by Paul Lehto
| August 25, 2006 at 11:08:10 |
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by Paul Lehto |
As lead counsel in the election contest in California's 50th Congressional District, I wish to bring to your immediate intention the intent of Congress to terminate elections before the votes are counted and long before certification. It is now proven that the Congress intended this precise result when they swore in Brian Bilbray only 7 days after the June 6 special election, and then subsequently argued that this action deprived everyone but the House of Representatives of all jurisdiction, right or power to do anything about it, nor even to have a recount or investigation of the vote!
First, an extended quote from Bradblog, then more from me.
BREAKING! 2000 ELECTION REDUX! http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3325
Busby/Bilbray Contest Defendants Claim Election Decided in DC, Not California!
Plaintiff in Response: 'Defendant's Argument Means Election Is Uncertified, Never Happened'
Guest blogged by Winter Patriot
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The CA50 special election was held on June 6, on illegal voting machines as has been described here many times. (link omitted). On June 13, Brian Bilbray was sworn in to House of Representatives. On June 30, the election certified by Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas. And on August 22, defendants filed a brief and moved to dismiss, stating that because Bilbray has already been sworn in, the Court has no jurisdiction whatsoever and the House has exclusive jurisdiction to judge who its members are and the qualifications of those members.
According to attorney Paul Lehto,
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"The defendants' position is that the court is powerless (i.e. without jurisdiction) to do anything about this election contest, because Bilbray was sworn in only 7 days after the June 6, and long before the election was legally final on or about June 29.
"This premature termination of the election in the 50th Congressional District by the swearing in took place while votes were literally still being counted and provisional votes were still being counted, and also this premature swearing-in took place well before the 1% ballot audit required as part of the certification process, and also occurred fully 16 days prior to the official certification of the results.
"The defendant's premature swearing-in at the command of Washington DC politicians, if it had any legal effect at all, necessarily means that if there's no power for a Court in San Diego County to protect and review our elections for Congress, there was certainly no power and no jurisdiction for defendant Registrar Haas to certify the results of the election, either.
"The swearing in simply terminated the election in mid-count. Consequently, the defendants' arguments about the court's lack of power also mean that this uncertified election does not legally exist, in the legal sense that the election never happened, and this election never became final because it has never been certified at a time when anybody in San Diego had any power to do anything about it.
"Because no election is decided or over until it's officially certified, this election was actually decided in Washington DC, and not decided in San Diego's 50th Congressional District."
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So there you have it. This is the stick with which Paul Lehto is trying to beat a corrupted electoral machine back into shape.
How could this not be interesting? We'll have more details for you soonest.
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The judge is set to give his decision on this argument Friday. Court hearing on this matter begins at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. Additional coverage at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1980238
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It thus appears now based on the signed pleadings of the defendants in the California 50th District Election contest in San Diego (the Busby/Bilbray race) that the US media overlooked one of the great political stories of the year: A power grab by the Speaker of the House seven days after the June 6 election to terminate any further election or action in San Diego County except those actions that they choose not to attack the jurisdiction of.
This power grab and premature election termination was accomplished by swearing in Brian Bilbray on June 13, only seven days after the election and weeks before the election was certified and before all votes were counted, and then subsequently arguing that nobody else (and especially the San Diego Superior Court) has any power or jurisdiction to do anything about it, based on the allegedly exclusive power of the House to judge the Qualifications of their Members under Art. I, sec. 5 of the US Constitution.
The power grab became clear only a couple days ago, when the jurisdictional argument above was filed and made perfectly clear the mental state and specific intent of the defendants when Bilbray was shuttled to DC to be sworn in seven days after the election. The swift swearing took place at least 16 days prior to the certification of the election on or about June 29. But, if this swift swearing is to be given effect as the Defendant Brian Bilbray and Registrar Haas argue, then the "exclusive jurisdiction" of the House of Representatives also deprived Registrar of Voters Haas of any jurisdiction to certify results in the first place! The election was thus never legally finalized or certified, it legally "never happened."
Thus, we have an incomplete invalid election. The parties to the election contest now all agree, they just get there in different ways. The motion to dismiss / argument against jurisdiction of the defendants reveals the powerplay that occurred on June 13th, with the premature swearing in.
Shades of 2000, with a selection decided in Washington DC, and the pitiful States and their citizens ordered to pipe down and "get used to it"?
Paul Lehto practices law in Washington State, is a clean elections advocate and specializes in cases involving election law. He can be reached at lehtolawyer@xxxxxxxxx