Monday, June 06, 2005

so we cheated and we lied and we tested

The legal challenges in the Washington State governor's race may finally be drawing to a close...if only Dino Rossi could ever accept defeat. He lost, we all knew it, the judge agreed. Of course, this will only fuel the right's belief that the judiciary hates America and is out to destroy it.

From Salon.com Politics:

GOP's selective interest in election reform

Washington state Republicans who hoped to have the results of the 2004 governor's race overturned got some bad news on Monday, when a state Superior Court judge upheld Democrat Christine Gregoire's election as governor. Two weeks ago, Judge John Bridges ruled that the GOP could not claim voter fraud in its challenge of the election results. With fraud out of the picture, the Republican challengers had to try to prove that Gregoire unfairly benefited from illegal votes or action, and apparently they couldn't. Bridges tossed out the challenge altogether on Monday, saying, 'The burden of proof is not met.'
No one disputes that the state's election suffered from some run-of-the-mill voting irregularities, but Republicans' attempts to characterize those errors as 'sinister' didn't persuade Bridges, who added, 'This court is not in a position to correct those ... deficiencies.'
According to Reuters, Bridges dismissed the case with prejudice, which means that the GOP cannot refile the suit. Still, the party's sudden keen interest in election law is unlikely to end here; Republican candidate Dino Rossi is expected to appeal.
-- Page Rockwell