Not so fast everyone... we ain't got a winner just yet. Here's the TNT's analysis of what is yet to come... it's enough to make your head spin:

According to an analysis by The News Tribune, based on interviews with party and campaign officials and lawyers, here are possible contingencies:

If the court allows the ballots:

• Republicans could appeal the decision to a federal court, possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging that counties’ varying recount procedures violate the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. Or they could file a new case making the same claim. A previous Democratic lawsuit alleged that counties violated the clause by treating certain types of ballots differently.

• Republicans could sue in specific counties, alleging that King County did more to include previously uncounted ballots and ask other counties to do the same. They’ve set the stage for such suits this week, publicizing military families’ claims that soldiers on active duty – who they say would have voted for Rossi – were disenfranchised because they didn’t receive absentee ballots on time.

• Republicans could wait for the state to certify the recount result and then, if Gregoire wins, they could contest the result. Their lawyers say that could be done before the state Supreme Court, though Democrats have said the proper venue is the Legislature, which will be controlled by Democrats in the new year. A Republican lawyer predicted that if one side tries to contest the election, there likely would be a court fight over which is the appropriate venue.

• Republicans say a possible result of contesting the election could be a new election, ordered by the court or the Legislature.

• If Rossi wins after the new ballots are considered, Gregoire campaign spokesman Morton Brilliant says his boss would concede, though Democrats could still contest the results.

If the court blocks the ballots:

• Nick Handy, the Secretary of State’s elections chief who filed a declaration supporting the Democrats’ appeal, said this could cause problems since most of the 38 counties that finished the recount added previously uncounted votes. Republicans dispute that claim.

In order to be consistent, Handy said, the justices should either allow King County to consider new votes or order the other counties to redo their recounts and exclude any previously uncounted votes. That would be tough, he said, since many counties mixed those ballots “into the general ballot pool, which would make it impossible to unscramble that egg.”

• If Gregoire loses, Democrats could sue each county to force them to recount their ballots a third time and exclude previously uncounted votes.

• If Democrats believe the counties didn’t apply consistent standards for considering new votes and Gregoire loses, Democrats could sue in federal court to overturn the election results. They would allege that the counties’ varying standards for considering new ballots violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause.

• Or they could utilize a vague clause in the Washington Constitution that their lawyers interpret as allowing a candidate or party to contest an election before the Legislature. Under their reading, that would allow the Democrat-controlled Legislature to pick the winner.

Seven justices will hear the case today. Three of the regular nine justices are out of town on previously scheduled trips, and one temporary judge will join the court.

On Tuesday, about 350 people gathered in front of the Supreme Court building to show support for Rossi at a rally sponsored by KVI, a conservative talk-radio station.

Meanwhile, Handy offered up yet another scenario that he acknowledged is unlikely to occur regardless of the result of the Supreme Court case: “We finish the count, both parties live with the result and we move on. That’s the fantasy result,” he said.
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!