Here are the KEY OPERATIVE FACTS in the Seminole county case, if the facts you present are correctly stated:
In Seminole County, the Democrats included voter ID numbers on absentee ballot requests they printed up and sent to their supporters, but a software glitch omitted that information from 80 percent of the forms the GOP mailed.
Thus, both parties had the intent to include the necessary voter ID numbers. A malfunction prevented one party's applications from be valid, through NO FAULT OF THE VOTER. The GOP party officials then sought to correct THEIR ERROR, and requested the access to include the erroneously ommitted Voter ID numbers.
So alright... some of the facts that the judge will have to work out is whether or not there was a deliberate attempt by the voter who applied to not follow the proper rules for obtaining an absentee ballot.
Clearly this is not the case. They were not instructed to include their voter ID number, even had they known it. They just filled it out, signed it, and sent it off.
Now if that absentee ballot had not been mailed back to the voter due to fault of the GOP's software glitch, there is an implicit liability or tort against the GOP for not including the ID number in the first place. And since this number had apparently been included on 20% of the applications the GOP sent out, it makes sense that they meant to include it on the other 80% of the applications and that not taking steps to fix THEIR ERROR would be negligent behavior on their part.
The fly in the ointment is whether the Democratic representative, Mr. Poe, can prove that he called Goard and was told to fly a kite. He can testify that this happened but this would not likely be sufficient to claim bias unless verified by another party.
And then there is the issue of WHY the democratic applications were rejected. Since they didn't report any software "glitch", nor offer an explanation as to why their democratic applications were rejected due to anything other than voter error, this could prove a key point.
Were I an ABA card carrying attorney, rather than a mere sh*thouse lawyer hanging out here on SI, this is what I would be focusing upon.
I would also be focusing upon how the GOP folks discovered there had been such a software glitch. Did they happen upon the information that thousands of their applications were being discarded, or were they informed by Seminole county officials.
Btw, I think Gore is preparing himself to ease out of this campaign. It could happen next week, or maybe even tomorrow after the Leon county judge makes a ruling in the morning.
Regards,
Ron |
