[priv8ter]

So, out here in Washington, our Governor's race is still undecided. For most of the last week or so, the Democrat, Christine Gregoire has been leading by a few thousand votes. But, last night the news announced that the Republican candidate, Dino Rossi, had the lead by 3000 votes. There are still about 150,000 absentee and 'provisional' ballots left to count, and both sides claim they are from counties where they are leading.

With all that, it's pretty much guarenteed that there will be a recount.

So where do I stand in all this?

Well, as a small 'l' libertarian, I voted Badnarik for president. It didn't really matter here as big of a lead as Kerry had. But...I did vote Republican for George Nethercutt(US Senate) and for Rossi as Governor. I could find very little input about Rossi's position on firearms issues, but given how Democratic leaning Washington is, I felt it couldn't hurt to vote Republican in what promised to look like a close race for Governor. Unfortunetaly, the race for Senate wasn't as close as I was hoping it would be.

So where am I going with this? I don't know...just that you CAN vote your conscience AND do what is right at the same time, I guess.

greg

[Henry Bowman]

As a former Puget Sound resident, I am very interested in and closely watching this race. Please keep us posted. Any local skuttlebutt not reported nationally would be appreciated.

[priv8ter]

The only real brouha so far was yesterday when Rossi held a news conference to announce he had his transition team assembled. The local news and Democrats where all over how this was premature. But then, given much less coverage, and smaller words in the news paper, was how Christine Gregoire had done the same thing the day before. :rolleyes:

greg

[Bobarino]

i voted for Rossi also. McKenna has won the AG spot so if Rossi wins (fingers crossed) then we'll have a republican AG and governor but unfortunately, the house and senate are still (D). bummer. i was hoping put my neighbor, Kastama out of work.

WA is pretty good with firearms laws. i just wish we could have SBR's, supressors, and MG's. fat chance that will happen any time soon.

Bobby

[Langenator]

Maybe if you could get Tim Eyman on it. :evil:

From what I've seen, it looks like Gregoire was ahead in only 6 or 7 counties-King, Snohomish, Thurston, whatever one Vancouver is in, and a couple others on the Olympic peninsula. If it weren't for King County, she wouldn't have a chance (and neither would any other Democrat candidate for statewide office, for that matter.) Washington is kind of like the country as a whole that way.

[Henry Bowman]

What are Gary Locke's plans? Surely he won't be satisfied to stop inflicting socialism onto others and disappear into the private sector.

[Old Dog]

I'm not sure it's gonna matter which counties the absentee ballots are from ... if I'm not mistaken, most of the absentee ballots will be from military personnel and persons working abroad, most of which should tend to be from voters of the -- shall we say -- conservative bent. Probably a smattering of ballots from students abroad, but I'd bet Rossi's lead widens a bit. Of course, I'm being optimistic and could be totally wrong if most of the rest of the ballots outstanding are from King, Pierce and Kitsap counties ...

Hopefully Gary Locke will keep his promise and just fade off into the sunset to raise his children and enjoy his spare time with Mona ...

[UnknownSailor]

Rossi +1 voter reporting in!

I'm rooting for Dino to win. It's too bad that Osama Mamma won again, though. :mad:

[pax]

...if I'm not mistaken, most of the absentee ballots will be from military personnel and persons working abroad...
Actually, Lewis County (and probably several others) went to required absentee voting this election. As far as I know, the only place where you could cast a ballot on election day was down at the county courthouse.

I really, really hate the required absentee ballots, for a whole bunch of reasons. (Hmmm, maybe I'll start a thread on it...)

Anyway, like priv8er, I am a libertarian who voted for Rossi. I knew the governor's vote was going to be close, and that the Dems would cakewalk into both houses -- so my vote for the Republican was a vote for gridlock.

Rossi on gun rights is pretty good. Better by what he's done than by what he's said, but pretty good.

pax

[SAG0282]

Another Rossi supporter here.....I've been watching this race very closely. I'll be VERY happy if he defeats Ms. Gregoire.

[Old Dog]

Actually, Lewis County (and probably several others) went to required absentee voting this election. As far as I know, the only place where you could cast a ballot on election day was down at the county courthouse.

Yep, staunchly Republican counties, too ... Lewis County went 65% for both Bush and Rossi.

As of last night, Rossi's lead was about 3,500 votes.
(from this morning's P.I.):
Among the 85,000 estimated ballots left to count, only about 31,000 are in the seven counties where Gregoire leads, including King County, where she leads by nearly 150,000 votes. However, while Rossi leads in 32 counties, his margin varies widely. In Grays Harbor, for instance, he leads by only 165 votes.

Among large Rossi-leaning counties, 9,200 ballots remain in Pierce County, 8,000 in Snohomish, 7,400 in Spokane and 5,600 in Clark.

Very, very interesting election.

[commygun]

In political terms Washington is an interesting state. While apparently a
blue state (because King County refuses to slide into the Sound) it has
very good gun laws, or perhaps an absence of very bad ones. Many of
the liberals I know are more of the left-libertarian variety than the more
customary statist type, and are reluctant to support Gregoire who is
widely perceived as in the pocket of trial lawyers and an overbearing
nanny to boot. I've actually been startled to see Kerry and Rossi bumper
stickers/yard signs on the same vehicle/lawn. My brother is Gregoire's
IS director and thinks she's great. He's a great guy but I can't stomach his
boss under any circumstances. Another Lewis County voter for Rossi.

[Langenator]

Another interesting bit...

Libertarian Presidential candidate Badnarik got just over 11,000 votes.

Libertarian candidate for governor Bennett got almost 60,000 votes.

[Bobarino]

you had to know this was coming:



Democrats Sue King County Over Provisional Ballots

November 12, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


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SEATTLE - Washington state Democrats, fearful their candidate for governor might narrowly lose because of disputed ballots, on Friday sued election officials in the state's largest county.

The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court would block that county's election officials from discarding about 900 provisional ballots. Party officials said they hoped they could get a decision later in the day.

"We have one objective: Count every vote," said Paul Berendt, state party chairman.

Democrats demanded that King County stop discarding hundreds of provisional ballots and give the party - and the voters - a chance to fix technical problems, such as not signing the ballot envelope.

The move was criticized by Republicans, who said Democrats threatened to turn the close gubernatorial election into "another Florida."

As of Friday morning, the closest gubernatorial race in state history had Republican Dino Rossi leading Democrat Christine Gregoire by about 3,600 votes out of over 2.7 million counted.

Counties estimated they have about 85,000 ballots left to count, mostly provisional ballots such as those that are the subject of the Democrats' lawsuit. King County has about 25,000 ballots left to count, mostly provisionals.

Thus far, the county has declined to count about 900 provisional ballots because they did not include a proper signature. The voters were being notified of the deficiency and have until Tuesday to submit the proper signature verification.

Republicans were chasing similar problems in some of the counties where Rossi is winning; Democrats want the same access in King, but the elections office has declined to release lists of voters.

Provisional ballots are primarily those cast away from a voter's home precinct or involve disputed registration.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------

if at first you don't succeed, sue, sue again.

Bobby

[George S.]

So why didn't the Dems file the suit when Gregoire was ahead? :scrutiny: :rolleyes:

[Langenator]

Also note the lack of any suit in, say, Spokane County.

Although I must say, someone, somewhere, is doing things wrong.

Either Federal Law says that rejected ballot info can't be given to the parties, and a bnuch of other counties are wrong for giving that info out,

-or-

King County was wrong for not giving it out.

I don't know enough of the facts to figure it out. Paging Henry Bowman...

[Henry Bowman]

I don't know the answer, Lagenator, although it is probably a matter of state law rather than federal law. Either way, it seems odd that you can "correct" an incorrectly submitted absentee ballot after election day. Even more odd that the parties would be allowed to track down voters to correct their ballot. If I have some time today, I will scan the RCW on voting.

[George S.]

Wouldn't be suprised to see the Dem's file suit in other counties where there is an issue with contested ballots. It's funny that last night Gregoire got to within 900 votes of Rossi and now he has pulled away again with close to a 2K vote lead this morning.

The decision was only from a King County Superior Court judge. If the Republicans decide to appeal the ruling, the election results may not be known for months.

I still don't understand the whole concept of a "provisional" ballot. Either you are registered to vote or you're not. The elections board has a responsibility to the candidates and issues to provide up-to-date and accurate voter registration lists at the polls. In this world of high technology, there is absolutely no reason why accurate data is not available.

This provisional crap sound more like a "Mulligan" in golf. If you screw a shot up you get another chance without incurring an extra stroke. It should not be anywhere close to that concept when you vote. Absentee ballots are fine but if you go to the polls and your name isn't there, too bad. Complain to the elections board or voter registrar.

And names and addresses on a voter registation list should be secret. If for some reason, I choose not to vote at an election of any type or for any issue, that's MY business and I would pretty much dump all over somebody who called me to ask why I didn't vote. If I screw up my ballot, that's my fault and I'll live with that. I can take responsibility for my actions right or wrong. I certainly don't need a Democrat (or a Republican for that matter) to ask what my intentions were or to tell me I need to "correct" something.

WA law provides for a re-count if the difference is less than 2000 votes so I'm sure we'll see this political posturing for weeks to come. It's not needed. Gregoire should concede if the numbers don't show here as even being close to winning. It would be the right thing to do and maybe even show a little bit of class. But I wouldn't be suprised if the Democratic party is telling her not to. This may be more about the party than the person or the office.

[Rant OFF]

[priv8ter]

So, as of 7:25PM, Dino Rossi has a 19 vote lead out of over 2.7 Million votes counted.

It is kind of interesting how in the race for governor more people voted Libertarian than for President. That might help us here though, because Washington is one of those states were more libertarian voters lean left than right.

The vote is due to be certified tomorrow, but then the recount starts...

greg

[pax]

The 10,000 votes that King County 'discovered' recently certainly made things more interesting...

pax

[Langenator]

The 10,000 votes that King County 'discovered' recently certainly made things more interesting...

I heard something similar happened in 2000 with the race between Cantwell and Gorton for Senate...King County 'found' something like 4,000 ballots with just a couple days left before the deadline.

As Alice said, curiouser and curiouser...

[Bobarino]

as of this morning at 10:01 am:

Candidate Incumbent Votes Vote %

Dino ROSSI - 1,367,464 - 48%

Christine GREGOIRE - 1,367,400 - 48%

Ruth BENNETT - 63,068 - 2%


they don't get much closer than this. vote counts are supposed to be completed and certified by 5pm today. if there is less than a 2,000 vote difference, a recount is required by law.

Bobby

[Henry Bowman]

Wow! That is amazing! One of them has Bennett to thank.

[pax]

One of them has Bennett to thank.
Not necessarily. Washington's Libertarians are pretty well evenly divided between left-leaning and right-leaning.

(But if I had to guess, I'd suspect that the Libertarians drew more from the Dems than from the Republicans this time around.)

pax

[Bobarino]

as of 3:53pm Rossi is up by 415 votes. if its lesss than 150 difference, there must be a HAND recount. if its more than 150, but less than 2000, then it will be a machine recount. one hour left until all counties must certify their results. quite the nail biter.

Bobby

[George S.]

At 4:45, Gregoire leads by 45 votes :eek: The Sec'y of State says he will call for a recount that will begin this Saturday. If the final tally is within 150 votes, there will be a hand count.

[Bobarino]

her lead is down to 28 votes as of 4:58pm. the suspense is KILLING ME!

Bobby

[George S.]

5:20 PM and it's 4 votes!!

[JustsayMo]

Rossi up by 261 @ 7:04

[priv8ter]

So, it's officially Rossi in a land-slide! 261 votes! The papers are calling him the Governor elect, but now the recounts are starting. Luckily, Rossi won by enough that it's a computer recount and not a hand recount.

greg

[Langenator]

And Washington may very well have the first governor in the United States named Dino. :D

[priv8ter]

The recount has been certified, out of 2.8 million people, Mr. Dino Rossi has won the election.

But...

The Democrats can still call for a hand recount, IF they are willing to pay for it. The cost comes out to something like 25 cents a vote, or roughly $700,000 if they want the whole state done. Right now, the Democrats are hemming and hawing, saying they may just request a few precincts, to see if it looks like it will change anything.

For now at least though, Washington has a Republican Governor.

greg

[Langenator]

They're vacillating between asking for a recount only in places where they have a decent chance of picking up some more votes (ie, King County) and looking like Gore 2000, or asking for the whole state, which will cost a good bit of money.

Even Gov. Locke says that if they want a another recount, it should be the whole state.

[Shooter973]

I just got an E-mail form the Democrat party asking me for funds to allow them to get a re-count !!! They said that they needed $750,000 to get a full recount! Why don't they ask John Kerry for some of the money he has left over from his failed bid for Pres.? I'm not a Democrat but I'm on their E-mail list, under a false name, as they wouldn't like my real log-in name. All election season, all they ever asked was for money, never my opionion or views just money. What a joke !!! :) :p :rolleyes:

[Bobarino]

''Why don't they ask John Kerry for some of the money he has left over from his failed bid for Pres.? ''

ask and ye shall receive......



Gregoire Tells Democrats To Recount Whole State, Or None

December 2, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


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SEATTLE - Democrat Christine Gregoire on Thursday urged her party to order a statewide hand recount of the 2.8 million votes for governor, and not just selected counties.

"My request of the state Democratic Party is simple: Count the entire state or don't count at all," she said in a statement released by her campaign office. "Counting every vote is the only right thing to do."

The party had no immediate response. Democrats are expected to order either a full statewide recount or a partial count on Friday.

Gregoire, 57, the three-term attorney general, trailed Republican rival Dino Rossi, 45, a former state Senate power, by just 42 votes after a mandatory recount was certified this week.

The campaign and party have been under pressure to count the full state, rather than "cherry pick" selected counties to try to overturn the election. Outgoing Gov. Gary Locke and other elected officials, as well as many newspaper editorial pages, have urged the party to count all 6,686 precincts.

Gregoire has previously said she preferred a statewide count, and on Thursday, she made it clear to the party that it's the only proper choice.

"I know it would be cheaper for the party to do a limited hand recount," she said. "And I know it would be possible to just count a few counties and put me in the lead.

"That doesn't work for the voters of our state. From the beginning, this has been about getting all the votes counted so we can know for sure who won the governor's race. ...

"Right now, the governor-elect's office sits empty in Olympia. The only way to fill it will be to have a statewide hand recount.

"In the meantime, both Senator Rossi and I are working on our transition and assembling an administration. Once the race is over, the winner will be able to take office with confidence. It may take a little while longer, but it's worth a few weeks to have four years of legitimacy."

State Democratic Party officials did not immediately return telephone calls. The party has been scrambling to assemble more than $1 million to pay for a full manual recount.

The recount costs at least 25 cents a ballot, or more than $700,000 for a statewide count. The party said the cost would exceed $1 million after legal bills and staff costs are added.

The fund-raising drive got a big boost when the party's unsuccessful presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry, donated $250,000 of his leftover campaign funds to the effort.

On Wednesday, state Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt said it still wasn't clear whether the party would reach its financial goal by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline for ordering a full or partial recount.

The party has been studying which counties to include if a full recount isn't possible. The state's largest county, King, would be a likely target, since Gregoire carried the county by more than 150,000 votes.

Rossi has been urging Gregoire to concede, since he won both the regular count, by 261 votes, and the machine recount, by 42 votes.

[George S.]

Even some of the local papers that lean toward the Demo side are hinting that Gregoire should not hit this too hard. Part of the problem is that if the vote totals go the other way by a few votes, the Republicans will try for a recount. None of this will be good fore either party.

If the Dems ask for a hand recount in a few counties, the state must pay for a full state-wide recount so the dems are simply trying to buy this election. According to Gov. Locke, the state may be up to 1.6 Billion in the red in the coming biennium and this burden will be shifted to the taxpayers.

A recent interview of Ms Gregoire had her commenting that this is still a tie and nobody had won. Sorry lady, this is not a tie. You were behind by 261 votes the first time and are still behind by 42 votes the second time. You lost. Twice. The WA Secretary of State certified the recount and declared Mr. Rossi the winner. Deal with it. Try again in 4 years.

I'm not a fan of either candidate nor am I proclaiming to be a Republican or Democratic party faithful. It's time to get past this and the Dems have to quit trying to buy this election.

[Henry Bowman]

WOW! :what: That is close!

[Bobarino]

things are looking.



Supreme Court Says No To Dems' Recount Suit

December 14, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


OLYMPIA - The state Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected the Democratic Party's request that previously rejected absentee and provisional ballots be included in the hand recount of Washington state's contested governor's race.

Republican Dino Rossi won the Nov. 2 election by 261 votes and held a 42-vote lead over Democrat Christine Gregoire after the first, machine recount.

In a brief written opinion, the high court said that under Washington law, "ballots are to be 'retabulated' only if they have been previously counted or tallied" - excluding those that had been disqualified by canvassing boards.

The decision does not affect the 561 uncounted ballots in King County that were discovered Sunday to have been wrongly rejected because of mistakes by election workers. Those ballots go to a canvassing board Wednesday for verification and could tip the delicate balance of the election toward Gregoire, who claimed 58 percent of the vote in the Democratic stronghold that includes Seattle.

"The most likely outcome is Dino wins the hand recount, but we continue to worry about what's next in King County," said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance.

The state Democratic Party filed its lawsuit with the Supreme Court the same day it demanded a hand recount, which began last week. As of Monday night, with 24 of the state's 39 counties completing their hand recounts, Rossi had gained 46 additional votes.

The lawsuit sought to force county officials to reconsider ballots that had been rejected - most notably in King County. Some weren't counted, for example, because the voter's signature on a mail-in ballot did not match the signature on file and the voter didn't correct the record by the deadline.

"We are mindful that King County rejected a higher percentage of signatures than did other counties," justices wrote, but noted that it was not clear why that was the case.

Vance praised the ruling.

"We thought all along we had the law on our side, but it's good to see it actually happen," Vance said. "It would have created complete and utter chaos if they had gone the other way."

Officials with the Democratic Party and Gregoire's campaign did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

David Burman, attorney for the Democrats, has estimated that about 3,000 ballots were wrongly rejected and should be included in the hand recount. Two-thirds are in King County.

The secretary of state's office, county auditors, Rossi and the state Republican Party fought the motion in court. State law defines a recount as re-tabulating the valid ballots, not dredging up ballots that have already been considered and rejected, they contended.

hopefully, the third time is a charm.

Bobby

[pax]

My email box is full of pleas from WA state Republicans and gun owners' groups -- they want volunteers to go down to the county courthouses and watch over people's shoulders as the ballots are counted yet again. I'm not immune to the pleas, but I think that's a waste of time. When this election is stolen, it'll be at a much higher level than the dweebs hand-counting the votes.

It'll be another 10,000 votes King County elections officials "discover," or another batch of "mistakenly disqualified" ballots, or maybe just a pile of ballots someone found in his garage somewhere, or some damn thing.

pax

[Henry Bowman]

When is the hand count expected to be finished?

[Bobarino]

results are due Dec 23rd. of course there were 573 ballots magically found in King County. dems are attempting to validate them and have them counted. figures.

Bobby

[DaVinci42]

results are due Dec 23rd. of course there were 573 ballots invalidated by mistakemagically found in King County. dems are attempting to validate them and have them counted. figures.

Fixed that for you. :neener:

[c_yeager]

results are due Dec 23rd. of course there were 573 ballots magically found in King County. dems are attempting to validate them and have them counted. figures.

Talk about fishy. The guy who "discovered" these ballots (they were all absentee) was a councilman who voted absentee due to the fact that he was busy campaigning for Kerry. Apparently he (along with 573 other people out hundreds of thousands) couldnt figure out how to apply his signature to a ballot. I am so glad that we elect these rocket scientists.

[DaVinci42]

Half of western washington voted absentee because they were too busy campaigning for Kerry, or because they didn't trust electronic voting machines, or they were working. It wasn't the councilman who couldn't figure out how to match a signature anyways, it was some stressed-out ballot counters who threw the envelopes, unopened, into the wrong bin, without getting a second opinion on the signatures like they were supposed to. Don't punish the voters just because somebody at the elections office dropped the ball.

[c_yeager]

Half of western washington voted absentee because they were too busy campaigning for Kerry, or because they didn't trust electronic voting machines, or they were working. It wasn't the councilman who couldn't figure out how to match a signature anyways, it was some stressed-out ballot counters who threw the envelopes, unopened, into the wrong bin, without getting a second opinion on the signatures like they were supposed to. Don't punish the voters just because somebody at the elections office dropped the ball.

It was the councilman who "discovered" the problem by finding his name on a list of invalidated ballots. And strangely enough when I voted I didnt see any electronic machines. It was the same fill in the circle ballot that I've seen for ages.

[priv8ter]

I know I may catch some grief for saying this, this being a democratic country and all, but:

If you can't figure out how to fill a ballot out, then I don't care if your vote doesn't count.

That's one of the main issues in this election, and most of the contested ones nation wide. All these lawyers are squaking about making each vote count, so in some places(Like King County) the election boards are 'interpreting' what people meant, and remarking the ballots for them so their votes can count.

Poppycock.

If you are not intelligent enough, or attention to detail oriented enough(Because it's not all stupidity) to vote correctly, then your vote SHOULD NOT COUNT.

greg

[Bobarino]

more good news!



Another Strange Twist In Recount

December 17, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


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SEATTLE - With Washington state in the middle of a recount of its amazingly close governor's race, election officials in Seattle's King County searched a warehouse Friday and found plastic trays containing 150 misplaced ballots.

The discovery brings the number of belatedly discovered ballots to 723 in the heavily Democratic county - potentially enough to swing the election to Democrat Christine Gregoire.

Republican Dino Rossi won the Nov. 2 election over Gregoire by 261 votes in the first count and by 42 after a machine recount of the 2.9 million ballots cast. On Thursday, with every county except King, Pierce and Spokane reporting, Rossi had pulled ahead by 74 votes.

Bill Huennekens, King County elections superintendent, said the 150 ballots, like the 573 other ballots found earlier this week, were mistakenly rejected because there was a problem with how the voters' signatures had been scanned into the county's computer system. The trays containing ballots from voters with last names beginning with A, B and C were apparently overlooked because they were under other trays, Huennekens said.

Election workers, along with observers from the political parties, searched a locked cage inside the south Seattle warehouse where ballots are kept.

"It is a serious mistake we made, but we are going to do the right thing for the citizens of King County," Huennekens said.

Officials became curious because none of the 573 ballot envelopes contained names beginning with the letters A or B, and only two started with C. That prompted Friday's search.

King County election officials want to count the ballots, which they say are valid votes. Democrats want the ballots counted, too.

"If these votes had been counted originally, Christine Gregoire would probably be our governor right now," said Lisa Cohen, a spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party's recount effort. "We have to correct errors, that's the whole point of the recount."

Republicans want those ballots to stay rejected - or at the very least, they want King County to investigate further before adding them to the mix.

"We want to get some answers about these very suspicious ballots," Republican State Party Chairman Chris Vance said Thursday.

The GOP will ask a judge Friday to block King County from counting the votes. Specifically, they are seeking a temporary restraining order to stop elections workers from taking the newly discovered ballots out of their outer envelopes, which bear the voter's signature.

Vance said removing the envelopes would make it far more difficult to determine where the ballots came from, whether they were stored correctly and why they were not counted previously.

Huennekens said Friday the county will not separate any ballots from their security envelopes until the lawsuit it decided.

Zach Oaks, 22, whose ballot is among the 723 newly discovered ballots, watched as King County election workers searched on Friday. He said he has about 50 percent confidence that his vote will be counted.

"What makes my vote any less important than anyone else's?" he asked. "I did everything right. It's really pretty ridiculous."

County election workers continued their search of the paper voter registration files to find the signatures of the 573 voters. By Thursday afternoon they had found 311 signatures, Huennekens said.

The King County Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet again Monday to decide whether to count the previously rejected absentee ballots, including those found Friday, after they are verified.

The board will also decide the fate of 22 other uncounted ballots, found this week in the side bins of plastic base units in which polling machines sit.

All ballots should have been logged on Election Night and returned in a sealed bag to election headquarters, but these 22 apparently weren't. They've been sitting unsecured at various polling places since the election.

The hand recount is expected to finish by Dec. 22, though there's no deadline set in state law. The governor's inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 12.


Bobby

[Henry Bowman]

Maybe Spokane and Pierce Counties can find some ballots, too. :evil:

[carebear]

priv8ter,

You're exactly right. Voting isn't rocket science. You read the instructions, look at the pretty little example of the correct way to fill it out and cast the dang thing.

If you x a box that should be filled in completely, you are by definition a moron and shouldn't be trusted with the franchise. If you can't be bothered to update your voter info in time, or mail your ballot in time or sign it where it says to sign, you are careless and/or stupid. You have all the time in the world to request an absentee ballot, elections are hardly secret or pop quizzes. You can mail an absentee at your leisure, months in advance. You have all the time in the world when you are in the booth. You should schedule your day so you aren't in a hurry.

Why is counting patently invalid votes (not proper ones mistakenly lost) even an issue?

[Langenator]

Judge Grants Motion To Block Vote Recount (http://www.kirotv.com/politics/4007321/detail.html)

TACOMA, Wash. -- A judge Friday granted a state Republican Party request to block the counting of hundreds of recently discovered King County ballots in Washington's incredibly close governor's race.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend's decision hinged on whether it was simply too late for counties to reconsider ballots from the November election, even if such ballots were erroneously rejected by election workers.

From reading state law and state Supreme Court decisions, "it is clear to me that it is not appropriate to go back and revisit decisions on whether ballots should or should not be counted," Arend said.

State Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt said the party would appeal the decision.

"We're going to fight for every vote to count in the state of Washington," he said. "I guess we're headed to the (state) Supreme Court."

King County Elections Director Dean Logan said the county also planned to appeal.

"These are legitimate voters who cast legitimate ballots," he said. "It's just a travesty if we do not include these ballots."

Republican Dino Rossi won the Nov. 2 election over Democrat Christine Gregoire by 261 votes in the first count and by 42 after a machine recount of the 2.9 million votes.

State Republican Party spokeswoman Mary Lane said the judge made the right decision for Washington state.

"If King County were allowed to keep adding more ballots, elections would never end," Lane said.

As for those whose ballots aren't counted, she said: "That is King County's fault. We cannot be held responsible for the fact that King County made a mistake."

Friday afternoon, with all but two of Washington's counties reporting results of the hand recount, Rossi had picked up just one net vote over Gregoire. Pierce County's results shrank his overall lead from 74 to 43.

Interesting side note: the GOP took the suit to stop King County from doing anything with the newly discovered ballots to neighboring Pierce County, rather than filing the suit in King County court.

[Gray Peterson]

No, it was heard in King County Court, but it was a Pierce County judge who heard it due to conflict of interest issues.

[pax]

See, what'd I tell you? -- another batch of "mistakenly disqualified" ballots.

Glad the first judge did the right thing, but of course it's headed for the State Supreme Court. :rolleyes: Laws don't mean anything to these partisans when there's an election at stake.

I wonder if we'll have a Governor by the time Inauguration Day rolls around.

pax

To err is human. To blame someone else is politics. -- Hubert H. Humphrey

[Bobarino]

and the fun continues!

Democrats Say Gregoire Wins Recount By 8 Votes

December 21, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


OLYMPIA - The head of the state Democratic Party said late Tuesday that recount results from King County give Democrat Christine Gregoire an eight-vote victory in the closest governor's race in state history.

Neither King County nor the Republican party could confirm the hand recount results on Tuesday night. But if the Democrats' analysis is correct, it's a stunning reversal in the gubernatorial race, which has been hotly contested ever since election day.

Republican Dino Rossi won the first count by 261 votes and won a machine recount by 42 votes, out of 2.9 million ballots cast.

"We're confident Christine Gregoire has been elected the governor of the state of Washington," Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt said. "I believe Dino Rossi should concede."

Berendt and Democratic party officials reached their conclusion after crunching numbers supplied by King County. The county has finished tallying its 900,000 ballots, but election officials said they still need to reconcile differences in the precinct totals.

"We are not releasing our results until tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.," said King County Elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan, who confirmed that both parties received the recount data Tuesday.

Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane said Republicans are also looking at the data but had not drawn any conclusions. "It's just too close to call," she said.

The Rossi camp has said that if it lost the third count it might challenge the election in court, and Republicans were already preparing for a possible legal challenge. Gregoire had promised to concede if she lost the recount.

Berendt's contention that the race had been decided came one day before the state Supreme Court was to hear arguments on whether King County - which is solidly Democratic - should be allowed to add to its recount 700-plus ballots that weren't counted originally because of mistakes made by county election workers.

A Pierce County judge on Friday granted the state Republican Party's motion for a temporary restraining order to stop King County from counting those newly discovered ballots. King County, the state Democratic Party and the Secretary of State appealed the case to the state Supreme Court.

Seven justices will hear the case. Three of the regular nine justices are out of town on previously scheduled trips, and one temporary judge will join the court.

About 350 people gathered Tuesday in front of the Supreme Court to show support for Rossi at a rally sponsored by KVI-AM, a conservative talk-radio station.

The crowd chanted "No new votes!" and "No more fraud!" They held signs saying "Welcome to Ukraine" and wore orange, a tribute to the signature color of demonstrators in Ukraine who protested a fraud-marred election there.

[borderguy]

I certainly hope the skank doesn't win. At this point I can only hope for another vote, even though It would cost a bunch. I'm sure that democrats actions in this election would cause a landslide for Rossi.

[Bobarino]

Borderguy,


my thoughts exactly. i REALLY hope we have a run-off. Rossi has been cunducting himself very calmly and professionally and i think some folks are fed up with the antics of the Dems.

Bobby

P.S.

by the way, i'm enjoying the P-11 immensely. i added the 8.5 lb trigger spring, trigger shoe, 12 rd mag with pinky extension and a Hand-All slip on grip. great little shooter! the slide is going out soon for the hard chrome exchange. thanks again!

[priv8ter]

I heard this on the news this morning also. I am hoping Rossi pulls it out but...

Let's looks at it this way. If Rossi wins, what is he really going to get done working with a Democratic State Legislature?

If Gregoire wins, then maybe, four years from now when the state is even further in the toilet, a Republican will have a better chance of winning.

Maybe. Or, Maybe I'm just trying to find a silver lining to this dung-colored cloud.

greg

[Henry Bowman]

Wow! Never again can a Washingtonian say, "Why bother. My one vote won't make a difference." Will be interesting to see what the Sate Supremes do.

[M1911Owner]

Why is it that, when there is a recount, the vote appears to always to move in the Democratic direction?

Related to that, why is it that, on election night, the count so often starts out with the Republican in the lead, and ends up with the Democrat winning?

:confused:

[pax]

Let's looks at it this way. If Rossi wins, what is he really going to get done working with a Democratic State Legislature?
priv8er,

I voted for gridlock.

Most my neighbors did, too.

I realize that there are plenty of conservatives who were voting for -- well, who knows. Realistically, in this state, they couldn't have expected a Republican governor to do much of anything no matter how decisively he won the governorship.

pax

[Snake Eyes]

Why is it that, when there is a recount, the vote appears to always to move in the Democratic direction? Republicans cheat by "losing" Democrats votes

why is it that, on election night, the count so often starts out with the Republican in the lead, and ends up with the Democrat winning? It takes a lot of time to, ahem, dig up "elderly" (dead) Democrat voters and get them to the polls.

:neener:

(PS--Borderguy: Blaine? Custer? ooooh I remember some wild nights in Custer. Well, actually, I don't remember them, but my friends said they were pretty wild!)

[Bobarino]

the latest:

Supreme Court Says Count Disputed Ballots

December 22, 2004

By KOMO Staff & News Services


OLYMPIA - Washington state's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that more than 700 belatedly discovered ballots from Seattle's King County should be counted in the extraordinarily close governor's race - potentially enough to tip the balance in favor of Democrat Christine Gregoire.

King County is a Democratic stronghold, the biggest county in the state and the last to report results from the statewide hand recount that began Dec. 8.

The ruling was a boost to the Democrats, who even before the decision were claiming victory, saying their own analysis showed that even without the belated ballots, Gregoire had erased Republican Dino Rossi's slim lead and had won the race by just eight votes out of 2.9 million cast.

King County planned to release preliminary recount results Wednesday afternoon and certify results Thursday after counting the belated ballots that are deemed valid.

"There is a sacred American right to have legitimate votes counted," Gregoire said in a news release after the ruling. "The justices recognized that principle today."

Republicans said they will now seek out Rossi voters whose ballots were disqualified because of election workers' errors and fight to have those ballots counted as well.

"We'll be taking them to canvassing boards in counties across the state and asking those canvassing boards to review their decisions and to consider these ballots," Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane said.

At a hearing Wednesday morning before the high court, Republicans had argued that a recount should be a mere retabulation, and that it was too late for counties to go back and correct errors.

But the court unanimously said state law and previous court rulings specifically allow county canvassing boards to correct mistakes during a recount.

Justices questioned Republican claims that counting the votes would cause irreparable harm.

"You're looking at it from the point of view of the winner or the loser - shouldn't we be looking at it from the point of view of the voter?" asked Justice Susan Owens.

Democratic State Party Chairman Paul Berendt called on Republicans Tuesday to concede, "for the good of the state."

Not so fast, Republicans said.

"I don't think anyone will view Christine Gregoire as the legitimate governor" if she wins by a tiny margin in King County or because of the Supreme Court ruling, Lane said Wednesday before the court ruling was handed down. Republicans are already preparing to challenge the election results in court if Rossi loses.

The ruling was the latest twist in the roller-coaster race, which was supposed to have been settled seven weeks ago, on Election Day.

Gregoire, 57, a three-term attorney general, was the favorite going into the election against Rossi, 45, a real estate agent and former state senator.

On Election Day, Rossi squeaked past Gregoire by 261 votes. His lead was whittled to 42 votes in a subsequent machine recount. Democrats then paid for the hand recount.

During the hand recount, county workers found 573 ballots that elections officials say were mistakenly rejected because of a problem with how the voters' signatures had been scanned into the computer system. Workers then searched a warehouse and found 150 more overlooked ballots from voters with last names beginning with A, B and C.

State GOP spokesman Chris Vance called their discovery weeks after the election "very suspicious." And some Washington state residents who had calmly been watching the recount with confidence in their state's reputation for clean politics were starting to have their doubts.

Up until Wednesday, the 723 King County ballots had not been included in the hand recount, because a lower-court judge granted a Republican request to temporarily block the counting of those votes.

If the legal fighting does not produce a new governor by the scheduled Jan. 12 inauguration, lame-duck Gov. Gary Locke, a Democrat, may have to stick around. That is because of a provision of the state constitution that says the governor's term of office is four years "and until his successor is elected and qualified."

Locke has made it clear he is not interesting in hanging around.

[priv8ter]

Pax, I too voted for gridlock. Being libertatian minded, I would rather have the governor and legislature butting heads and getting nothing acomplished and no new laws passed, than a continuation of the Democratic agenda for another four years.

I was simply trying to find some sign of hope and something to look forward too in the next few years.

greg

[Sleeping Dog]

NPR was quoting a prediction: Dem by 8 votes. pretty close.

[dav]

What a mess.

How do you make it clear to politicians that they can win (buy) an election but still lose any respect anyone ever had for them? :banghead:

[alan]

I DON'T VOTE CAUSE MY VOTE DOESN'T COUNT. Anyone heard that lately?

[c_yeager]

Well they somehow managed to "find" enough votes to put Gregoire into a 130 point lead. She is now qouted as saying "The election is over" despite her her sanctimonious bleating about "counting every vote" despite the fact that there are more "desputed ballots" in Rossi dominated counties. Of course all of a sudden now the Rebulicans are talking about "counting every vote".

WHY is it difficult to add up a bunch of pieces of paper? Really, this should not be so complicated and the counts SHOULD come out the same every time.

[reagansquad]

Why is it that, when there is a recount, the vote appears to always to move in the Democratic direction?
Are you really prepared to listen to the answer?

Related to that, why is it that, on election night, the count so often starts out with the Republican in the lead, and ends up with the Democrat winning? Because rural counties have less people and report first.