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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (87456)	11/20/2004 4:28:49 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793928

Stones cry out blog - It looks like Mayor Dick Murphy pulled it off, although all the lawsuits aren't settled yet. Councilmember Donna Frye initiated a write-in campaign only five weeks before the election that the primary determined would be between incumbent Mayor Dick Murphy and County Supervisor Ron Roberts. Frye mobilized labor unions, environmentalists, and a host of other San Diego proggressives to win roughly 34.04% of the vote, which turns out to be just shy of Murphy's 34.52%. A lawsuit filed by a known Roberts supporter challenged Frye's write-in bid on the basis that the City Charter forbids write-in candidates for general elections. However, the City's Municipal Code permits write-ins and the City has allowed write-in candidates for local general elections for decades. The City's Attorney even sided with Frye. Monday, this lawsuit was dismissed. Now Donna Frye has filed a lawsuit. Apparently, in order for the write-in votes to count in California, the voter had to both fill in the bubble AND write-in "Donna Frye" (see this post by Smash). Mayor Murphy, a former judge had this to say about Frye's lawsuit: "State law requires that bubbles be filled in for any vote to count, whether that be a write-in or Murphy or Roberts," the mayor said. "It seems to me to be manifestly unfair to try to change the rules now. "If the rule said that you had to fill in the bubble for it to count, do we know what the intent of somebody who wrote a name in and didn't fill in the bubble?" he added. "I don't know what their intent is." Of course the progressives in San Diego are crying disenfranchisement and the Murphy supporters are saying "rules are rules." So far, the County Registrar has counted more than 27,000 ballots where someone wrote in a name, but did not fill in the bubble. Murphy's unofficial lead is only 2,205 votes. Frye's supporters have a solid philosophical point here. If someone went to the effort to write clearly "Donna Frye" on a ballot, but forgot to fill in the bubble, is it not reasonable to assume that they intended to vote for Donna Frye? Yet, I'm a stickler for rules and think that the current law should be followed and reviewed at a later date. If the law is judged to be unfair, then it can be changed for future elections. The 2004 San Diego Mayoral Race is worthy of extensive study by academics and political activists. The mere fact that Donna Frye was able to mobilize the support she did in only 5 weeks and win even 34% of the popular vote as a write-in is astounding.

To: LindyBill who wrote (87456)	11/20/2004 4:41:58 PM
From: Sig	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793928

The tide can turn swiftly in Iraq. The public had to be shown we were not there to occupy or destroy their homes but to eliminate terrorists. How quickly we rebuild Fallujah is therefore important and the good word will spread. What is needed most is trust by the Iraqis to say where the terrorists are hiding out, to police their own communities ,to report suspicious activities to trusted authorities. When they learn its safe to do that, its the beginning of the end for insurgents. Terrorists are being forced to retreat to where they are still welcomed. Which is nice, as when they get pounded and a few civilians become casualties, those will mostly be Saddam sympathizers who will be little missed. Sig