1. That IS a day-maker, Shark. The praise is well-deserved.

Posted by: Michele on December 23, 2004 01:56 PM

2. Hi Stephan - I too was extremely impressed with your command of the facts and delivery. Sorry I didn't thank you sooner. Too hard to keep up with the latest corruption in KC. Thanks for all you do.

Posted by: CP on December 23, 2004 02:02 PM

3. make sure the postal carrier remains anonymous. postal carriers have been know to get into trouble for delivering "un-stamped, unofficial" documents (Christmas cards and the like) to folks on their routes.

Posted by: Kevin on December 23, 2004 02:08 PM

4. I see a lot of accusations, innuendo, and passion on this blog. What I don't see is facts or documentary evidence. If there is fraud in King County, it's up to you to prove it. You are making the accusations, after all.
The 735 ballots in King County were sealed and signed by voters who legaly cast their ballots. To not count them would be to strip their rights away.
Everything that has happened is within state law, so if no law has been broken, and no fraud proven, perhaps you should be more responsible and not jump to politicly convienent conclusions.
For example, homeless people should be able to vote, and I am glad to know that they did. Not all homeless people are crackheads you know. It seems your whole "1823" arguments are just an attak on homeless people.
Furthermore, some of your wildest accusations defy logic. For example, if King County wanted to tip the election in Gregoires favor, they would have counted the 735 ballots the first time around.
There is no doubt that King County made mistakes! However, they wanted to fix the mistakes, while republicans sued to prevent the mistakes from being fixed.

Posted by: Drew on December 23, 2004 02:49 PM

5. Drew,

You said: "Furthermore, some of your wildest accusations defy logic. For example, if King County wanted to tip the election in Gregoires favor, they would have counted the 735 ballots the first time around." I honestly believe that the Democrats thought they had the election in the bag. Who woulda figured that Dino Rossi would have had any chance at all? Heck, I am a Libertarian, and I voted for Rossi. I also voted for Adam Smith as our Congressman, a democrat. I believe the Dem's have shot themselves in the foot. They may have won the battle, but lost the war. This will end-up causing many Independents and fence-sitting democrats to look at other alternatives, mainly the Republican and Libertarian Candidates. I for one will have a hard time voting for any Democrat the next go round for sure!!

Posted by: Chrysostomos on December 23, 2004 03:28 PM

6. Drew, an underlying problem is that Washington election law is a leaky contraption. There are plenty of opportunities to vote twice. No one has to show basic identification when they vote. So every multiple voter dilutes your vote (assuming you vote) and mine. That's disenfranchisement. Precinct 1823 is a pig in a poke and doesn't make me comfortable at all.

Posted by: John Kutscher on December 23, 2004 03:32 PM

7. Fraud has not been proven ... yet, and it may never be. But, general incompetance and lack of oversight in King County for running a less than transparent election, is a definate given. Sure, they tried their best, but the only level of accuracy and fairness one can honestly be comfortable with in King County is plus or minus a 1000 votes (or maybe more).

King County sent out ballots late - to the residents and the military. They said it would never happen again, but it did. I chock it up to "more of the same" and a reflection of how the Dem's run King County and the State.

Nobody "stole the election". King County just couldn't get it 'right' until the final hand count. If King County were to do another count, the results would change again, by at least 10 votes. Some new mistakes would likely come out as the weeks progress.

Can anyone honestly say at this point, the people of WA state definately elected Gregoire or Rossi? We don't know. Why? Because King County has been so riddled with mistakes. Sure, the state auditors are trying to legitimatize the election. But, when the auditors can't even do an audit on DSHS it makes you wonder how much oversight authority they really have.

Posted by: Mike on December 23, 2004 03:39 PM

8. I am a longtime republican, who voted for Rossi. I am quite ashmamed of my fellow Republicans on how they are spinning this whole situation into something it is not. I believe a hand recount is the most accurate method of counting, and frankly was not surprised that Gregoire ended up winning. In my eyes when there is less than a .00009% (261/2.9mill)difference between canidates, a machine count is basically a fancy way of flipping a coin. The machines have an error rate of about .0001%. I'm so sick of parties saying or doing whatever will make their candidate win, not what's right. I'm sure if the roles were reversed, Republicans would be using the democrats arguments and vice versa....
Was the election sloppy... YES, but I think most big city elections are..... it just so happens that this election was so close, that King County is under a microscope..... I'm sure that if you looked at New York, San Diego, Houston, Philly, etc. it would be very easy to find errors... There simply to many votes to be 100% accurate....
Am I disappointed Rossi didn't win.... very much so, but I do know that if my ballot was one of the 700 I would be absolutely livid if my ballot was not counted. Allowing the votes was the right thing to do, that's why Republican Sam Reed supported it, that's why the decision was 7-0.... I unlike alot of my fellow republicans would rather have a fair election and have my candidate lose than use lawyers to disallow misplaced votes.

Posted by: John Lay on December 23, 2004 03:41 PM

9. Drew,

The Dems want to fix SOME of the mistakes -- the ones with the greatest chance of improving / maintaining their position. The elections system is broken, but unless the populace shows up in Olympia with torches and pitchforks, NOTHING will change -- except maybe a little window dressing. Why? Because the broken system is what has put and maintained those same legislators in power. Why fix a system that consistently gives you the results you want? ANYTHING is do-able -- and even at a reasonable cost -- if you really want it to be. It would take little time and effort -- if they really wanted to -- to take the voter rolls and run them up against other public and governmental databases to at least cherry-pick the clearly flaky registrations.

You could even go all "Big Brother" and require a thumbprint at registration. You wouldn't even have to use it at polling-time. The sole purpose would be to: A) match to the databases of felons and B) eliminate duplicate registrations. It would also serve to discourage fraud and would make prosecution of fraud easier (since you have their prints right on the registration).

Posted by: Mark on December 23, 2004 03:47 PM

10. Talk about "fixing the system" is an attempt to
deflect attention from the fact that this election
is in the process of being stolen.

The canvassing board are public servants, paid
by the taxpayer, entrusted to accurately and
impartially count ballots in order to determine
who won the most votes. They were not commissioned
to pick the winner. If they did the later, and
it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, they
should be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to
prison.

Failing to mail the local absentee ballots on
time might be deemed a regretable "mistake."
However, the failure to mail the overseas
military ballots on time was a direct violation
of federal law. It must be remedied by other some
means that does not disenfranchise our troops.

Voting fraud is a seperate issue that must be
addressed at the federal level to prevent
multiple-state voting.

Posted by: Bob on December 23, 2004 04:15 PM

11. John Lay,

By failing to see that there are many places for bias and error to swing any recount, and particularly a manual one, you are showing your naivete.

Furthermore, you advocate a "let's all just get along" stance by saying that you are sick and tired of both sides for wanting to win.

Are you sure you are a Republican?

Posted by: Jeff B. on December 23, 2004 04:47 PM

12. Bob,

Dean Logan behind bars is a truly great image.

It will be nice when we get to explore these ballots more thoroughly, I'm sure they have quite a story to tell.

Posted by: Jeff B. on December 23, 2004 04:50 PM

13. I see a lot of accusations, innuendo, and passion on this blog. What I don't see is facts or documentary evidence.

We don't want to waste your time...don't worry that we'll be insulted if you take your concern elsewhere...

Posted by: South County on December 23, 2004 09:09 PM

14. I see a lot of potential foot soldiers here, Shark...we need some leadership.

Posted by: South County on December 24, 2004 09:41 AM

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