Obama-appointed judges take charge in disputed Florida, Georgia elections

Anyone wondering why Senate Republicans are so intent on approving President Trump’s judicial picks need look no further than Georgia and Florida, where three Obama-appointed jurists have taken charge of ballot counting.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled Thursday that thousands of ballots that failed to strictly follow the rules can still be tallied in Florida — a decision hailed by Democrats as putting the Senate race within their grasp. In Georgia, two federal judges in separate cases ruled in favor of tallying previously discounted ballots, again winning cheers from Democrats hoping to close the gap in a closely watched race for governor. “It tells us that federal court judges are politically driven when rendering decisions,” said Wellesley College political science professor Nancy S. Scherer, author of “Scoring Points: Politicians, Activists and the Lower Federal Court Appointment Process.” She said the same dynamic was at play during the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential race, when the U.S. Supreme Court split along party lines in a ruling that decided the election of Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore. “In fact, they do this with all of their cases, not just the decisions on election outcomes,” Ms. Scherer said.

That is why the Senate Republican leadership made a priority of reshaping the federal judiciary with a conservative bent during Mr. Trump’s first two years. They confirmed two Supreme Court justices, 29 circuit court judges and 53 district judges. President Obama’s first two years netted two Supreme Court picks but only 11 circuit court and 30 district court judges. Republicans have teed up 35 more judges for confirmation votes by the end of the year.

Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said the Senate will stay in session through Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to get the judicial nominees cleared if Democrats slow the process. “We intend to keep confirming as many [judges] as we possibly can for as long as we are in a position to do that,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican.

Judge Walker, the chief judge for the Northern District of Florida, has a record of rulings favored by Democrats. He ruled in February against the state and ordered Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, to restore felons’ voting rights after their release from prison. In September, he ruled against the state again to require Spanish-language ballots, which was seen as a boon for Democrats amid an influx of likely voters from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. That doesn’t make Judge Walker a sure bet for Democrats: In another ruling Thursday, he rejected a bid by Sen. Bill Nelson and other Democrats to extend the recount deadline for counties. “We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this,” Judge Walker said in court, where he has juggled nine lawsuits over the recount. Earlier, however, he extended the deadline until 5 p.m. Saturday for voters to show valid identification and fix ballots that have not counted because of mismatched signatures.

The ruling sided with Mr. Nelson, who is trying to overcome a roughly 14,000-vote deficit in his re-election bid. Mr. Scott, the Republican candidate for Senate, watched his lead wither from about 60,000 votes on election night. The mismatch signature fix could help Florida Democrats’ effort to flood election offices with corrected absentee ballots, USA Today reported.

A Palm Beach County Democrat told the newspaper that the idea is to have voters fix and submit as many absentee ballots as possible with an altered form in hopes of later including them in vote totals if a judge rules such ballots are allowed. As Mr. Obama likely intended when he elevated Judge Walker to the federal bench in 2012, his rulings consistently tilt toward a liberal viewpoint.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/15/obama-appointed-judges-take-charge-florida-georgia/

Kasich sees opening for 2020 third-party or independent bid: 'There's a vast ocean in the middle'

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Thursday while he remains undecided about another presidential run, the midterm election results could suggest a greater opening for an independent or third-party candidate. Kasich made his second trip this year to New Hampshire, where he finished second in the state’s leadoff Republican presidential primary in 2016. “I’m encouraged every time I come back here,” he told reporters in Concord before meeting with supporters. “I know everybody’s wondering how I’m going to make a decision, when I’m going to make a decision. I don’t know, but what’s most important to me is that I can have a voice that can be a healing voice for the country.”

Asked about his previous speculation about running as a third-party or independent, Kasich said all options remain on the table. “I think there’s a vast ocean in the middle. The middle has been numb, they didn’t know what to do. But they did something they haven’t done in 100 years, they voted. They turned out in unbelievable numbers to say we’ve had enough,” he said. “Where that takes us, I can’t quite tell. But if you have this big ocean in the middle, there’s perhaps a chance for something that’s unique in American history.” Kasich elaborated a bit later in Manchester, noting the rapid pace of innovation in technology and medicine. “In an era of all this change, why wouldn’t we think there could be fundamental political change?” he said. “The day will come, I think. When it will happen, I don’t know.”

The former congressman has been one of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken Republican detractors, and said the president will have a hard time getting re-elected as a divider. He said the midterm elections showed the Republican Party needs to change its message on separating families at the border, health care and other issues. “To me, there is a very positive message. And that is: Americans don’t want the negativity. They don’t want the chaos. They don’t want the divide,” he said.

In contrast to Trump, who characterizes the media as an enemy of the people, Kasich spoke later at the annual First Amendment Awards given by Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. The school is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded by the late president and publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader. “The press is the one thing that holds the rich and the powerful accountable so we normal citizens can make up our minds about the current state of affairs, about our culture, about the world, about what we can do, and think and take action about,” Kasich said.

Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of New Hampshire Republican Party, backed Kasich’s 2016 primary bid and wrote him in on the general election ballot rather than vote for Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton. He refused to vote for any midterm candidate who supports Trump, leaving him with a nearly blank ballot. “The election results to me suggest that enough Republicans are disgusted with the Trump administration that it’s now costing other Republicans their chance to win,” he said. Kasich noted while many Republican governors lost, Ohio elected another Republican to replace him. “Why is that? A big factor is because no one was left behind in the state over the last eight years,” he said. “People in Ohio feel pretty good. They’re not angry. They don’t feel left out. They feel like why would I change, we’re going in the right direction.”

But back at home, the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly spent Thursday thumbing its nose at the absent governor . Lawmakers overrode Kasich’s veto of a measure expanding their power to revisit rules written and finalized by the government’s executive branch. The Ohio House also passed a “stand your ground” gun bill and a restrictive heartbeat abortion bill like one Kasich vetoed in December 2016. Both measures still need to be voted on by the Ohio Senate before a bill reaches Kasich’s desk.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/15/john-kasich-sees-opening-2020-third-party-or-indep/

Golden claims victory in Maine ranked-choice vote, but Poliquin challenges win

A Democrat claimed victory Thursday for a Maine congressional seat after the first national race using “ranked-choice voting,” which gives citizens a chance to rank candidates in order of preference. Democrat Jared F. Golden trailed in the count after election night, but no candidate had 50 percent of the vote. Under Maine’s new system, the race went into an instant runoff, with officials looking at voters’ second-choice preferences, which they were asked to mark on their original ballots.

Mr. Golden emerged victorious Thursday, though Rep. Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, did not concede and filed a legal challenge, arguing the new system is unconstitutional. “Here in Maine we have used the constitutional one-person, one-vote system since our state’s founding in 1820,” Mr. Poliquin, a two-term lawmaker, said on a video posted to his official Facebook page. “Not only is it the law, it’s just plain common sense. The candidate who receives the most votes wins.”

Maine adopted ranked-choice voting in a 2016 referendum, and reaffirmed that in a vote earlier this year, stopping a delay attempt by Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, and the state legislature. Under the system, voters are asked to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate tops 50 percent of the vote, the other choices are considered until someone crosses the threshold.

In the initial tally, Mr. Poliquin had 123,539 votes and Mr. Golden had 122,871. Two independent candidates garnered more than 21,000 votes, denying anyone a majority. After the ranked-choice calculations, both independents dropped to zero and Mr. Golden was declared the winner with 139,231 votes to Mr. Poliquin’s 136,326. The victory brought the number of seats Democrats flipped in the midterm elections to 35 and means that Sen. Susan Collins will be the sole Republican from New England in Congress next year.

Mr. Golden told reporters the ranked-choice method works better than states that hold a second runoff election if no candidate clears 50 percent. “I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m sure I am not the only one in this state that is glad we used an instant runoff system instead of holding another election,” he said. “Who in this state wants to see another campaign commercial wedged in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don’t think anyone.” Mr. Poliquin and three other residents sued the Maine Secretary of State, arguing the ranked-choice system violates their constitutional rights.

In a video posted to Facebook on Thursday, Mr. Poliquin described it as “confusing, so unfair” and said voters in his district didn’t back it in the 2016 and 2018 referendums. “Now it is time to find out if the system is also illegal under the U.S. Constitution to elect public officials for federal office,” he said. “If we don’t have a resolution to this basic constitutional issue, how many more election results for federal office in Maine and possibility throughout the country will be held in question?” Rob Richie, president of FairVote, which advocates for ranked-choice elections, said Mr. Poliquin is giving off “the sore loser vibe.” “Someone had to win, someone had to lose,” he said. Asked about Mr. Poliquin’s legal challenge, Mr. Golden said he believes the result with stand and he’ll be in the new Congress when it convenes. “We will begin our work on Jan. 3,” he said.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/15/jared-golden-claims-victory-in-maine-ranked-choice/

>>3921427

That is Hysterical!, so glad someone had the balls to do this, back at them, wonder what they retort back with, kek