GOP Loses Request in Governor Dispute

WENATCHEE, Wash., Jan. 20 -- A judge refused to speed up the Republican challenge to the bitterly disputed Washington governor's election, handing a small victory to Democrats on Thursday.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge John E. Bridges ruled that the case will go forward but not on the expedited schedule proposed by Republicans.

"The old maxim that justice delayed is justice denied has a corollary: Justice hurried is justice denied," Bridges said.

But, the judge also denied a request by Democrats to delay discovery -- the gathering of evidence -- until the court considers the underlying constitutional issues in the dispute.

The hearing came eight days after Democrat Gov. Christine Gregoire was sworn into an office that she first seemed to have lost to Republican Dino Rossi. A hand recount of 2.9 million votes gave Gregoire a 129-vote margin of victory, and the Republicans are challenging the result.

Bridges will hear motions by the Democrats and county officials to dismiss the case Feb. 4.

The heart of the Republicans' challenge is that mistakes during the vote-counting forever obscured the true results of the November election, and the only just remedy is another statewide vote.

Neither Rossi nor Gregoire attended. Gregoire remained in Olympia, working to establish her authority as governor. Rossi traveled to the nation's capital for President Bush's inauguration.

No matter what Bridges eventually rules, the case will likely be appealed.

The Republicans want to question election officials under oath and investigate voter records. Bridges heard from a number of attorneys for different counties that the Republicans' requests were too burdensome, especially for small counties that don't have the resources to produce all the information requested.