My good friend Dan Savage at The Stranger regrettably jumped the gun and rebroadcast an as yet unsubstantiated claim by an anonymous poster. The poster claims to be one of the voters challenged by the GOP on the grounds that they were registered at a private mailbox service in lieu of a bona fide residence -- except that the poster insists that they live at a Belltown apartment building, all 60 of whose residents were falsely challenged.
At this point we don't know the address of the alleged apartment building, so we don't know whether this is real or not. The lack of verifiable details hasn't stopped the various disreputable leftwing blogs from running with the story.
UPDATE: The Stranger now has more details, the GOP admitted and apologized for mistakenly challenging some number of voters.
Nevertheless, The Stranger blog still posts some false information about this case that is making its way through the loonie left hysteria mill --
When I vote, my vote will be put into a "challenge" pile. Then I will have to show up in person at an administrative hearing, which I'm sure I'll have to take off work for, to prove that I live at an actual, physical address. So will all my neighbors. That's the only way our votes will be counted.Completely false. According to the state law on voter challenges:
1) the burden is on the challenger to:
prove to the canvassing board by clear and convincing evidence that the challenged voter's registration is improperIf the challenger fails to meet the burden, the challenged vote stands.
2) Since the burden is on the challenger, the challenged voter with an unassailable case doesn't even have to testify on their own behalf. But if they wish to testify, the same state law permits them to submit a written affidavit in lieu of a personal appearance.
Frankly, I'm embarrassed that the GOP didn't do a more careful job of preparing the list of voters for the challenge. Any challenges discovered to be incorrect should be immediately retracted and the affected voters should receive a personal apology and correct information to make sure their vote will count. But the bigger issue is that individual citizen volunteers should not be forced into the role of cleaning up the voter rolls in the place of government officials who willfully fail to do their jobs. It is illegal to register to vote at a mailbox and King County Elections used to prevent such illegal registrations. Dean Logan made a policy decision to remove those safeguards and permit illegal registrations. If he had done his job and kept the system in place to distinguish between legitimate and invalid addresses, this controversy wouldn't even exist. Yet another reason why Ron Sims and Dean Logan have to go.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 04, 2005 02:57 PM | Email ThisWhy didn't the numbskulls in the GOP take the time to do a driveby survey or windshield survey? No wonder they lost the slamdunk election contest. And that contest put them in the hole about a 1/2 mil.
Posted by: swatter on November 4, 2005 03:43 PMWe apologize for the small number of errors we made, but we stand by this effort. Last year, King County counted thousands of illegal votes. They have shown no willingness to prevent this from happening again so we will continue to aggressively work to make sure that only legal votes are counted.
It is not us, but Ron Sims and Dean Logan who owe the people of King County an apology.
Chris Vance
Posted by: Chris Vance on November 4, 2005 04:02 PMWhy aren't facts being checked ahead of time? Are you short personnel?
As a republican in Ukraine County, we have to be perfect, no room for error.
Have you called the KOMO/KIRO/KING/Times media to let them know that 1943-140=1803 people are still challenged? And have those 1803 been checked?
The press is going to paint the 140 in error as only the tip of the error, maybe there are 1400 more that are in error? Can't have that.
Please illustrate this so-called "hypocrisy" (gross or otherwise).
As for HA, Stay. Or go. I don't care either way. (If you hang around, the atmosphere might raise your IQ into the double-digits ;'}
Posted by: alphabet soup on November 4, 2005 07:22 PMACTUAL LAW:
RCW 9A.72.080
Statement of what one does not know to be true.
Every unqualified statement of that which one does not know to be true is equivalent to a statement of that which he knows to be false.
[1975 1st ex.s. c 260 § 9A.72.080.]
Perjury in the First Degree in Washington is a Class B Felony punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine of up to twenty thousand dollars. Several voters should be filing criminal complaints here. It would seem to be an open and shut case.
ACTUAL LAW:
RCW 9A.72.080
Statement of what one does not know to be true.
Every unqualified statement of that which one does not know to be true is equivalent to a statement of that which he knows to be false.
[1975 1st ex.s. c 260 § 9A.72.080.]
Perjury in the First Degree in Washington is a Class B Felony punishable by imprisonment for up to ten years and a fine of up to twenty thousand dollars. Several voters should be filing criminal complaints here. It would seem to be an open and shut case.
I am just so damn happy to see you guys doing SOMETHING! ANYTHING with this election mess..YES!
I'm not going to beat you down for the errors. Time was short - Ron Sims and Dean Logan made sure of that by witholding the information you requested until the last minute. I wouldn't doubt it if those 140 residences were mistakenly zoned in King County database as *business*...We all know how KC, under Ron Sims, can't keep anything straight. Probably changed zoning as a kickback for hosting his last campaign fund raiser...(Ok - I really don't know how these residences are zoned or how they got on the list of mail box voters..but the problem is - anything is possible under Sims...)
I'm just so proud of the Republican party for stepping up and actually fighting againt this election crap!
Thank you! And I hope to see more of it!
Posted by: Deborah on November 4, 2005 10:11 PMYeah, darn elections. So inconvenient aren't they.
Posted by: Daniel K on November 4, 2005 11:06 PMHow about ranting about the incompetence of KCRE over a what was it 1% varience in the election (actually I think it was less)an then shrugging off their screwup of 7% on the very serious issue of challanging citizens right to vote.
Posted by: John on November 4, 2005 11:37 PMSomeone did a good job of getting the talking points out to the trolls.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 5, 2005 12:05 AMYes, I see that you did the obligatory mea culpa about the "mistake" but you never have admitted that the "lunatic lefty blogs" got it substantially correct. Your big thing then seems to be that one person who reacted to having their registration challenged was incorrect on the burden of proof.
Wow! One person got it wrong. That sure proves the left is lunatic.
And, by the way, your hero Repuglicans have an error margin around 7% for this challenge manuever. Good work! Not!
Posted by: Steve on November 5, 2005 07:30 AMThe formula of the day
Irons/GOP + 1900 - 140 = Sims Wins!
What's up Alpha - your posts keep getting shorter. With any luck, you're spending all your time packing up your stuff to move to a conservative paradise - Utah? Idaho? Maybe Alabama? Toodles.
Posted by: Claire on November 5, 2005 08:09 AMOr would you prefer, "Much wisdom often goes with brevity of speech" - Sophocles
Either way, I say simply that which is necessary to get my point across. Tis a pity that you cannot. I see that your math skills are still, er, creative. Reminds me of a liberal teacher who tried to tell us that 2 + 2 = 5 (for large factors of 2). He was an idiot, and so are you.
But I like you in spite of your lunacy (perhaps because you're hot for me). Don't go changing, just to please me ;'}
No, Washington is my home. I intend to stay and fight to return you and your ilk to the social irrelevancy that you see elsewhere in America. Now regale us with another hearty tale of the big bad Rove!
Still, in defense of Stefan, it's not his job to post on stories that damage the Republican agenda... that's my job. Just like I tend not to dwell on stories that damage Democrats... that's Stefan's job.
You righties don't come here looking for the unfiltered truth, do you? That would be silly. You come here looking to be told what you want to hear.
You all need to keep remembering to put us bloggers in context.
Posted by: Goldy on November 5, 2005 09:59 AMAnd yes, I always keep buggerers like you in context....as a matter of fact, I flushed a bit of you this morning...
Posted by: alphabet soup on November 5, 2005 10:06 AM1. When the right points out problems that directly impact a statewide election, they are simply whiners and complainers who are wasting the time of the public offcials. However, when the left points out a factual error of the right, it is newsworthy and the "breaking of an important story." And you call us hypocrits.
2. The trolls always seem to say that people on this blog are just here to effectivly validate their own opinions when in fact, even in this very thread, some of the harshes critics of this mistake were from loyal contributers to this site. No, when the right screws up, Soundpolitics has no qualm in reporting and discussing it. I have yet to see one lefty do the same. Hypocrisy again.
3. The left really needs to gain a perspective. The issue here is a challenge of registration NOT the denial of registrations. The challenge is basically saying that these seem to be wrong and should be investigated and removed if appropraite. Note that the Republicans do not have the authority to disenfranchise anybody in this process so your claims are hyperbolic claptrap. However, the democratic machine in King County ACTUALLY disenfranchised voters because THEIR mistakes allowed ILLEGAL voters to cast votes which, in effect, canceled out the votes of legitimate voters. I am still waiting for ANY troll to admit that salient fact. Hypocrisy to highest degree.
4. The Republicans admitted that they erred on those 140 and thus removed them from their list. Have the democrats admited thier errors and removed THEM form the list? I think not. Hypocrisy again.
The left so loves to beleive they are high and mighty and without fault, but they only fool themselves. Your extreme partisanship prevents you from admitting error and thus correcting mistakes. You attack others rahter than fix your mistakes so that you can make the other guys out to be worse when in fact it is just a smoke screen to deflect your own gross incompetence.
Democrats should feel shame for what their party and their vocal glee clubs have become. about 8 years ago I was very balanced on my voting tickets between the two parties, now I find it very hard mark anyone with a D next to their name. Put some integrity back into your party, and you might gain a few more moderates to your camp.
Posted by: Eyago on November 5, 2005 10:49 AMThe GOP rescinds 140 challenges that were made, admitting they were made in error and that somehow becomes proof of GOP dishonesty or thuggery. This is why I find liberals so amusing. They can turn gold into a turd and then proudly shine their shoes with a turd calling it shinola, all the while keeping a straight face. Stinky, stinky.
Swatter insists the GOP does a “driveby survey or windshield survey.” Clever. What are you Swatter a crip or a blood?
Ivan, proof of what moron, that admitting to a mistake somehow equals dishonesty? Get a life.
John, margins are utterly irrelevant to this issue and sensible people know it. The point is that whatever margin of error you discuss, the GOP and Vance told the truth, where King County Elections officials openly lied. Spinning that into a conspiracy is the shameless dishonesty that insists on ignoring the facts in favor of sensation that is endemic with liberals. No one attacked the Stranger; it perverts itself all on its own. You do the GOP a great service when you call this event one that demonstrates your liberal view of GOP hypocrisy. By your standard, admitting a mistake amounts to depravity. No wonder you guys vote for the style of Sims, Murray, Gregoire.
Big Sky Dem, go back to sheep, they are more your speed. Anyone dim witted enough to buy into the idea that this amounts to suppressing voter turnout is worthy only of sub human a$$ociation.
Joanne, “Republicans attempt to . . . steal an election by disenfranchising thousands of voters in Seattle?” Amazing. Do you talk to your children with that mentality?
Durango, lying is a Class B Felony? How is admitting that you made a mistake by telling the truth a lie exactly? You should be the King County Prosecutor; everyone honest within your jurisdiction would be in jail.
Steve, it is a lunatic fringe that peremptorily characterizes a mistake as a conspiracy without any support for their characterization. No one here admitted that the "lunatic lefty blogs" got it substantially correct” because they got it completely wrong when they spun facts into lunacy. Yes Steve, the very fact that one person made a mistake, admitted to it, and the "lunatic lefty blogs" perverted it into something entirely unsupportable does prove that the left is lunatic and you along with them for buying into it.
Claire cites the Seattle Times as an authority for anything. Usual clarity there huh Claire?
Goldy, Stefan doesn’t need to point out to the "lunatic fringe" that they are lunatics, people like you come here and prove it.
The loonie left hysteria mill? They definitely came to visit Sound Politics today. Once again, proof positive that liberals will believe anything so long as there are no facts involved.
Thanks all.
By signing an afidavit declaring under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that she has personal knowledge and belief that the 140 (and counting) voters are not qualified to vote, your Republican tool has broken the law.
Everyone that makes these serious claims without actual knowledge is BREAKING THE LAW, and SHOULD be prosecuted to its fullest extent.
Posted by: Perdita Durango on November 5, 2005 03:46 PMAhh yes, what a dilemma; indeed I should have thought of that. Sheer genius on your part there Durango.
But what about the part where you must establish that a mistake was a lie.
This subtle distinction between a lie and a mistake seems kinda important doesn't it? Or are lies and mistakes both the same to you?
Mens rea or criminal intent is not easily established legally, and it's meaning is liberally assumed by people like you who don't care about the truth or the facts.
While your characterization of the instant facts is incorrect and inapt, nevertheless, here is the problem (please try to focus):
If I were to tell you (now) that you are a smart person, it would be a lie, because you have clearly shown me through your comments that you are not. Therefore, because I know that smart persons are not ding-dongs like you, and because I know now while saying you are a smart person that you are in fact actually a ding-dong, since someone can establish these facts, they could say I am lying.
On the other hand, if I say that despite your being a ding-dong, I know for sure that you are not also a child molester, and later it came out that you rape children, that would be a mistake on my part, but not necessarily a lie. It would only be a lie rather than a mistake, if I knew it at the time. You see Durango, I have no way of knowing for sure that you are not a child molester, so while my saying that Perdito Durango is not a child molester may be a foolish and possibly mistaken assumption on my part, it is not a lie. Further, I don't have to know for certain that you are not a child molester, if the knowledge I do possess supports the beliefs I assert. Only to the best of my knowledge at the time. If I use due diligence and find out that the facts contradict my earlier knowledge, and openly admit that I was mistaken, am I lying?
Now let's see, what if I signed an affidavit under oath that I didn’t see you rape any children, and believed that you probably weren't a child molester, would that be a lie? Of course not, again it would be foolish (considering your other lacking capacities) to do such a thing unless of course I could prove you were not one, but no prosecutor would ever try to use this to establish that I lied. One that does, will have a real bad time proving it.
If Lori Sotelo knew that the information she swore to was false when she swore to it, she is guilty and she should be prosecuted. However, when you said that, “Several voters should be filing criminal complaints here. It would seem to be an open and shut case,” you left no room for the probability that this was simply a mistake as Vance said it was. You jumped to the same conclusion others do when they assume that you are a probably child molester.
By the way, here is where Scooter Libby will probably be acquitted. Don't worry though; I won't make either mistake in your case.
You guys are so much fun! Thanks.
I see that you are still posting from your reality-proof bubble. Don't you get it? As will be reflected in results of next week's election, the majority of people in King County are smart enough tell the difference between the margin of error in an election and a crass and ham-fisted political stunt of the sort that the GOP pulled with their shotgun voter challenge. The majority of people in King County realize that there were over 800,000 votes cases last year and, despite Shark and Chris Vance's attempts to hype the numbers, the number of votes that allegedly were improperly counted is miniscule. The majority of people are also smart enough to realize that a stunt like the one the GOP just pulled shows that the GOP is a party without any ideas that will stoop to any low to attract attention. The bottom line is that the GOP and its ideas and tactics are not welcome by the majority of voters in King County. That may go a long way to explaining why the standard of living and quality of life in King County is vastly superior to other parts of this state and the country.
PS- I was not relying on the Times as any sort of source, rather, I was pointing out the cat was out of the bag and the news of the GOP misdeeds was being widely distributed - to many potential voters I would assume.
Do you always think in terms of simplistic generalized superficialities? Why should anyone care about what you say? Everyone--but you--knows that the election last year was very, very, close and the number of votes that were improperly counted was enough to easily have elected Rossi rather than Gregoire. Why not say something truthful, substantive, and interesting for a change. You're getting boring.
You say ”The majority of people are also smart enough to realize that a stunt like the one the GOP just pulled shows that the GOP is a party without any ideas that will stoop to any low to attract attention.” What stunt is that Claire, telling the embarrassing truth that they made a mistake? You are truly one of the dumbest ding-dongs around—you must be a Seattle school teacher.
I am sure glad you are not on my side of the debate.
Thanks for the entertainment.