Message-ID: <27523971.1075842055756.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 18:57:00 -0800 (PST) From: eleader@mail.echampions2000.com To: gwhalle@ect.enron.com Subject: Important Election Update Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: eLeader@mail.echampions2000.com X-To: gwhalle@ect.enron.com X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Lawrence_Whalley_Nov2001\Notes Folders\Connect deletes X-Origin: WHALLEY-G X-FileName: gwhalley.nsf Contents: 1) Note from Don Evans www.bushcheneytransition.com 2) Comments from US Supreme Court Justice Scalia 3) Comments from Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Wells ______________________________________________ Greetings Friends, The election results in Florida have been certified in accordance with Florida state law and the rulings of the Florida Supreme Court, and Governor Bush and Secretary Cheney have won that state's 25 electoral votes. It is now time to get on with the business of organizing a new administration. In order to begin that task, we have filed articles of incorporation for the Bush/Cheney Presidential Transition Foundation, a non-profit corporation. As past transition foundations have done, we are applying for 501(c)(4) status from the Internal Revenue Service. Now we are asking for your help as our team moves forward with plans for an orderly transition process in the short period between now and inauguration day, January 20, 2001. While the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended in 1988, specifically authorizes public funds for transitions, it also makes provisions for raising contributions from private sources to help defray transition-related expenses. This has been done previously, most recently in 1992. We are now soliciting contributions from our most active supporters. Would you please visit our new transition website at www.bushcheneytransition.com and make a contribution on our secure server. We have made the decision to accept contributions only from individuals. No corporate or political action committee contributions will be accepted. Contributions may not exceed $5,000 per person or $10,000 per couple, and all contributors, in compliance with Governor Bush's position of full-disclosure of financial contributions, will be posted on the transition website on a real-time basis. These contributions will not count against an individual's annual political contribution federal giving limit of $25,000. The American voters have spoken, and we are moving forward to establish a government that will unify our country and make the common principles we share as Americans our first priority. If you have questions, please contact the Transition Foundation's finance office at 512-344-3722. All other transition inquiries should be directed to our office in McLean, VA at (703) 918-2900. Your support of the Bush/Cheney Presidential Transition Foundation is deeply appreciated. Sincerely, Donald L. Evans Board of Directors www.bushcheneytransition.com Bush/Cheney Presidential Transition Foundation, Inc. Paid for by Bush/Cheney Presidential Transition Foundation, Inc. ______________________________________________ 2) Comments from US Supreme Court Justice Scalia "One of the principal issues in the appeal we have accepted is precisely whether the votes that have been ordered to be counted are, under a reasonable interpretation of Florida law, 'legally cast vote[s].' The counting of votes that are of questionable legality does in my view threaten irreparable harm to petitioner, and to the country, by casting a cloud upon what he claims to be the legitimacy of his election. Count first, and rule upon legality afterwards, is not a recipe for producing election results that have the public acceptance democratic stability requires." "Another issue in this case, moreover, is the propriety, indeed the constitutionality, of letting the standard for determination of voters' intent- dimpled chad, hanging chads, etc.- vary from county to county, as the Florida Supreme court opinion, as interpreted by the Circuit Court, permits. If petitioner [Bush] is correct that counting in this fashion is unlawful, permitting the count to proceed on that erroneous basis will prevent an accurate recount from being conducted on a proper basis later, since it is generally agreed that each manual recount produces a degradation of the ballots, which renders a subsequent recount inaccurate." Click here to review the Order of the US Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, Saturday, 12-9-2000 http://mail.echampions2000.com/GoNow/a14064a27877a56615396a2 ______________________________________________ 3) Comments from Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Wells DISSENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES J. WELLS "I...believe that the majority's decision cannot withstand scrutiny which will certainly immediately follow under the United States Constitution." Excerpt: "I want to make it clear at the outset of my separate opinion that I do not question the good faith or honorable intentions of my colleagues in the majority. However, I could not more strongly disagree with their decision to reverse the trial court and prolong this judicial process. I also believe that the majority's decision cannot withstand the scrutiny which will certainly immediately follow under the United States Constitution." "My succinct conclusion is that the majority's decision...has no foundation in the law of Florida as it existed on November 7, 2000, or at anytime until the issuance of this opinion. The majority returns the case to the circuit court for this partial recount of under-votes on the basis of unknown or, at best, ambiguous standards with authority to obtain help from others, the credentials, qualifications, and objectivity of whom are totally unknown. That is but a first glance at the imponderable problems that the majority creates." "This case has reached the point where finality must take precedence over continued judicial process. I agree with a quote from John Allen Paulos, a professor of mathematics at Temple University, when he wrote that, "[t]he margin of error in this election is far greater than the margin of victory, no matter who wins." Further judicial process will not change this self-evident fact and will only result in confusion and disorder. Justice Terrell and this Court wisely counseled against such a course of action sixty-four years ago. I would heed that sound advice and affirm Judge Sauls." Click here to review the Florida Supreme Court Opinion in Gore v. Harris, Friday, December 8, 2000 http://mail.echampions2000.com/GoNow/a14064a27877a56615396a0 ______________________________________________ If you wish to unsubscribe from the eChampion mailing list, follow this link: http://mail.echampions2000.com/GoNow/a14064a27877a56615396a1 To become an eChampion follow this link: http://mail.echampions2000.com/GoNow/a14064a27877a56615396a3 Paid for by Bush-Cheney Presidential Transition Foundation, Inc.