has the power to change the outcome.
Focus on King County
Republicans concentrated their attacks on the Democratic stronghold of King County, the state�s most populous county. The trial exposed various problems, from inaccurate mail ballot reports to Election Director Dean Logan�s admission that he didn�t know whether the results were accurate within 129 votes.
In the short run, Republicans said they were seeking a new election for Rossi. But many hope the facts aired at trial will spur more election reform. The state Legislature passed several election reform bills this year, but left many others on the table.
�This is the biggest mess I�ve ever seen,� GOP attorney Dale Foreman said in his opening statement as the trial began last month. �The system is broken and it must be fixed.�
Democratic attorneys scoffed at the GOP claims, saying they lacked the clear and convincing proof needed to justify overturning the election. The election errors that Republicans characterized as �sinister,� Democrats described as innocent mistakes that happen in every county, in every election.
'Not enough to show a mistake'
�It�s not enough to show a mistake, it�s not enough to show a bad mistake, and it�s not enough to show a really bad mistake,� Democratic attorney Jenny Durkan said in her closing argument last week. �In order to prove their case, they still have to show that Gov. Gregoire did not receive the highest number of legal votes.�
Rossi, a commercial real estate agent and former state senator, was considered a long shot against Gregoire, a three-term attorney general who was the anointed successor to Democratic Gov. Gary Locke. But Rossi�s promise of a fresh start in Olympia left Gregoire struggling to define herself.
Rossi won the first count by 261 votes, then watched his lead shrink to 42 in a machine recount. In a hand recount of nearly 3 million ballots, Gregoire won by 129 votes, and her margin was the smallest in percentage terms of any governor�s race in the nation�s history. Five days before Gregoire�s inauguration, Rossi sued to contest the election.
MSNBC
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Go Gov. Gregoire! 
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:57 pm |
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Bah! You wanna talk about corruption and voter fraud? Talk about what the democrats did here! This is maddness!
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:52 pm |
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| Republican_Man wrote: | | Bah! You wanna talk about corruption and voter fraud? Talk about what the democrats did here! This is maddness! |
Wouldn't overturning the vote of the majority be judicial activism?
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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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| Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:54 pm |
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oh yea its always the demos falut.  I'm glad the judge didn't turn this over, last we needed here in washington was some blow hard. I feel my vote actually counts now. congrats to the judge.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:54 pm |
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| Hitchhiker wrote: | | Republican_Man wrote: | | Bah! You wanna talk about corruption and voter fraud? Talk about what the democrats did here! This is maddness! |
Wouldn't overturning the vote of the majority be judicial activism? |
No, because there were THOUSANDS of votes placed ILLEGALLY. People who were not elegable to vote voted, and many vote twice.
There's no way that one could even THINK about complaining about Florida in 2002 w/out complaining about this!
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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