Posted on 12/01/2010 8:46:44 AM PST by jmaroneps37
Joe Miller is the official nominee of the Alaska Republican Party for the U.S. Senate in a contest that has yet to be certified by election officials. Why? Because a federal judge saw a clear set of facts raising serious questions about the election, stepped in and blocked certification.
You would think the Republican Party of Alaska would be supporting its nominee at this difficult time. At a minimum, the state's GOP leadership would allow simple propriety to keep their mouths shut. Don't count on it.
The Republican Party, controlled by the old-line RINO (Republican in name only) machine headed by the family oligarchies of the Stevens and Murkowski clans, have been running a nonstop, loud campaign against its own nominee.
The candidate battling Miller is RINO Lisa Murkowski, appointed by her father, the then-governor of Alaska, to the U.S. Senate. Murkowski was rejected by Republicans in a hotly contested primary earlier this year. The Murkowskis, famous supporters of the bridge to nowhere and other pork, cannot afford to lose the last vestiges of their familial power, so Lisa Murkowski launched a write-in campaign funded largely by business interests beholden to her clan.
The issues of election integrity are real and not to be taken lightly. For starters, election officials violated state law when counting the ballots. An Alaska law clearly explains the requirements for write-in ballots, and people must spell the name correctly in order for the vote to count.
Instead of following the law, the chief election official, Republican Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, another Frank Murkowski protégé, chose to ignore the law.
More below...
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
“But then again, it is unique when a local Republican Party is working so hard for the Republican nominee’s opponent.”
Somewhere along the way between the primary and the general, it occured to many Alaskans, oop’s, Joe’s against pork and ear marks and such ~ but we love pork and ear marks! How are we gonna get out of this pickle? Ok, let’s have a write in campaign for Murkowski. She’s just like her old man, loves pork, pork fat rules in Alaska - always has always will...
Where did the votes for Moosecowski come from?..
Well Duuuugh.. democrats obviously..
Murk LOST the primary...and got a do-over with the help of the liberal media and DC Democrats, who sent their money and lawyers for the write-in campaign.
Had Joe lost the primary, and tried a do-over...he would have been crucified.
More on Miller and the voter fraud.
There is no way murky would have won without the support of the big government, hypocritical faction of repubs both in the radio media and local organizations. I live in the valley and used to be a avid listener to rick rydell in the morning and pocaro in the afternoon. It was obvious they were shilling for murky and afforded callers of like mind deference while pretending to maintain a neutral position. One thing never explained adequately to me was the visceral hatred for Joe by these types. The “Joe the quitter” and “Joe the liar” just never seemed to be the real reason. I think it was because he was not one of the anointed who had kissed up to the leadership and the machine.
I know that some Indians voted for Miller, I witnessed their absentee ballots myself. I also know that many Indian Vets voted for Miller. Trouble is in many villages, every single vote went for Murkowski. We have over 100,000 Indians in Ak. Miller is losing by 1200 contested votes, imagine if all those dem Indians would have voted for their dem candidate.
I hate that RINO Murkowski as much as anybody, sick over having to watch her corruption in the future.
Here in Ak, we have tons of corrupt Repubs, Palin cleaned it up some, but back to the way it use to be now that she is gone.
They may have added greatly to the Moosecowski fiasco..
With me, they have become Persona non Grata..
Rush, Beck and maybe Hannity on the radio.. but not these John McLame like turncoats..
Their sponsors will also rarely if ever, see me..
Alaska needs recall legislation...
I’ve always thought Rydell was a clown, but give me a choice of a local show or a national show and I’ll usually go for the local show so I used to listen to him in the morning. After this election, no more. What really pissed me off was his smarmy insistence that he was neutral while doing everything he could to support Murkowski. What a steaming pile of horse feces. I wish Glen Biegel was on the morning rather than the afternoon.
I think the reason for their dislike of Miller was the same as Fagan’s (before he had his change of heart)-he was supported by Palin. I’ve never been a Palin fan either, and I admit I wondered about Miller when he first announced his campaign because of her support. But I put that aside long before Fagan did. And some, like Rydell and Pocaro, couldn’t.
He lost and needs to quite being Al Gore and man up. I’m sorry that he didn’t pull it out but there is no question that he lost, will lose, and needs to act like a man.
Thanks shield.
“Here in Ak, we have tons of corrupt Repubs, Palin cleaned it up some, but back to the way it use to be now that she is gone.”
Thanks for your insight on the ground there. Sounds like you were an observer perhaps? I don’t think this particular race is over, but I can understand your skepticism about corruption. It’s SO frustrating. Keep up the good fight!
“Rush, Beck and maybe Hannity on the radio.. but not these John McLame like turncoats..
Their sponsors will also rarely if ever, see me..”
Right. We need to let sponsors know why we’re not patronizing their businesses.
State Raises Concerns About Ballot Security; Court Transfers Case to Juneau
Especially:
“In a somewhat troubling argument, the State of Alaska argued that it could not guarantee the chain of custody and security of the ballots if they were shipped from Juneau to Fairbanks.
“We all paused when the state Attorney General admitted to having security concerns about the ballots. We simply assumed the same security measures used to transport the ballots from Fairbanks (and from throughout the state of Alaska) to Juneau after they were cast would be used to transfer ballots from Juneau to Fairbanks, if that were necessary,” said Joe Miller. “But there was a noticeable quiet in the courtroom when the state’s attorney questioned their own ability to secure these ballots. We don’t know what to make of this at the moment,” Miller concluded.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/12/at-stake-in-ala.php
The Alaska Senate race between Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) and attorney Joe Miller (R) is limping on this week, with a hearing in Juneau on Miller’s lawsuit scheduled for Wednesday. Although Miller has successfully delayed certification of the race — which was originally slated to happen on Nov. 29 — consensus seems to be that he has nothing to gain by continuing the fight at this point. Even former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who contested his 2008 race against Sen. Al Franken (D) for eight months before giving in, said “It should be time to move on.”
So with it seemingly all over but the court case, it can be hard to stay riveted on the back-and-forth in Alaska. But Murkowski recently supplied a new reason to keep following the proceedings. Murkowski attorney Scott Kendall warned, in their campaign’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit, that Murkowski would have a gap in service if she’s not seated on time and she could, as a result, lose her seniority.
“There are numerous critical issues facing our nation and Alaskans deserve to have full representation in the United States Senate,” Kendall wrote. “She would go from her current rank of 43rd to 100th.”
Soon after the new Senate is sworn in on Jan. 3, Kendall said, the senators will organize committees and select the chairs and ranking members. If the case is still pending, he argued, Murkowski might not be eligible for re-election as the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee or an Appropriations subcommittee.
“The effect on Alaska from the loss of these positions would be very harmful and could be long-lasting,” Kendall argued.
Murkowski’s Senate seniority and ranking member position on the energy committee were key arguments she made during her campaign. If a trial that went on beyond the Senate swearing-in on Jan. 3 actually affected her seniority, it would be a serious blow. But how likely is such an outcome?
During Coleman-Franken, the most recent prolonged Senate race, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) put “placeholders” on Coleman’s committee assignments so that Coleman could return to them if he eventually won reelection. McConnell spokesperson Don Stewart declined to comment on the possibility of doing the same for Murkowski, noting that it’s still over a month off.
Before 2008, the last race that went far beyond Election Day was in 1996, when Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) narrowly defeated Woody Jenkins (R). The state certified the election results, but Jenkins challenged them, claiming “widespread vote tampering.” Though the case was still pending when the next Senate convened, Landrieu was seated “without prejudice.” But in that case, there was precedent of the Senate recognizing a senator if the election has been certified by the state, and in Alaska the results won’t be certified until the court proceedings wrap up.
The previous contested Senate results were back in 1974, when Sen. Henry Bellmon’s (R-Okla.) victory over Rep. Edmond Edmondson (D) was challenged. In this case, too, the election had been certified despite a challenge, and the Senate seated Bellmon without prejudice. While the history of contested elections is long and colorful — in a contested West Virginia Senate race in 1946 there were allegations of a precinct in which drunken polling officials intimidated voters with firearms — Senate Historian Don Ritchie couldn’t think of any instance of a senator losing seniority due to a drawn out election challenge.
“I don’t see anything exactly parallel to that,” said Ritchie. “There’s a certain degree of collegiality that’s maintained.”
And while there’s no precedent in Senate history of a senator losing their seniority for these reasons, there is precedent in this campaign of the Senate Republican Conference acting collegially toward Murkowski. After Murkowski lost the primary and re-entered the race as a write-in candidate, the Senate GOP caucus voted to allow Murkowski to retain her committee assignments. It seems likely, if this lawsuit drags on to January, that the conference would act in a similar manner again.
+++++++++++++++++++++
“in a contested West Virginia Senate race in 1946 there were allegations of a precinct in which drunken polling officials intimidated voters with firearms”
Well, we haven’t seen that allegation come up yet, but who knows? Staying tuned...
Go JOE MILLER.
http://joemiller.us/
Juneau, Alaska. December 1, 2010 -- Alaska Superior Court Judge William Carey held a hearing today on Lisa Murkowski’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit brought by Joe Miller, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, challenging the legality of the process the Division of Elections used to count write-in ballots, as well as several other discrepancies and improprieties in the 2010 general election for U.S. Senate.
Because of serious questions concerning whether Ms. Murkowski’s legal interests are being adequately protected by the State, the court deferred ruling on the motion until tomorrow, and directed Ms. Murkowski’s attorneys to file a supplemental pleading. Murkowski’s attorneys argued that the State improperly rejected certain ballots—estimates ranged from a few hundred to approximately two thousand—that, they maintained, should have been counted for her.
“Murkowski has called into question even more write-in ballots cast in this election, further undermining the public’s ability to have any confidence in the Division of Election’s initial vote count. Even my opponent contends that the Division has failed to comply with Alaska law.” said Joe Miller.
Michael T. Morley, a Washington D.C. appellate and election law attorney representing Miller, explained, “The fact that the Murkowski campaign is now attempting to argue that a few hundred additional ballots should have been counted for her simply underscores how close this election remains, and how worried her campaign is that the court will invalidate the Division’s improper count."
Commenting on the court’s postponement of a decision on Murkowski’s intervention motion, Morley commented, “Sen. Murkowski has not met the legal requirements for intervention set forth by the Alaska Supreme Court, particularly in a case such as this where the State is defending the legality of its own sovereign acts.” He pointed out that a potential intervenor must show that the State has colluded with the other side, has a conflict of interest, is refusing to do its job, or is not competent to proceed. No such allegations have even been made in this case."
Miller emphasized, “Regardless of whether Ms. Murkowski is permitted to intervene, we are confident that the court will enforce Alaska law as written, invalidate the State’s illegal initial count, and require that every ballot be hand-counted in accordance with state law.”
http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=4ed896e60d9a1d9a10dec11a0&id=a6d6385cf3&e=f510bf2e8f
‘“Murkowski has called into question even more write-in ballots cast in this election, further undermining the public’s ability to have any confidence in the Division of Election’s initial vote count. Even my opponent contends that the Division has failed to comply with Alaska law.” said Joe Miller.’
If Joe Miller were a RAT, he’d be touted in the enemedia as a patriot and defender of the people’s right to vote - and movies would be made about him down the road by the likes of Oliver Stone-d and Michael Moore-on.
But as it is we’re getting a slightly different message.
Judge allows Murkowski to participate in Senate election case
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/120310/loc_745154655.shtml
“Carey said he initially had “grave reservations” about whether Murkowski met the state’s requirement to participate in the case. He called her initial argument she be allowed to join the case “tenuous, at best.”
After the last-minute filing Wednesday, however, Carey said her interests in the case are distinct enough from the state’s to require that she be allowed to participate.”
Oh boy, the back and forth...will this be enough to get the murky one back in the seat she ‘inherited?’
This is good, wouldn't you think? I actually don't see how Murky could be left out of this case. Let them be fair and square.
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