In a comment to my post on Bob Kerr’s column, Aldo writes:

Not so fast…..
Alves’ Election Appeal Update – Your taxes at work!
Quick update on the fiasco in the RI Supreme Court ….
All parties involved in Alves’ appeal were supposed to have submitted their briefs / supporting documentation by 4:30 on Friday as Justice Robinson was going to review it over the weekend.
On Monday morning, the news is that there has been a change, it’s now Justice Goldberg vice Robinson and she wanted a mtg of all the lawyers involved at the RI Supreme Court at 4PM.
Of note, Alves’ attorney failed to provide a copy of the transcript / tape of Board of Elections’ hearing as required by RI law. This alone should have been enough for her to deny his appeal.
Instead of denying Alves’ appeal, Goldberg apparently wants all 5 members of the RISC to rule on this.
The full court will discuss this matter in closed chambers on Thursday 9 Oct.
Why is the court even considering intervening in an election?
Remember, according to the law, this is only supposed to cover what transpired since the election. It seems as though Alves now wants to raise any issue he possibly can even though that is not in accordance with RI law.
What is going on here?
This is a travesty
Alves’ attorney didn’t even comply with RI law in submitting his appeal concerning the BOE hearing and now it seems that RI taxpayers are going to have to cover some of the cost of providing the information that Alves was required to submit.
How much are the taxpayers paying for this nonsense?
Don’t we have a budget problem?
In the interim, the Board of Elections will begin printing the other ballots.
If the Court rules in Alves’ favor, then the taxpayers would have to cover the cost of a new primary in November AFTER the General Election and another Election in December.
If I were a betting man, I’d say that they will grant him his request. Not based upon the law but because of political pressure….
They will find some excuse to defer to him but one has to ask if any other RI taxpayer would be accorded the same privileges that are being extended to Senator Alves.
And now for the latest. The Board of Elections will conduct another recount on Thursday 2 Oct.
There are a few questions though.
1. On whose authority?
2. What will be recounted?
3. If Goldberg issued a stay pending a review by the entire court, why is there another recount?
4. The law states that the appeal is to be based upon the evidence presented to date. Why is the BOE doing this?
Anyone really think that the RISC will not rule in Alves’ favor?

Add the increasingly probable bailout of Senator Alves to the as-yet unlit conflagration in Rhode Island.