Wrapping Up Day Three
Day Three of the Washington State gubernatorial election challenge is complete.
Our own David Goldstein (Goldy) of HorsesAss.org was back on John Carlson's show yet again today, along with Stefan Sharkansky of (un)SoundPolitics. We recorded an audio clip of the show, which you can listen to here. You can also access yersterday's clip from the Audio Archive on that same page.
Highlights from today:
Nicole Way's testimony took up much of the day - including all of the morning. Way is the mail ballot supervisor for King County Elections and the GOP's "star witness". The GOP is hoping to use her testimony as a cornerstone of their case. David Postman reported on Judge Bridges' dealings with Way:
To put it simply, the trial is no news. And yet, the trial has a lot of significance. There's a reason why we're paying attention to it. It's important, but it is also boring. Things are likely to get more interesting tomorrow and Friday as well as next week when the courtroom debate heats up over the use of "proportional deduction" methodology.
The judge has said he'll hear this evidence. But he made it very clear earlier this month in the last pretrial hearing that he was going to hear it, not accept it outright. He may hear everything the Republicans have to say and then rule against them. Doing so helps insulate him from being overturned in an appeal.
Judge Bridges has been called an impartial judge by many people, and I would agree with that statement. The judge has, for the most part, been very fair, and has brought a degree of respectability to this election contest. But Judge Bridges is also a very smart judge.
And unlike [Pierce County Superior Court] Judge Stephanie Arend, who was overturned on appeal by the Supreme Court last December, Bridges is thinking ahead. Doing so allows him to keep the doors open as long as possible for both the Democrats and the Republicans to fan the flames of their arguments.
His strategy is to let each party make their presentation and then make up his own mind - which is what a good judge does. Ultimately, the judge will have to make a ruling. And Bridges simply has understood from the beginning that no matter how he rules, his decision will be appealed. So he is putting forth his best effort to make a solid decision.
A note to all you trial watchers out there: The court reconvenes tomorrow at 8:30 AM instead of 9:00 AM. If you haven't been watching the trial at all, you might want to consider tuning in during the next couple of days. Around the Seattle area, you can tune in on your cable television to Channel 23 (TVW). If you don't have TVW on your television, you can watch streaming video or audio here (both Windows Media and Real formats).
Tomorrow morning, the Democratic team will start cross examination of Clark Benson, the GOP's first "factual" witness. Then both sides hope Bridges will then hold the Frye Hearing on the Republicans' expert testimony.
The Frye Hearing will determine whether Bridges will accept the science of the "propotional deduction" methodology. If the GOP can proceed, it'll call its two expert witnesses - both professors - to lay out their case.
We have a full wrap up of what transpired today - and we're continuing to update our index of all Pacific Northwest Portal-affiliated blog posts about the trial.
Our own David Goldstein (Goldy) of HorsesAss.org was back on John Carlson's show yet again today, along with Stefan Sharkansky of (un)SoundPolitics. We recorded an audio clip of the show, which you can listen to here. You can also access yersterday's clip from the Audio Archive on that same page.
NWPT48
Highlights from today:
Nicole Way's testimony took up much of the day - including all of the morning. Way is the mail ballot supervisor for King County Elections and the GOP's "star witness". The GOP is hoping to use her testimony as a cornerstone of their case. David Postman reported on Judge Bridges' dealings with Way:
Judge John Bridges did his most extensive questioning of a witness yet, going column-by-column through a mail ballot summary and asking a King County supervisor how it was produced. The supervisor, Nicole Way, has already testified that one of the numbers on the report was fudged because the county had lost track of how many absenetee ballots had been returned to the county by voters.If you're watching the trial, then you probably understand how boring it has been. No smoking gun has emerged for the GOP, and the testimony has revealed little that wasn't already in the depositions.
To put it simply, the trial is no news. And yet, the trial has a lot of significance. There's a reason why we're paying attention to it. It's important, but it is also boring. Things are likely to get more interesting tomorrow and Friday as well as next week when the courtroom debate heats up over the use of "proportional deduction" methodology.
The judge has said he'll hear this evidence. But he made it very clear earlier this month in the last pretrial hearing that he was going to hear it, not accept it outright. He may hear everything the Republicans have to say and then rule against them. Doing so helps insulate him from being overturned in an appeal.
Judge Bridges has been called an impartial judge by many people, and I would agree with that statement. The judge has, for the most part, been very fair, and has brought a degree of respectability to this election contest. But Judge Bridges is also a very smart judge.
And unlike [Pierce County Superior Court] Judge Stephanie Arend, who was overturned on appeal by the Supreme Court last December, Bridges is thinking ahead. Doing so allows him to keep the doors open as long as possible for both the Democrats and the Republicans to fan the flames of their arguments.
His strategy is to let each party make their presentation and then make up his own mind - which is what a good judge does. Ultimately, the judge will have to make a ruling. And Bridges simply has understood from the beginning that no matter how he rules, his decision will be appealed. So he is putting forth his best effort to make a solid decision.
A note to all you trial watchers out there: The court reconvenes tomorrow at 8:30 AM instead of 9:00 AM. If you haven't been watching the trial at all, you might want to consider tuning in during the next couple of days. Around the Seattle area, you can tune in on your cable television to Channel 23 (TVW). If you don't have TVW on your television, you can watch streaming video or audio here (both Windows Media and Real formats).
Tomorrow morning, the Democratic team will start cross examination of Clark Benson, the GOP's first "factual" witness. Then both sides hope Bridges will then hold the Frye Hearing on the Republicans' expert testimony.
The Frye Hearing will determine whether Bridges will accept the science of the "propotional deduction" methodology. If the GOP can proceed, it'll call its two expert witnesses - both professors - to lay out their case.
We have a full wrap up of what transpired today - and we're continuing to update our index of all Pacific Northwest Portal-affiliated blog posts about the trial.
