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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (236160)	6/7/2005 8:32:53 AM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572369

How did you do that? I thought I was first with the news. <g> I am keeping an eye on ya'll out there. Al

To: tejek who wrote (236160)	6/7/2005 8:55:51 AM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572369

Gregoire gets to keep her job By Associated Press Jun 06, 2005 - 11:23:24 pm PDT Make text smaller Press A+ to make text Larger or Press A- to make text smaller Make text larger Print this story Email this story BELLEVUE -- In her Olympia office overlooking the state Capitol grounds, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire wept when she heard Monday that a judge had dismissed the lawsuit challenging her 129-vote election victory, dispelling the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over her five months in office. Later that day, in a sparsely furnished office overlooking an interstate highway, campaign workers for Dino Rossi held back their tears as Rossi told them he was abandoning his quest to become Washington's first Republican governor in 20 years. ADVERTISEMENT After seven months, two recounts, two weeks of trial, one judge's ruling and zero revotes, the governor's election in Washington state is finally over. "I'm ready to move on," Gregoire said after the ruling. "I want the state of Washington to be served by a full-time governor who is not being distracted by anything other than serving the citizens." Rossi, meanwhile, told his supporters: "Don't lose heart, don't give up." "I don't make this decision lightly, but I also don't make it with bitterness," Rossi said. It's been widely speculated that Rossi will run for the U.S. Senate next year, if not governor in 2008. But he took no questions on Monday evening, saying only, "I'm definitely not going anywhere ... We'll see you again." Rossi made his decision after a court ruling that thoroughly and systematically smacked down Republicans' claims that illegal votes, election errors and fraud swayed the 2004 gubernatorial election for Gregoire. Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges not only upheld Gregoire's victory -- he actually deducted four votes from Rossi's total, saying the only proven illegal votes in the whole case came from felons who voted for Rossi. That gave Gregoire a 133-vote victory -- still the closest percentage margin of any governor's race in national history. Republicans had alleged that more than 2,000 illegal votes tainted the election. But the Republican theory of "proportional deduction," or subtracting illegal votes from both candidates according to voting patterns in their precincts, simply wasn't enough to overturn an election, Brides ruled. "An election such as this should not be overturned because one judge picks a number and applies a proportional deduction analysis," Bridges said. "To do so within the context of the facts of this case would constitute the ultimate act of judicial egotism and judicial activism." Gregoire, a three-term attorney general, was considered the front-runner against Rossi, a commercial real estate agent and former state senator. But Rossi won the first count by 261 votes, and a machine recount by 42 votes. In the final, hand recount, Gregoire won by 129 votes. Five days before Gregoire's inauguration, Rossi sued to contest the election. At trial, Republicans said Gregoire owed her victory to illegal votes, including those by felons and people voting in the names of the dead. They alleged that election officials' negligence in the Democratic stronghold of King County allowed fraud to occur. Bridges disagreed. "There is no substantial evidence that improper conduct or irregularities procured Ms. Gregoire election to the office of governor," Bridges said. "The court concludes that petitioners have not met either the 'clear and convincing' burden or the 'preponderance of the evidence' burden." "This is as close to a bulletproof decision as I've ever seen a court render. He said even under your own evidence, you lose," said Democratic attorney Jenny Durkan. "The judge gave them every opportunity to present their case. They had six months to prove it and they failed." Bridges pointed to serious mistakes in the election, referring to a "culture of problems" described by King County Elections Director Dean Logan, who said in depositions that he didn't know whether the election results in his county were accurate within 129 votes. "Almost anyone who works in state or local government knows exactly what this culture is," Bridges said. "It's inertia, it's selfishness ... it's not taking responsibility." But Bridges said he's not the one to fix it. "The voters are in a position to demand of their legislative and executive bodies that remedial measures be taken immediately," the judge said. Bridges found than 1,678 illegal ballots were counted in the 2004 gubernatorial election, and ordered that number deducted from the overall total. Those votes won't be deducted from either candidate. The total number of votes cast in a gubernatorial election is used to determine the signature threshold for initiatives and referenda in Washington state. Democrats and state officials suggested the ruling could be a first step toward restoring voter confidence in the election system. State Elections Director Nick Handy called it the start of a "rebuilding process." Logan issued a statement promising Bridges and the public he and his staff would do better. In the courtroom, Durkan said the ruling gave her hope. A close friend of Gregoire's, she stayed on the case even after her father died during the course of the trial. "This was a very difficult two weeks for me," she said. "Hearing the court's ruling made me feel not only personally it was worth it, but it vindicated my faith in the system of justice."