Free Republic

Felons vote Democratic, national study says KENNETH P. VOGEL; The News Tribune Last updated: May 10th, 2005 07:31 AM If disenfranchised felons had been allowed to vote, they would have swung the 2000 presidential race to Al Gore, according to a national study Republicans are touting in their fight to overturn Christine Gregoire’s victory in last fall’s governor’s race. The study posits that since racial minorities and the poor – groups that tend to vote for Democrats– make up a disproportionate number of felons, a hypothetical felon voting bloc would be so overwhelmingly Democratic it could swing national and...

Republicans win right to challenge Wash. state election: Republicans have won a victory in their challenge to the election of Governor Gregoire. The judge says Republicans will be allowed to use "proportional analysis" to prove their case that illegal votes swayed the election.

GOP Wins Election Challenge in Washington By REBECCA COOKThe Associated PressMonday, May 2, 2005; 2:03 PM WENATCHEE, Wash. -- The Republicans won an important victory Monday in their legal challenge to the election of Gov. Christine Gregoire when a judge allowed them to use a type of statistical analysis to try to prove illegal votes swayed the race.Republican Dino Rossi is trying to have the election results from November declared invalid. Rossi won the first count and a machine recount, but his Democratic opponent won by 129 votes in a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots.The trial is set for...

He displayed the same bright smile and wore a sharply tailored suit. And when he took the microphone, the crowd erupted into cheers of "Kerry! Kerry!" But it wasn't exactly clear last night whether Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was yesterday's news or tomorrow's candidate. In town for a Democratic fund-raiser to help pay some of the roughly $2 million in costs the party has incurred in its legal fight over Christine Gregoire's election as governor, Kerry joked about his loss last fall, which came when Ohio's electoral votes swung to President Bush.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- With drought and the threat of catastrophic wildfires facing the Northwest this summer, the governors of Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho were meeting in Spokane on Wednesday to share information on how to deal with the problems. The governors also planned to discuss issues related to the Columbia River, which drains portions of all four states, and economic development, said Kim Contris, a spokeswoman for Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat elected in November. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne will also attend. "They'll be talking about cooperation," Contris said....

The Democratic controlled 2005 legislative session will definitely not be remembered as one that respected the will of the people. In just four short months of one-party control in Olympia, Democrats managed to amend no less than four initiatives passed by the people. Averaging one altered people's initiative a month, it's a good thing session ended when it did. Left by the wayside of the Democrats' 2005 tax-and-spend express are Initiatives134, I-402, the promises of I-728 (I-884), and the granddaddy of them all—I-601. Passed in 1992, I-134 was the people's attempt to reign in the campaign contributions of corporations and...

Olympia – The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) today called on King County Executive Ron Sims to fire elections supervisor Dean Logan immediately. “In light of the information contained in Mr. Logan’s deposition in the election challenge court case, Sims should fire Logan immediately,” Bob Williams, President of EFF said. “It is time for somebody in King County to start following the law or paying a price for not doing so. “Sims needs to clean up his shop, change the culture of hiding problems and call for a criminal investigation,” Williams said. “Logan is copping out when he says he didn’t...

OLYMPIA—On April 20, Governor Christine Gregoire issued a press release highlighting the state being a finalist for Harvard’s “Innovation in Government Award.” Washington was nominated for the award because of its use of the priorities of government (POG) budget model in crafting a no-new-taxes budget in 2003. Then-Senator Dino Rossi used POG to write the 2003-05 budget, which he prioritized within available revenue despite facing more than a $2 billion budget deficit. Gregoire’s release read in-part: “Washington’s pioneering budgeting method—which follows a process to prioritize state services within available resources—is among 18 government initiatives from across the nation to emerge...

Without ballots cast by felons, dead voters and non-citizens, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire would have lost the 2004 election to Republican Dino Rossi by about 100 votes, according to a statistical report cited by the GOP in its legal challenge to Gregoire's victory. But it's uncertain if the courts will buy the statistical arguments, which are a key to the GOP effort to overturn Gregoire's 129-vote win. Democrats say state law doesn't allow such arguments. The analysis was part of recent legal filings by the Republicans listing the votes they intend to attack as improper in the election trial, which...

OLYMPIA—Not withstanding the current tax debate, tomorrow Washingtonians will finally reach their Tax Freedom Day for 2005. This means that from January 1 to April 20 (110 days), taxpayers in Washington have been working to pay their combined federal, state and local tax obligations. Tax Freedom Day for 2004 arrived on April 18, meaning Washingtonians had to work an additional two days this year to pay their taxes. The national average for Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 17, three days earlier than in Washington this year. Each year the Tax Foundation calculates the date by which taxpayers will finally...

Voter-approved spending limit all but eliminated OLYMPIA—Governor Christine Gregoire signed SB 6078 today, amending the voter-approved I-601 spending limit. The bill removes the 2/3 vote requirement for the legislature to raise taxes during the 2005-07 biennium and redefines the spending limit growth factor to allow state spending to grow at a faster pace than previously authorized. The House passed SB 6078 on April 15, the same day federal income taxes were due. The Senate approved the bill on April 16. Today’s bill signing was required for Democrats to be able to raise taxes with a simple majority vote. “Today Democrats...

If English bookies were handicapping the Washington election contest, they would be revising the odds in Dino Rossi's favor. After last week, I'd take those odds. Secretary of State Sam Reed, who had been seen as defending King County during most of the five months since the election, is now calling for an investigation and suggesting there's been a cover-up. After discovering 94 uncounted ballots, King County admitted last week that the canvassing board certified the November election on the basis of documents that falsely showed that all ballots were properly accounted for. And then there's what I might find...

(Olympia) – In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation presented evidence of possible election fraud and civil rights violations in Washington’s 2004 election, and voiced EFF’s support of a request by members of the King County Council for a federal investigation. The letter was sent April 7th. “Faced with apparent indifference by election officials to registration and voting fraud and outright cover-up of their own errors, it has been necessary to rely on private organizations and citizens to investigate, analyze, and gather evidence,” EFF President Bob Williams wrote. After listing 12 areas worthy of...

I, unfortunately, have to work tomorrow, but for those of you who have the day off and/or live in the Olympia area, you might be interested in going to this: GRASSROOTS WASHINGTON ACTION ITEM: There will be a “Real Reforms” rally on Monday to urge House leaders to pass meaningful election reform legislation. We need you to be there! Real Reforms Rally This Monday, April 11 10 a.m. on the Capitol steps. Invited guests: Bob Williams, Evergreen Freedom Foundation Chris Vance, Republican Party State Chair Lt. Bryan Suits, Iraq War hero and disenfranchised military voter Mike Siegel, KTTH radio host...

The discovery of uncounted ballots in a King County elections facility could change the tenor of the governor's-election lawsuit, and it comes just as Republicans fine-tune their case in the final weeks before trial and drop some previously high-profile claims. Already, attorneys for both sides say the news of 94 uncounted, valid absentee ballots means scrambling to change plans for last-minute collection of evidence. They will expand the list of officials they want to question under oath and will change the nature of questions they'll ask King County's top two election officials, who were already scheduled for depositions. News of...

On March 20, Tim Eyman kicked off signature gathering for his latest initiative, I-900, which would mandate performance audits of government programs. One guest that night at Salty's in West Seattle stood out from the usual Eyman crowd of anti-Olympia zealots: state Auditor Brian Sonntag, a Democrat. In fact, Sonntag's appearance at the Eyman shindig was so noteworthy that master of ceremonies David Boze, a host at conservative-talk station 770 KTTH, jokingly referenced it. "Brian Sonntag is the only guy I know who'd come as guest of honor to a campaign kickoff for an initiative he didn't even support," Boze...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Schools, universities and other public buildings would have to be built to meet energy efficiency, water conservation and other environmental standards under a bill given final approval by lawmakers Wednesday. If signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire - who has expressed support for the measure - Washington would be the first state in the nation to have such a "green buildings" law. Several cities and municipalities have required new buildings to be built to the standards, including Chicago and Austin, Texas. "It's good for the kids, it's good for the workers, and it's good for the taxpayers,"...

Taxing the estates of wealthy Washingtonians to provide essential services to the state "is a very sensible, very socially responsible thing to do," William H. Gates Sr. said yesterday. Gates, the father of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was joined by Democratic lawmakers and others who support restoring Washington's estate tax, which was overturned last month by the state Supreme Court. "This is not a tax on wealthy people. It's a tax on the grateful heirs of wealthy people," he said. "It's a tax on what's left after having lived ... a...

OLYMPIA—The Senate Democrats introduced a $26 billion 2005-07 budget today which ignores the voter-approved I-601 spending limit. The $2.8 billion spending increase over the current budget (12 percent increase) includes $482 million in tax increases. The Senate proposal exceeds the current I-601 spending limit by $900 million and the governor's proposed 2005-07 spending limit by $122 million. "Based on the Governor's and the Senate's budget proposals, it appears the Democrats are unwilling to budget based on a priorities of government model," said Jason Mercier, budget analyst for the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "Rather than use performance-based budgeting, Democrats are repeating their...

Budget gimmicks used to raise spending limitOLYMPIA—At a March 24 House Appropriations hearing on Governor Gregoire's 2005 "emergency" supplemental budget, Rep. Eileen Cody (D) acknowledged that Democrats were pursuing budget gimmicks in order to artificially increase the voter-approved I-601 spending limit.In Gregoire's $219 million 2005 "emergency" supplemental budget, the governor transfers $45 million from the general fund to the Health Services Account. But Gregoire then plans to transfer $86 million from the Health Services Account to the general fund in her 2005-07 budget. This budget shell game artificially increases the I-601 spending limit. This means that the people will not...