| by Paul R. Hollrah: Contributor to Lincoln Heritage Institute
Looking at two of the closest elections in memory, the 2000 presidential election in Florida and the 2004 gubernatorial election in the State of Washington, it’s easy to focus only on the closeness of the vote. The closeness of the contests may be a story, but not the main story.
First, in the Florida case in 2000, Democrats attempted to get selective recounts in only three of the most heavily Democratic counties in the state: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach, all the while petitioning courts across the state to throw out the ballots of overseas military personnel if they were not properly postmarked. But because a federal presidential election was at stake, and because the Florida Supreme Court had sought to interfere, without legal or constitutional jurisdiction, it became necessary for the United States Supreme Court to intervene under the “equal protection” clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Selective recounts in only the most heavily Democratic counties were prohibited, the results of the election were certified, and Democrats were prevented from stealing the presidency. None of the subsequent exhaustive recounts have produced evidence that the result of the election would have been overturned in favor of Gore-Lieberman.
In the case of the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election, Democrats again attempted to reverse the outcome of an election by forcing a recount only in King County, a heavily Democratic county which produces approximately one-third of the statewide vote. In this instance, with a Democratic governor and a Democratic Attorney General, Christine Gregoire, who also happened to be the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, there was no higher authority available to prevent an electoral travesty. Democrats were left free to steal the gubernatorial election and they have proceeded to do so.
On November 10, a week after the 2004 General Election, Republican Dino Rossi held a lead of just under 3,500 votes. On November 12, King County Democrats began turning in affidavits testifying to the validity of provisional ballots, a process that Republicans did not emulate, perhaps because of the likelihood that provisional ballots were not, in fact, legal ballots. Then, on November 16, Democratic officials in King County began “finding” large numbers of ballots that had been mysteriously “misplaced” – 10,000 ballots on November 16 and 1,779 ballots on November 23.
A recount on November 24 gave Rossi a slim 42 vote victory, but a hand recount demanded by Democrats on December 3 gave Gregoire a lead of 129 votes. And although Ms. Gregoire has since had herself inaugurated as governor, a subsequent review of King County election board records shows some 1800 more ballots cast than the number of voters who requested ballots. In light of the apparent fraud, Republicans have filed a lawsuit to have the election set aside and a new election ordered.
Now we learn that some 3,500 King County absentee ballots were sent out “in error.” Apparently not all of these ballots were voted but a detailed hand count shows 810 more absentee ballots counted than can be accredited to actual absentee voters. Clearly, the election was stolen. The Democrats simply kept counting, and kept voting, until they won.
In the Florida case, Democrats have maintained a non-stop campaign to convince the party faithful that the election was stolen from them. They have been especially active in attempting to convince African-Americans that blacks were somehow disenfranchised in that election. However, extensive hearings by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights failed to produce a single instance where a black voter was disenfranchised.
The point is, while the American people are generally forgiving and understand that mistakes can be made, they cannot be expected to forgive repeated attempts by one party to win through fraud, that which they cannot win honestly and fairly at the ballot box. If the Republican lawsuit is successful, and there is every reason to expect that it will be, how will the Democrats fare in a new election?
Bearing in mind that the November election ended in a virtual 50-50 tie, recent polls show that, by a 53-36 percent margin, Washington State voters now believe that Rossi actually won. By a 51-43 percent margin, voters now favor Rossi over Gregoire in a revote, a revote that is favored by 62 percent of Washingtonians polled.
The Democrats’ efforts to steal the presidential election in Florida and their attempt to steal the gubernatorial election In Washington State will not be forgotten and will one day come back to bite them. The impact on the public perception of Democrats as a result of these two episodes is far greater than the impact of either episode, taken alone. They will live to regret their actions in Florida and Washington State.
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