It's well worth listening to Harry Korrell's closing argument. Go to TVW Audio and fast forward to 4:24:30. It lasts about 45 minutes. The following is Korrell's conclusion, which begins at 5:04:57 --
King County failed wholesale. They failed to implement or to use the required safeguards and the result is exactly the harm that these statutes and WACs were adopted to prevent. There were more votes than voters, both poll and absentee. There were lost ballots, found too late and unsecured to be counted. There were nearly 800 provisional ballots cast directly into AccuVote machines and there has been a complete loss of trust in the elections system. Things are not going to change by giving King County a stern talking to. And it's not an excuse that King County has more ballots to process. King County has long been the largest, most populous and, I suspect, the wealthiest county in the state. There is no justification for its having what Secretary of State Reed called the most backward elections system in the state and making errors that he called appalling. It is not fair to the voters of the rest of the state to have their votes cancelled out by rampant errors and illegal votes allowed to be counted in King County.Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 04, 2005 09:20 PM | Email ThisYour honor, if this contest action fails, this case, an election with the thinnest of margins, where there are far more found ballots than the margin, overwhelming evidence of error and neglect, presented by both sides, ballots that cannot even after seven months be tied to lawful voters. 1,400 felon votes. Votes of dead and double voters. 265 statewide provisional ballots directly into the AccuVote machine outside of King County. 785 in King County alone. Huge discrepancies. Votes counted that appear not to have been cast by lawfully registered voters. And then a disturbing pattern in the distribution of those discrepancies. If this evidence is insufficient in an election decided by 129 votes, then Washington has no meaningful election contest procedure. This cannot be what the Washington legislature intended.
Your honor, we recognize the magnitude of what we are asking you to do. But we believe and I think the people of this state believe, that the only way to restore legitimacy to our elections system and confidence that the people have a governor who really was elected by the majority of legal voters, is for the court to set aside the tainted results of this election. Nullify that big certificate of election that's been standing in the corner for two weeks on the basis of inaccurate returns, illegal and some fraudulent votes. We submit, your honor, that this result is compelled, not precluded by the application of our State Supreme Court case Foulkes v Hayes and the election contest provisions, the very same ones in this case that are discussed therein. It is also compelled by Hill v. Howell, [search here if the link doesn't work] which pointed out that when there has been "fundamental disregard for the law" it may be appropriate to set aside the results. That case was construing the predecessor to [RCW 29A.68] section 070.
The evidence we have presented shows a fundamental disregard of the law. The evidence we have presented shows that if illegal votes and invalid votes were deducted from both candidates in the proportion in which they were cast in their precincts, a widely accepted method, then Dino Rossi would have won. We have shown that there are in the neighborhood of 3,000 illegal and invalid votes. Some twenty times the margin of victory and the court should set aside the election on that basis as well.
He's certainly presented the far stronger closing statements, and ones that "appeal" much more to common sense, and the will of what I suspect is the typical Washinton voter.
Stefan, thanks for presenting this, it was very good to read this conculsion again. Korrell, the man is a true orator.
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 4, 2005 10:08 PMNo matter what happens on Monday, Harry Korrell and the rest of the team are a class act.
Posted by: Tucker on June 4, 2005 10:19 PMThe ownness was on the Repubs to climb the mountain. Korrell is a class act regardless of the outcome.
Again, I believe that there should be a Federal investigation of King County directed by Judge Bridges - because the Dems succeeded in proving that King County Elections is corrupt and they have been that way and haven't cared about it for long enough ! Let the Civil suits fly and John McKay start doing what he is paid to do in his own back yard !
Posted by: KS on June 4, 2005 10:35 PM9:00 AM Monday.
Posted by: Encouraged Voter on June 4, 2005 10:49 PMOnly one who hears it matters. Judge Bridges. Korrell doesn't have to convince us, Goldy, the right, the left, the center, anyone else but Hiz Onner.
MikeF
Posted by: MikeF on June 4, 2005 10:53 PMYes!!! I cheered that line bigtime in my car as those words floated out of my radio. It was COMMON SENSE--something that Dems kept trying to keep out of this trial!
Posted by: Michele on June 4, 2005 11:12 PMYep, that line was awesome. And it was a paraphrase right out of a truly classic movie, "Cool Hand Luke." Paul Newman's character Luke has a problem with authority, and the prison warden wants to keep him down by giving him ultra harsh punishments for minimal reason like many days in solitary confinement, or as they call it in the movie, "the Box."
At one point, Luke gets put into "the Box" again just because his mother has died, and the warden is worried that a free spirit like Luke, might try to break out of prison to go to his mother's funeral. As he puts Luke into the Box, one of the nicer guards (all guards are called Boss, by the prisoners) says, to Luke "I'm sorry Luke, I'm just doing my job." And Luke comes back with the immortal line "Callin' it your job Boss, don' make it right."
And indeed, callin' the job too hard, or the mistakes unintentional, don't make 'em right in King County either.
And in the even more famous words of Strother Martin as Captain Boss:
"What we have here ... is failure to communicate. Some men [Democrats] you just can't reach."
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 4, 2005 11:37 PMhttp://www.webcityusa.com/chat.html
As Carlson said, though, she did do a pretty good job of summation. It's just that she had so very few arrows of solidity in her quiver. And there appeared to be so much more in her of a dread of potential loss in what she'd been sent to protect. Lets face it, for her, this was a major defining moment in her career, and if they lose, her name among the dems with be like that of the captain of the Titanic. The great ship lost on her watch.
Korrell, on the other hand, was intense, but outwardly calm...in control of his speach and direct and logical from topic to topic. He also did not presume to tell the court what it must do in the same demanding way that Durkan did. He made his points as reasonable end points of a logical progression, and showed plausible ways of handling the topics the dems claimed were imponderable.
Beyond that, the extent to which the dems were excusing, obfuscating, and claiming that no legal remedy was possible stood in stark contrast with the reps, and actually did the reps a favor. A reasoned solution is always going to be more compelling than the lack of one...and proving that there was no alternative was the essence of the dem case.
I am prepared to be disappointed come Monday, but I have a much stronger sense of optimism than before, when looking at potentially insurmountable barriars to my desired conclusion.
I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping just fine. And I bet big money the average rep is sleeping better than CG and the elitist leadership of the left.
Posted by: scott158 on June 4, 2005 11:53 PMRight on! Left out!
Posted by: 4pawz on June 5, 2005 12:13 AMWe even took the Seattle Dinner Train (had to -before Ron Sims decides to yank it away!)
I recommend the Dinner Train to everyone! It was a blast and the employees are priceless! The food was wonderful - as was the wine.
I just can't feel anything but confident about the outcome of the contest!
Posted by: Deborah on June 5, 2005 12:42 AMBut I hope she lost points for going TOO LONG. Seriously. It's as though she thought "all I have to offer is silliness. But if I make it long, I might manage to make it seem like I'm making sense."
Posted by: Michele on June 5, 2005 12:47 AMBut in a way also doesn't matter: every Wells Fargo branch, whether busiest spot in Seattle or lonliest place in the Palouse has to account for its cash ACCURATELY.
They do that because that choose to; they care
KC doesn't care, knowing the more votes the better for dems, not much risk that overvoting reveals some GOP surge.
Posted by: righton on June 5, 2005 09:08 AM
Something like: ... with rejoicing Durkan/McDonald, Caesar lives, ... (and ordinary latin living for a second time)... or something thereabout
/LGF reference
Posted by: Dogbert on June 5, 2005 11:35 AMWhere can the BIAW go for a refund of their millions?
Posted by: JDB on June 6, 2005 04:12 PM