Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Neeka who wrote (92860)	12/30/2004 3:03:28 AM
From: Neeka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793738

Still just overjoyed about the way Rossi has handled this whole debacle. Here is the full text of his letter to Gregoire.......Washington State's Attorney General.........asking her to do the right thing and agree to a new election. M Dino Rossi December 29, 2004 Attorney General Christine Gregoire 1125 Washington Street Olympia, WA 98504 Dear Attorney General Gregoire: The Secretary of State will certify you as governor-elect tomorrow. Although you will be certified, with all the problems that have plagued this process there won’t be many people in our state who believe with certainty that you actually won the election. The uncertainty surrounding this election process isn’t just bad for you and me – it is bad for the entire state. People need to know for sure that the next governor actually won the election. We’ve now had three counts – I was certified the victor after Counts 1 and 2, and you will be certified tomorrow as the victor of Count 3. Throughout the entire process, King County Elections staff changed the rules about which ballots would count and, at the end, the Supreme Court also changed the rules. As it now stands, some people in King County had the rules changed so their votes could count, while other wrongfully disenfranchised people across the state – including many members of our military – have been denied the opportunity to have their votes counted. Additionally, I don’t believe you’ll find many people in this state who think the hand recount was more accurate than the first two counts. Even some Democratic elections officials have said hand counts are less accurate. So we’re now in a situation where nobody really knows who won this election. Our next governor should enter office without any doubt about the legitimacy of his or her office. The people of Washington deserve to know that their governor was elected fair and square. Unfortunately, the events of the past few weeks now make it impossible for you or me to take office on January 12 without being shrouded in suspicion. The law allows me to contest the election. An election contest would bring every questioned aspect of this election before the Legislature or a court for review. It would take many weeks, perhaps months, to complete. At the end, even if the results were to change back in my favor, the state would have suffered from the long, drawn-out process. For several weeks, former Secretary of State Ralph Munro has argued that this election will never be seen as legitimate and that the best option is to put it back into the hands of the voters for a revote. If our roles were reversed, if you had won twice and I had only won in the less-accurate hand recount, I would support a revote. I would not want to enter office with so many people viewing my governorship as illegitimate. The only good answer is for the people to decide, once and for all, who is the next governor. A revote would be the best solution for the people of our state, and would give us a legitimate governorship. If you and I were to join together and ask the Legislature to pass a bill calling for a special election, the bill would pass quickly, as soon as the 2005 session begins. The revote could be held as soon as possible. I hope you will agree that a revote makes the most sense to build back people’s trust in our election process, and I look forward to your response. Best regards, Dino Rossi PAID FOR BY THE WASHINGTON STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY 16400 Southcenter Parkway; Suite 200 Seattle, Washington 98188

To: Neeka who wrote (92860)	12/30/2004 3:45:53 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793738

FLASH: King County Numbers Don't Add Up King County is still unable to provide conclusive information to validate their vote count. The voter file, which I obtained earlier today, contains the names of only 895,660 voters recorded as voting on Nov. 2, a significant discrepancy from its hand recount certified total of 899,199. The Elections Office informed me that they're still doing "quality control" and adding in the names of some of the absentee voters. Even that wouldn't explain the entire discrepancy, as there appear to be discrepancies with the polling place and provisional vote counts as well. I've asked the Elections Office for further clarification and will convey their explanation as soon as I recieve one. Also, they have not yet released the full precinct canvass for the manual recount, as they did for the first count and the machine recount. Sec. of State Sam Reed is scheduled to certify the election tomorrow. I called his office and asked him to postpone certification until King County (indeed every county) can provide a list of voters that reconciles with the list of ballots tallied. His spokesperson explained that he is required by law to certify the election tomorrow and that it is only after certification that the election could be contested. I don't know enough law to dispute this, so I'll accept that as correct unless someone can argue otherwise. The certification is a largely ceremonial and a way to bless the results. I strongly urge Secretary Reed to refrain from giving his blessing of confidence in the results. I call on him to instead use the opportunity to question the validity of what he is required by law to certify and to call for a new election. I encourage everybody who reads this to contact Secretary Reed's office and to ask him to express his doubts about the results of this election and to call for a new election. 360-902-4151. Be courteous. Also, call the Gregoire campaign and ask Christine Gregoire to face reality and recognize this is a tainted election with no ascertainable winner. Ask her to join most Washingtonians in demanding that this election be set aside and to have a new election. (206) 328-2969 Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at 01:46 PM \| Comments (43) Categories: 2004 Governor's Race