The Register reports on Terri Schiavo & other top stories, incl. 2002 FLA Election problems not reported in "mainstream" media.

The Recount Lawsuit continues without Janet Reno
More FLA Elections Problems
This just in as of Tue. 16 Dec. 2003:
The Florida First District Court of Appeals has affirmed the lower court ruling. Appeals are planned.

The Fla. 1st DCA, in the case, Watts v Florida Dept of State, case number 1D02-5120, affirmed the lower court ruling in a per curium decision, without comment or a written opinion. (Browning, Hawkes, and Polston, JJ., concurring) Appeaing such cases without opinion is historically difficult, but The Register intends to continue digging for truth and avoid a "catch-22" scenario, where major media avoid coverage without an "upset" ruling - and the court refuses to look at the laws, issue an "upset," without pressure from the press.

Florida, not known for the wisest choices, even if technically legal, in regards to voting and elections, is hoping to avoid more embarrasment, but The Register believes that the laws are not solely for the rich and connected. Original Story Below:

http://HomeTown.AOL.com/Gww1210
FLORIDA'S INVESTIGATIVE NEWSPAPER VOLUME XII, Number 6 * $1.25
*___________*THE REGISTER*___________*
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Copyright � 2003 The Register TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2003 Printed in Lakeland, Fla. $1.25
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LAKELAND VOTER SAYS STATE DEPT DENIED MANDATORY RECOUNT
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From staff reports
LAKELAND, Fla. -- As Governor Bush heads into his seventh month in office, one disenfranchised Lakeland voter says he wants to continue to challenge his legitimacy.

Bush, popular second-term Florida Governor, easily beat Bill McBride with 61 percent of the vote back in November. Although pre-election polls had him in a tight race with McBride, he held a comfortable lead throughout election night. But still unresolved is a lawsuit filed September of last year by one voter -- Republican Gordon Watts of Lakeland.

Watts claims the State Department

Lakeland resident and non-lawyer Gordon Watts filed a lawsuit
on behalf of himself and other similarly situated Florida
voters/taxpayers in September of last year.

broke the state�s mandatory recount law by refusing to grant Democratic Gubernatorial Primary contestant, Janet Reno, a machine recount after she was defeated by less than one-half of a percent. His suit seeks a recount of the votes in that primary. The law requires an automatic statewide recount of the votes when one candidate is defeated by less than one-half percent of the votes cast -- as was done for Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential race in Florida.

Tallahassee Judge P. Kevin Davey refused to grant Watts an �immediate hearing� as state election law requires, and eventually dismissed the case.

Reno, now out of the public eye, had tried to obtain a recount but eventually gave up after almost a week following the state�s decision to deny her request. She could not be reached for comment.

Watts currently has two pending appeals in the First District Court of Appeal and the state�s Supreme Court.

�People shouldn't sue judges,� said George Waas, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Waas, who works directly for Attorney General Charlie Crist, is the attorney appointed by the state to represent Judge Davey, who is a defendant in Watts' suit.
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Please see VOTER, Page 6A

6A/ THE REGISTER * TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2003 * http://hometown.aol.com/gww1210

VOTER CONTINUES SUIT, SEEKS MEDIA EXPOSURE

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Continued From 1A
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The other defendant, Florida's Department of State, responsible for counting the state's votes, is represented by Jerry York. York had no comment when contacted by The Register.

Watts� situation is similar to that of former Vice President Al Gore. Gore, who requested manual recounts in selected precincts, was given a statewide machine recount after he was defeated by less than one-half of a percent. Watts, a registered Republican, claims that the "rule of law" should apply to Reno as well, in spite of the fact that she has given up her request for a statewide recount. �The law should apply equally to all, whether Democrat or Republican, and she should be given the mandatory machine recount like Al Gore was,� Watts said. �The State Department obviously thinks that they are above the law and not bound by the rules, but who else will they trample next if left unchecked?�

A survey performed by Watts claims that, with a 2.7 percent margin of error, 93 percent of voters want the election laws followed and news coverage given at any cost or, at the very least, if the costs don�t run into the millions.

Nonetheless, news coverage of this has been sparse, with press choosing instead to focus on lesser lawsuits, such as the resign-to-run suit against State Representative Kevin Ambler of Northwest Hillsborough County. Even though Ambler had resigned an elected post in the Northdale Special Tax District on October 18, there was news coverage in local television and print media long afterwards, with at least two articles appearing in the Tampa Tribune on October 25 and November 9 of last year. The four Tampa voters, who brought this suit against Ambler, eventually lost and decided not to appeal.

Watts is also seeking the impeachment or removal of Judge Davey: �This judge illegally refused me a hearing, and no one is above the law. While most people have forgotten about the election or were unaware that laws were broken, nonetheless, when told of it, most reported that all people should be given their day in court, and that the election laws should be followed -- because violation of voting laws -- or denial of the right to have your grievances heard in court -- strike at the very foundation of America�s principles and hurts everybody.�

The state House can impeach state judges, and, in certain circumstances, the governor or the state�s Supreme Court can remove a judge from office.

�And,� Watts added, �since most people with whom I�ve spoken want news coverage, I don�t understand why the news media has been so slow to report on this.�

The case number for Watts� Supreme Court suit is SC03-385, and that of the 1st DCA case is 1D02-5120. Both cases are styled Watts v. The Florida Department of State.
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*-_-* Gordon Watts can be contacted at Gww1210@aol.com for interviews or to make contributions to defray his lawsuit costs.

Click here for further details of past actions on this.

"First, they [Nazis] came for the Jews. I was silent. I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists. I was silent. I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists. I was silent. I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me. There was no one left to speak for me." (Martin Niemoller, given credit for a quotation in The Harper Religious and Inspirational Quotation Companion, ed. Margaret Pepper (New York: Harper &Row, 1989), 429 -as cited on page 44, note 17, of Religious Cleansing in the American Republic, by Keith A. Fornier, Copyright 1993, by Liberty, Life, and Family Publications.