Dino is lucky Christine speaks very carefully. A less reticent person would tell him where he could stick it. The final count could have favored either of them. He was anything but generous to her during the first two counts, when he led. Kept saying she should accept he had won the election and concede. For him to come with this nonsense now is shameless. I'm sure any statement Christine makes will be ve-r-r-r-y polite, but I hope she zings him somehow.

P.S.:

What is the clock setting here? What I'm seeing in preview looks really odd.

Mac Diva,

The time on the preview is Greenwich Time.

Kari please reset the preview pane time for Pacific Time Zone.

Is everyone absolutely sure that their opinion would be identical were the parties and candidates reversed: that is, if Gregoire had won the first two counts, but then two weeks into a third manual recount paid for by Republicans a few hundred previously uncounted ballots were uncovered in a Republican stronghold and poof, lose became win?

There are no principles here. Just politics.

Sally, The "lost" few hundred ballots didn't win it for Gregoire. She won before those ballots; they just made the gap wider.
Rossi should be ashamed of himself for attempting to subvert the process in the ways that he has. He's got no class, and I don't want a governor who has no respect for the laws. The recount procedure is clear in the law, and it was followed. After that, it's sour grapes.

I agree with Jeff. An outcome within, say 1000 votes, or less, is going to leave some people perturbed regardlessly. And, even with reforms in place, that can happen.

Also, remember that around 4,000 new votes were added during the hand recount. King County's got attention because of the court challenge, not because they were the only votes added.

Sally, I would have accepted Rossi as the winner under the same circumstances. In fact, I supported the Washington Supreme Court's decision not to 're-canvass,' which was not favorable to the Democrats.

BTW, I blogged the recent governor's race in Puerto Rico for my other weblog yesterday. There, the differential was about 4,000 votes. A similar situation occurred, including the trips to court and an effort to disqualify some ballots. I think the inclination is to take it as far as you can for any candidate in a close race.

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Tim Mooney -- This has your name but not blame in it. I only meant continuity in using your words, and agreement with them over a hundred times stronger. By the time it was composed there were comments rummaged between us, so there is no continuity clause. T.

Tim -- Writing tougher tighter laws to make campaigns and election results true and valid seems like Congress wasting taxpayer money composing more empty promises to 'get it right next time,' when public officials in D.C. corruptly ignore the crimes and violators of election laws Congress wrote before and that exist on our books today and yet receive no funding or congressional resolve to enforce them. When enactment is not enstatement it doesn't matter what Congress enacts. Or: You're clinically dysrepresentative, Mr. and Mrs. Legislator, step away from the inkwell, refund to the public your paycheck, and come home and help in the community.

In Ohio there are crimes of fraud in the integrity of ballots for federal offices, and the testimony already in evidence is compelling enough of indictable crimes that Rep. Conyers has sought an FBI investigation. No FBI has come, according to the reports I have seen, so the law is not law and a new law is not going to be law, either, judging by past performance. My critique being that, as it seems representative government's people don't 'represent,' (used in the idiomatic sense now fashionable -- they are not stand-up people), and as the "extremely eastern" bloc must have gotten wind of Ohio's ballot-counting fraud and the flagrant dereliction and subversion causes for removal of Ohio's Secretary of State Blackwell, then run-around's to 'post something on the blog when the wind brings news of what's cooking' just lacks concern. The Great White Father in Washington gives no word to keep.

I like that you are blog-aware. I see it the same way you state it, Tim: "by the books." except at the end "Washington system is awfully darn good," nitpick to add: 'compared to Republican crimes elsewhere.' I do not like the phonies who say they are Kerry supporters but who deliver no support of him after he and his campaign state their position in justice and provide venue for supporters' endorsement. A lawful ballot count in Ohio makes Kerry president, by evident appearances, and the Democrat majority seems lost to insist that their own vote is valid, material, and legal. Uh, where's the outrage at the power outage? When D's run a candidate who gets the winner's votes, and then the R's pilfer and pillage the ballots to unilaterally install their candidate instead -- who voters voted against -- illicitly in office, what part of Loser Monkey Words saying 'we'll do better candidate, better campaign, better results next time' while the R's prove that's impossibly false as long as they are not stopped in incarceration from stealing ballots ... don't you understand?

Speaking of Loser Monkeys and Rossi Rejects, the The 'Great Republican Newspaper of the Northwest' Oregonian's publisher's minions editorialized today on the credibility of counting ballots by law -- like WA SoS Sam Reed, not like FL 2000 SoS Katharine Harris, and simply intended by turning their heads to pretend that the board just doesn't see the list, under OH SoS Blackwell's administration, of ballot crimes filed in court and heard in congressional affidavit, is blowing in the wind.

Gentlebloggers, start your links: December 14, 2004 Some Counties Will Not Comply with Kerry Requests for Recount Procedures

Akron Beacon Journal: Posted on Mon, Dec. 13, 2004 Ohio counties dealing differently with Kerry recount requests Associated Press CLEVELAND - Ohio elections boards on Monday revealed various plans for handling new recount requests by Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign that range from visually inspecting some ballots to getting a neutral group involved. Over the weekend, Kerry asked the county elections officials to allow his witnesses to visually inspect the 92,000 ballots cast in Ohio in which no vote for president was recorded. The request was one of 11 items that Kerry asked for as part of the recount that Ohio's 88 county boards of elections will begin this week. When contacted Monday by The Associated Press, many boards officials said they hadn't heard about the weekend request by Donald McTigue, the lawyer handling the recount for the Kerry campaign. A few elections officials said they would cooperate, while some officials said there was just no way they could comply with some demands.

/snip\ Summary of specific allegations in election contest Miami County results fraudulent says Phillips Lucas County irregularities tied to burglary Mahoning County "Irregularities" Detailed at Hearing Testimony from December 13th Columbus Hearing Transcript of November 15th Hearing at Franklin County Courthouse Videotaped interview of Triad technician tampering with machines in 6 counties Videotape of Suppression of Voters in African-American communities Lucas County Recount Report Triad enabled itself to reprogam computers by remote dial-up Report by Recount Observer on various irregularities Green Party summary of select voting and recount problems Fairfield County officials impede recount Licking County officials refuse to let observers view voting machines President of Triad permitted to participate in Montgomery County recount Witnesses relate details of Blackwell-ordered Greene County lockout Medina County recount irregularities Cuyahoga County recount irregularities Expert analysis of electronic computer fraud in Mahoning County Triad technician permitted to disassemble machine morning of recount Green Party report of obstruction by election officials Green Party report of obstruction by Blackwell Cuyahoga County recount obstructed by officials \snip/

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