Free Republic

Republican David Yancey will keep his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates after a state official pulled his name out of a bowl Thursday, deciding a contest that ended in a tie in November. Yancey and Democrat Shelly Simonds each received 11,608 votes in their Newport News-based district. Initial results showed Yancey leading by just ten votes. A recount gave Simonds a one-vote edge. But Republicans challenged a single ballot, resulting in a tie. Democrats sued to overturn the challenge, but on Wednesday a three-judge panel rejected their complaint. That led to Thursday’s drawing, in Richmond, out of a...

A three- judge panel declined to certify the recount of a key House race today, saying that a questionable ballot should be counted in favor of the Republican and tying a race that Democrats had thought they had won by a single vote. “The court declares there is no winner in this election,” said Circuit Court Judge Bryant L. Sugg, after the judges deliberated for more than two hours. The court’s decision leaves the race for the 94th District tied at 11,608 votes for each Del. David Yancey, the Republican incumbent, and Shelly Simonds, his Democratic challenger. And it leaves...

Democrat Shelly Simonds took the Virginia House of Delegates seat Tuesday from Republican David Yancey after a recount had her in the lead by a single vote, reports the Washington Post. A three-judge panel still has to certify the results, but if approved, her victory will bring the 51-49 GOP majority to a rare 50-50 split.

Every vote matters. Canvassers say that to you when they knock on your door and call your phone before Election Day. But contests rarely come down to a single vote. Tuesday was an exception. Democrat Shelly Simonds picked up 11 votes in a stunning day-long recount to upset Republican incumbent Del. David Yancey in the 94th House District Race, 11,608 to 11,607. The recount changes the complexion of the Virginia House of Delegates as Republicans and Democrats split the chamber 50 members to 50 members and ushers in a new era of politics in the General Assembly, which begins its...

Once upon a time in America, if a group of citizen volunteers set out to help election officials detect problems with the voter rolls, they would have been praised. If a group of citizen volunteers had detected scores of dead people on the voter rolls they would have received broad accolades from all corners of America. Once upon a time in America, we esteemed law abiding citizens who helped law enforcement detect law breakers – especially when it comes to the sanctity of elections. But this isn’t the America we used to know. Instead, when election integrity groups like Houston-based...

For months, the Justice Department has largely been silent as Republican-dominated legislatures in state after state made it harder for minorities, poor people and other Democratic-leaning groups to vote. On Tuesday, however, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. spoke out forcefully and promised to use the full weight of his department to ensure that new electoral laws are not discriminatory. To live up to that vow, he will have his hands full. Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states have recently enacted laws designed to limit Americans’ access to the polls, often concentrating on voters — blacks, Hispanics, students and...

The next president is likely to appoint 1 to 3 justices, tilting the Supreme Court for decades. Hear from conservative commentators William Kristol, Bay Buchannan and Tony Perkins, who keep their eyes on one of 2008's biggest prizes. Created by Robin & John Productions. Music by Nik Phelps. John Grimes. Fizzdom.com See here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QIAXb2MS_Q

Out Of Sight The word "environment" often triggers a negative reaction among people who fancy themselves as conservatives. It seems to invoke hippies, tree-huggers and vegetarians in their minds. That's unfortunate. The environment, in reality, is our planet and our country. It includes not just wilderness areas, but farmlands, suburbs, cities, our own yards and our neighborhoods. Drugged by the twin deceivers — mass media and urban life — it is easy to forget that our lives and prosperity depend 100 percent on the land, its air and its water. Many urban children today have probably never seen a cow...