Rep. Rice Needs Our Help - It Ain't Over Till It's Over

It's not over for Amy Rice. Yes she won her election and her re-count, but her opponent filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court on Fri. The Supreme Court gave a very limited ruling. The BOE went back to the lower court today to get guidance on the unclear order. While the lower court ruled first that the rejected ballots could be copied for review, today the judge ruled that all mail ballots can get reviewed - although mail ballots normally get put though the machine. SO INSTEAD OF HER OPPONENT GETTING TO LOOK AT A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF BALLOTS, HE WILL NOW BE ABLE TO LOOK AT 349! And although Amy is up by 9 votes, if 5 votes are converted her opponent wins (barring him also losing votes).

On Wed. morning at 9 a.m. the Board of Elections will undertake the process of going through the ballots not only forDist.73, but for E. Prov. where the same court ordered process is taking effect. The problem is that the Board of Elections has all of the mails ballots together, 29k in 70 boxes. So they are going to have 12 stations where someone from their office will go through the boxes and look for Dist 72 & E. Prov, which they will allow us to review.

So Amy is asking for help. She needs a minimum of 12 (and some replacements for those who can't stay). All you need do is observe the election worker as they separate the Dist. 72 ballots from the rest as they are taken out of the box. If there is a ballot with markings on it, we need to note how many and what it was; i.e., circle, "X" . Sound like fun? Amy says she'll bring the joe & donuts. We can car pool from Aquidneck Island.

You can contact me eileen@spillaneforsenate.com or contact Amy at her office 683-6555.

Heck of a process, ain't it? P.S. Good thoughts sent her way help, too.