File format conversion crisis delayed attempt to challenge US presidential election result
- Reference: 1609729267
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/04/file_format_conversion_crisis_delayed_trump_lawsuit/
- Source link:
The Register makes the latter suggestion after reading a pair of filings in the case of [1]JDK Gohmert et al v. Pence that saw congressman Gohmert ask the US District Court to change the role the vice-president plays in the tallying of electoral college votes. Today, that role is largely ceremonial. The suit sought to give the veep power to decide which electoral college votes should be counted, in the hope Pence would decide not to count some baselessly disputed votes and by doing so change the outcome of the presidential election.
But as Gohmert’s layers tried to make their case they hit a problem: the time needed to move documents from Google Docs to Microsoft Word file formats meant they could miss filing deadlines.
“During the course of preparation, Plaintiffs’ counsel have encountered numerous technical incompatibilities in the software versions between Google Docs and Microsoft Word resulting in editing difficulties and text problems,” says [2]one filing [PDF]. Plaintiffs therefore requested an extra hour to file their case. A second [3]filing [PDF] makes the same request. Both documents ask for an extra hour to finish the cut and paste job.
The requests were not opposed by the defendants and the court allowed the short delay.
File format turned out not to matter because the case was rejected on the basis that Gohmert and his fellow plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue the case, and that they’d sued the wrong target. The District Court said that as Congress made the rules that govern the Veep’s actions, any such action would need to target Congress.
At least the plaintiffs didn’t make things worse by [4]using Excel as a database . ®
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[1] https://ecf.txed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/DktRpt.pl?203073
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/01/04/gohmert_pence_filing_26.pdf
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/01/04/gohmert_pence_filing_27.pdf
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/05/excel_england_coronavirus_contact_error/
[5] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Don't suck the joy out of everything
2020 has not been a barrel of laughs so imagining the lame duck getting dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming has been one of the cheerful thoughts I use to put a smile back on my face. I think it is unlikely to happen because he will quietly run away on the 19th but there is no need to burn that little day-dream just yet.
Google Docs?
"At least the plaintiffs didn’t make things worse by using Excel as a database. ®"
Frankly, the idea that the plaintiffs would use their phones (or a Cromebook?) to put together their filing is far more troubling. Especially since any reputable (sane?) attorney would have known from the beginning what the filing requirements were. Doubly especially since they expect this to end up with the Supreme Court.
I wonder if the reason Trump's "legal" team hasn't been able to present any evidence of the bigly conspiracies is that it's all stored in WordPerfect?
Oh FFS give it up already.
You. Lost. ... You're Fired. ... You are the Weakest Link. ... You've been voted off the island. ... Pack your shit & get the fuck out of that chair.
Don't force the Secret Service to drag you kicking and screaming and throwing yet another temper tantrum out the front door, give you the old heave ho, and throw you out like last years garbage.
You'll already be remembered as the worst leader in recorded history so don't make it even more of a pyric end by proving you needed to be spanked, your toys taken away, and sat in a corner until your spoiled brat brain could figure out just why BEING a spoiled brat was A Bad Idea.
Not a good thing to say about a supposedly competent adult much less a sitting POTUS.