Looks like the word FRAUD has been mentioned now in the WA Gov election mess! Hopefully John Fund is on his way to report the situation in an unbiased way....We can see the ST is not capable of reporting in an unbiased way...
Election trial dispatches
By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter
Monday, May 23, 2005, 10:12 A.M. Pacific
seattletimes.nwsource.com
POSTED 10:09 AM Monday
Foreman turns to felons
Approaching 45 minutes into his opening argument, Republican attorney Dale Foreman Foreman has turned to felons. He said Republicans will argue that illegal votes by felons should be apportioned by the same percentage the legal vote broke down in any given precincts.
He acknowledged it is not a perfect system but is scientifically based.
ELECTION FIGHT COMES TO COURT
After more than four months of pretrial preparation, the lawsuit over Gov. Christine Gregoire's election has headed into court. Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman is covering the trial and will file periodic updates from the Wenatchee auditorium that's doubling as a courtroom.
POSTED 9:44 AM Monday
Republicans open with fraud
Republican attorney Dale Foreman is about 15 minutes into his opening statement and hasn't mentioned felons yet. Instead the Republican case is opening with a strong emphasis on fraud within King County's election division.
Foreman outlined King County's problems with keeping track of ballots, but said the facts go beyond mistakes or incompetence.
"The facts we have discovered are even more sinister," Foreman said. "This is a case of election fraud."
At that point Democratic attorney Kevin Hamilton entered the first objection in the case, saying "There is no fraud claim."
Judge Bridges said it is allowed in an opening statement.
Foreman went on: "This is a case of fraud by upper management of King County elections."
He told the judge about testimony from election official Nicole Way about a falsified absentee ballot report, which she told her boss, Garth Fell, about.
Foreman said Republicans will show the "corruption goes farther up the food chain."
"This election was stolen from the legal voters of this state by a bizarre combination of illegal voters and bumbling bureaucrats," Foreman said.
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POSTED 8:54 AM Monday
Day One gets under way
WENATCHEE — The governor's election trial begins at 9 a.m. in a small auditorium across the street from the Chelan County Courthouse.
Judge John Bridges will hear opening arguments from all sides today.
The Republican's opening will be done by Dale Foreman, a Wenatchee attorney, former state legislator and former state Republican Party chairman.
Democrats' opening will be done by Kevin Hamilton, a Perkins Coie lawyer who is the state party's longtime attorney for election cases.
Secretary of State Sam Reed will get a say, too. Opening arguments for his side will be delivered by Assistant Attorney General Jeff Even.
The attorneys and their assistants have moved in dozens of boxes of documents, computers and rolling shelves full of loose-leaf binders as they settle in for the trial, expected to last nine days.
Early-morning scene
The auditorium is slow to fill up this morning. By 7:30 a.m. there were a few people waiting outside along with the media.
Fredi Simpson, the vice chair of the state Republican Party and the Chelan County chairwoman, was first in line at about 7 a.m.. She's been at all the pre-trial hearings.
Adrian Damish, 72, showed up at about the same time. He's a lifelong Democrat, born in Everett, home he says "of the best president we never had, Scoop Jackson."
He was carrying a Gregoire campaign sign and said he'll be outside the courtroom only for a little while because he is on his way to staff the Democrats' brand new Chelan County headquarters.
"Republicans pulled the crap in Florida and I just hope they don't do it again," Damish said.
Damish's conservative counterpart came from Seattle's Madrona neighborhood. Brian Thomas, 60, is a carpenter and this is his second trip over the mountains to show his support for a new vote in the governor's race.
He was carrying a "Re-vote" sign on a red and white pole, and wore a matching re-vote arm band. He was wearing boots, a cowboy hat, mirrored aviator sunglasses and a black western-style sport coat as he stood quietly on the corner.
"A new vote is the only sensible thing to do," he said.
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David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com |
