Posted on 11/23/2004 4:42:40 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by third-party presidential candidates who wanted to force a recount of Ohio ballots even before the official count was finished.
U.S. District Judge James G. Carr in Toledo ruled that the candidates have a right under Ohio law to a recount, but they have not shown "that they will be harmed irreparably if the recount is not completed by the time Ohio's electors to the Electoral College must be certified."
The judge said Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb and Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik could not credibly claim that they did or could garner enough votes to have Ohio's presidential electors cast their votes for them.
The two third-party candidates received a combined 0.26 percent of the vote in unofficial results. They contend a re-count is necessary to ensure accuracy.
Carr wrote that he saw no reason to interfere with the final stages of Ohio's 2004 electoral process.
The lawsuit had asked Carr to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction requiring Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to immediately begin statewide recount of Nov. 2 voting results. It also asked that Blackwell ensure that the re-count be completed by Dec. 7, the date that Ohio's electors will be certified for the electoral college.
Dan Rather is really having a bad day. ;)
Gads - those folks are farther out than I realized.
To think that either of the plaintiffs could increase their votes from approximately 14,000 to 2,727,000 through the recount is lunacy beyond belief. The judge could have had the baliff beat the plaintiff's attorneys about the head and shoulders with their legal briefs before physically throwing them out of the courthouse (for filing such a frivolous case) -- as I would have done -- so he acted with prompt judicial haste by politely telling them to take a hike.
This is amazing. Harvard law; nominated by Clinton.
No. I have to disagree with that. America would understand that Bush STILL won the popular vote by over three-and-a-half million votes. And that is easier for the rabble to understand than the electoral college. It would be easier for Bush to claim the mantle this time than it was last time.
Agreed.
Per Ohio law no recount can be asked for before the official certification of the results. These results will be officially certified by Ken Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State, on Dec/6th at the earliest. He will certify that President Bush is the winner of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes. On December 13th, per the US Constitution, the electors from each state will meet to cast their votes, no one and nothing can change this date. On Dec/13th, the Ohio Republican slate will cast their 20 votes for President Bush.
There is no way they are going to start and finish a recount in five to six days, and this recount joke will be tied in these few days in courts.
There will be no recount in Ohio.
Soros hates america. For a paltry sum of money, he figures this is a way to hurt the USA.
Why is that so difficult? We're just talking about recounting ballots; you run them through the machines again. If someone wants to challenge the validity of certain ballots, that could take extra time and the approval of a judge. But a simple recount can be very fast. (Washington State is in the process of recounting votes for Governor right now, and that's happening over a period of 3 or 4 days.)
I was wondering if Ohio would pay the 1.5 million to do very questionable recount . It makes look like some third world country .
W won buy about 6000 it is on the boards somewhere ;-)
I used to occasionally vote for a Libertarian candidate pre-9/11. No more, they've shown me since then that even a RINO like Snarlin' Arlen is more responsible and credible than they are.
It doesn't matter. Any recount would have to be done by 12/06/04 to be within the safe harbor. Remeber Bush v. Gore?
"The Supreme Court of Florida has said that the legislature intended the State’s electors to 'participat[e] fully in the federal electoral process,' as provided in 3 U.S.C. § 5. ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op. at 27); see also Palm Beach Canvassing Bd. v. Harris, 2000 WL 1725434, *13 (Fla. 2000). That statute, in turn, requires that any controversy or contest that is designed to lead to a conclusive selection of electors be completed by December 12 [six days before the electoral college meets, as per 3 U.S.C. § 5]. That date is upon us, and there is no recount procedure in place under the State Supreme Court’s order that comports with minimal constitutional standards. Because it is evident that any recount seeking to meet the December 12 date will be unconstitutional for the reasons we have discussed, we reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida ordering a recount to proceed."
That is excellent. Thank you.
It restores a little bit of sanity to the nuttiness surrounding the Ohio mess. Dems know they're losing the provisionals and this is their response (Bush leads 27,198 to 22,393 with 58 out of 88 counties reporting provisionals)
He won Floriduh at least 6 times.
Awwwwww!! DU-ers gonna be SOOOoooo sad! :^(
I thought the date was Dec. 20. Wasn't it Dec. 20 at one time?
If I am not mistaken, the electors meet in the "Monday" after the "second Wednesday" of December. This year it corresponds to Monday December 13th.
"To the extent that it knocks down tin-foil-hat theories about a stolen election and provides emotional closure, it will benefit Democrats."
A recount won't matter at all to them. They are way too emotionally involved. They are claiming that the Diebold machines and BBV machines were hacked. Their conspiracies are one on top of the other. Bush could have won a landslide all 50 states and some would still believe a government conspiracy there is no winning with the Liberals. They need to go away permanently, all that progressive socialism needs to be squashed for good. It is time for conservatives to unite in force and move the country in the right direction.
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