Francine Busby and Brian Bilbray will meet again in November’s election for the 50th Congressional District in San Diego County, California. Because Bilbray was declared the winner of the Special Election on June 6, he will be running as an incumbent this time. However, there has not yet been a trustworthy count of the votes that reportedly brought him into Congress after the initial disputed election. The court case challenging his victory has yet to be resolved.
San Diego voters Barbara Gail Jacobsen and Lillian Ritt filed an election contest challenging Bilbray’s reported victory based on a number of factors including the now-infamous Diebold electronic voting machine sleepovers. Judge Yuri Hofmann dismissed that suit after intervention by Republican Congressional leaders claiming that once Bilbray was sworn in, California courts had no jurisdiction to rule on California’s election, even though swearing in took place before the election was certified in California. That dismissal is now being appealed by California attorney Ken Simpkins and election attorney Paul Lehto on behalf of Jacobsen and Ritt.
According to Simpkins, this “was a unique situation because they actually swore Bilbray in before we got certification of this election, before all the votes were counted. Congress is basically saying we’re going to swear in whoever we want to swear in, it doesn’t matter if the election has been completed or not. That’s another treading on the state’s constitutional right to determine the time, place and manner of elections,” he said.
Simpkins says, “The only way this could be more a violation of states’ rights is if they actually swore Bilbray in before the election. Where do you draw the line? Where is it that the Congress gets to determine the qualification of its members? Before the election? A minute after the election? Or after the election’s been certified by the state?”
A ruling on the appeal is expected before the election. While the defense will likely argue that the case is moot because the partial term being served by Bilbray ends in January, Simpkins explained that the court can still render an opinion because it would be instructive for future cases where similar facts are subject to being repeated.
This case, along with a related one in Nevada, previously covered by The BRAD BLOG, may be a trial run for a Republican strategy to swear in Republicans regardless of election outcomes this November. Just as the Busby-Bilbray race in San Diego County provided the best place to challenge the practice of sending hackable electronic voting machines home with pollworkers, the same district may be providing the best opportunity to pre-empt this threatened further usurpation of our elections.
Appeal costs are mounting and defendants must raise funds to be able to pursue this nationally significant case. The BRAD BLOG encourages readers to contribute to the continuing fight for accountability via Velvet Revolution.us. The DNC has, so far, failed to contribute resources for this important legal battle.
[DISCLOSURE: Brad Friedman, the publisher of The BRAD BLOG is one of the co-founders of VR.]Michael Collins at SCOOP has more on the case and the appeal — looking specifically at Dennis Hastert’s strategy of swearing in Bilbray just days after the election. Their report also includes downloadable versions of the complete the legal briefs just filed.
They are going to do the same thing in Nov, so either get used to it and accept Neofascist totalitarian rule or DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
First Bush signs into law a bill which never passed Congress and now they’re swearing in someone before the votes have been counted. What will those goofy Republican fascists think of next?
I’d been hearing for some time it was a near lock for Dems to take the House. But, now I’m hearing the race is close. It seems the media have been told a fix is in the works and they shouldn’t report the obvious, they should wait and see Rovian magic and then report.
I hope enough of the electronic voting systems without paper trails have been gotten rid of, so the election results will be correct. Any shockingly bizarrely odd results should immediately be countered by court challenges. They don’t like the ‘rule of law’, so we should shove it down their throats in the courts. Then the public will have some chance of learning the utter corruption of the Bush administration and Republican party.
And, even more importatly, we have to fight tooth and nail to save our Constitution and the ‘rule of law’. Without that you can kiss Civilization goodbye.
I will be interested in seeing how the higher courts rule on this case, but I’m not holding my breath.
The Rethuglicans have successfully neutered the congress through the use of signing statements to basically say “Yeah, you passed this law, but I’m not going to follow it because I don’t feel like it.”
I am pretty sure that Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas will side with the Administration in absolutely ANYTHING they want to do, even shutting down Congress and declaring Marshall Law if they decide that they are not doing so well in the polls. The big question is whether there is a 5th neo-fascist among Stevens, Bryer or Kennedy (I think that Ginsberg and Souter are safely on our side).
Time is running out for Democracy.
On NOvember 7, we have to vote for Democrats in numbers so big they can not invisibly steal the elections and MORE IMPORTANTLY, we have to be prepared to FIGHT for our votes, NOT IN THE COURTS (sorry MARKH, but I don’t see that helping) but in the streets and halls of government.
Charlie L:
We will fight in the courts, in the streets, in the halls of government, on hills and on beaches, on farms and in cities…..so that if this nation lasts a thousand years, people will still say, this was one of their finest hours….. (recalling in vague terms some Winston Churchill quote here)
I don’t think we should select one preferred method of street protest or litigation but rather pursue them all, separately, yet together.
You must register to vote OR absentee ballot by Tuesday Nov. 10 (at least in Pa.). Brad, you should start advertizing things like this. People who come to this site are interested in voting”¦Nov. 10 might slip by those who aren’t up on it”¦”¦.
PUT A BANNER ON TOP OF YOUR BLOG REMINDING EVERYONE OF OCT. 10 DEADLINE TO REGISTER TO VOTE OR REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT, OH GREAT VOTING ONE!!!!! PUT A COUNTDOWN TO NOV 2 ON YOUR BANNER!!!!!!!!!
It’s October 10th, I said mistakenly November 10th in post #5. See Brad??? YOU SHOULD BE DOING IT!!!! I’m going to screw it up!!!!!!!!!
SHEESH…I sound like I work for the Ohio Republican Dirty Tricks Committe, with the wrong date in post #5…sorry…..
DAMN YOU, KEN BLACKWELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Big Dan
Methinks you need to update your calander.
Voting is on Tuesday Nov 7 not Thursday Nov 2!
LOL 😉
More dirty tricks in Georgia!
Letters sent out to voters declaring need for voter ID even though it has already been overturned!
Comment #8:
Way to go Dan-O. Some pretty funny post sometimes! As much as i enjoy comedy and have a grand appreciation, i’m usually wallowing to deep in my anger of what the Bushit administration and their Democratic enablers are doing for it to surface.
One point: The blog Brad wrote above says “they” swore Bilbray in which is correct, however, let it be known that it was SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE DENNIS HASTERT who performed the actual swearing in (although the House of Representative has actually 30 days to do so). He also provided a mock photo OP swear in for the papers. What was the hurry you BUSHIT ADMINISTRATION criminal sack of sh*t.
Don’t ‘ya just love it when chickens come home to roost on Hastert’s shoulder. He who swore in Bilbray because he could. Probably wanted Sibel Edmonds muzzled too. The timing of the Foley scandal is interesting to me. This stuff has been going on a long time in DC. Who oh who will be on the Sunday morning talk shows now? Think the timing has something to do with the torture bill? Which puts all of our troops at risk for torture.
A note to all, and I’ll leave it to Paul Lehto and Brad to agree or disagree…
VOTING ABSENTEE IS A BIG MISTAKE. A REALLY __HUGE__ MISTAKE!!!
If the CA-50 proves nothing else, it is that if the Rethuglicans are given a close race, they will CHEAT in any way they can.
If the CA-50 proves nothing else, it is that we must have our votes on the table ON ELECTION DAY, because provisional ballots and absentee ballots will not be counted if the Rethuglican is ahead — they will just swear in the winner and be done with it, and the courts will do nothing to protect us.
Let the Rethuglicans vote absentee. Those supporting Democrats should vote on non-provisional ballots on or before Election day, Tuesday, November 7, 2006.
Charlie L
P.S. to Paul: I have no problem with fighting on ALL FRONTS. I only worry that allowing people to think that because the battle is being fought in the courts, and because we like to think of ourselves as a nation of laws, that the time for more is not ALSO upon us.
Bush v. Gore should have tipped us off that the courts do not hold justice above party. With the court even MORE fascistic and pro-corporate now than then, my hopes are not big.
Bluebear2: OK! I just wanted to get everyone thinking about the voting dates. I made sure my 2 kids, 18 & 19, got their registration and absentee ballots, and the Pa. deadline is Oct. 10 Tuesday. So, voting is Nov. 7, they tellz me, huh???
DAMN YOU, NOVEMBER 7TH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just be sure, I will know the date when the time comes!!!
Charlie L: My kids have to vote absentee, because they are away at college.
What is the difference between an absentee ballot and a provisional ballot???????? Please explain……can I get my kids provisional ballots????
Big Dan a provisional ballot is the last thing you want, it means the right to vote has some how come into question. The voting registrar needs to do some serious checking prior to that provisional ballot being accepted as a valid vote. Rather than jump thru the separate then confirm then double check again that ballot is often just cast aside and never counted because it is just too much of a hassle to confirm and validate its authenticity.
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Also too BRADBLOG,..
there is a major impediment blocking people from logging on to this site to keep up to date with the up to the second important election details/info of 2006.
FOR ABOUT A WEEK NOW WHEN BRADBLOG IS LOGGED ON TO THIS BLUE PAGE SHOWS UP,.. ,.. LABELED THE “PLESK DEFAULT PAGE”. See this link. AGAIN FOR ABOUT A WEEK NOW I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO LOG ON TO BRADBLOG DIRECT,.. I HAVE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO BYPASS THIS DEADEND DEFAULT PAGE TO ENTER THE SITE,.. BUT MOST OF THE NEWCOMERS WILL NOT NEGOTIATE THE OBSTACLE COURSE TO SIGN ON AND ENTER THIS SITE. WHEN YOU WANT/NEED TO MAXIMIZE THE TRAFFIC TO THIS SITE JUST PRIOR TO THE ELECTION IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DO SO.
CAN THIS SIGN ON PROBLEM BE REMEDIED ANYTIME SOON ?
{Ed Note: Anyone still experiencing this problem, please try emptying your browser cache. That should clear it up. –99}
HI A-99,..
emptied the browser cache,.. all is fine now.
Thank You very much.
We think we are so much better here in CA on our voting accountability and we aren’t even close.
My etimate is that 2 to 4 % of the vote is misplaced or miscounted in every election. Voting results are like a random drive by shooting.
My Diebold post fot a little humor.
When Diebold becomes a verb, and it will