Daryl F. Gates

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The self-disqualification of District Court Judge Benjamin Simpson might create an opportunity for compromise in the Coeur d’Alene City election contest. It could work, but it would take the cooperation of both remaining parties in the lawsuit.   (more…)

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OpenCdA.com has learned that District Court Judge Benjamin Simpson disqualified himself on Tuesday from Jim Brannon’s election contest lawsuit.  It will now fall on administrative Judge John Mitchell to assign a new judge.

Today’s Coeur d’Alene Press published Lisa’s and my letter to the editor explaining why we have asked the District Court to allow us to join Jim Brannon’s election contest lawsuit as intervenors.  Here is a link to the letter.  We wrote the body of the letter but not the title.

Just received moments ago from Jim Brannon:   An Open Letter to Mike Kennedy

Addendum on April 13, 2010: I have received several calls and emails from regular readers asking what precipitated Jim Brannon’s letter linked above.  At the risk of offending some of those and other readers, I am going to link to a tabloid website out of Spokane.  Jim Brannon’s letter was a response to this comment captioned  Mike K on April 12 at 9:50 a.m. Readers will need to scroll down to that specific comment.

In this Sunday’s front page, above-the-fold Coeur d’Alene Press story headlined Votes questioned, staff writer Tom Hasslinger begins to identify the evidence on which elector Jim Brannon has based his contest of the November 3, 2009, Coeur d’Alene City election.  After reading Press reporter Hasslinger’s meticulous article, readers will see why the City and County attorneys have been trying so hard to keep the mounting evidence out of court and away from the public view.

Press reporter Hasslinger has raised an equally important issue the public should consider:  Why is private citizen Jim Brannon forced to hire an attorney and a top-notch firm of private investigators to uncover violations of state voting laws?  The Coeur d’Alene City Clerk is very well paid.  The Kootenai County Clerk is very well paid.  The Coeur d’Alene City Attorney and Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney are very well paid.  The Idaho Secretary of State is very well paid.  The Idaho Attorney General is very well paid.  All of their agencies have taxpayer-funded budgets to assure honest elections in Idaho.  Yet Jim Brannon, private citizen,  is forced to hire an attorney and private investigators to unwind the November 3, 2009, election snafu?  What is wrong with our public officials?

Really?  You believed the marginal news and tabloid gossip blogs when they said Jim Brannon’s election contest was over?  As Molly used to say to Fibber, ” ‘Tain’t so, McGee!”

In fact, more and more people are beginning to “Get it.”  True, the contest lawsuit is about restoring honest and competently administered elections to Kootenai County, a condition that has been sadly neglected for many years.  But as Jim Brannon and his attorney Starr Kelso recognized from Day One, this contest has statewide impact. (more…)