...in a manner of speaking.
Starting with the margin of "victory":
129
Let's subtract a small portion of the certain illegal votes and see what we come up with:
129
- 52 felons in Pierce
- 8 dead voters in King County
- 3 known double voters
-100 provisional ballots (based on generous one-third of entered without review being illegitimate, probably more)
Even if we ignore the probability that among the 55,000 enhanced ballots there are some erroneously altered ones, or the hundreds of disenfranchised military voters, Dino still wins by 34 votes in a legitimate election, if we assume the above went for Gregoire. I know, I know, some of these went for Rossi. So let's throw out the election and start over.
In other news, this blog now gets 18,000 hits a day. I still can't believe Stefan only launched this blog as recently as August.
UPDATE: I see a lot of comments that the "rally is still on," implying that Rossi's announcement today would affect the rally. I confess I don't see how that would interrupt the plan for the rally... if anything, it makes it more worthwhile and relevant. We're asking the legislature to do the right thing, to refuse to ratify a tainted election and avoid the litigation.
Posted by Brian Crouch at January 07, 2005 05:54 PM | Email Thishttp://www.metrokc.gov/elections/news/2005_01_07b.htm
The reconciliation work done this week reduced the difference between ballots cast and voters credited from 3,539 to 1,217. This number includes 348 provisional ballots mistakenly put through vote tabulation machines at polling places.
Both of those assumptions (as are yours above) are, of course, specious, but let's play along for a moment.
Now, let's look at the votes Rossi got: 1,313,232.
So now taking your 18,000 single-hit, all-GOP-"I want a re-vote" people, we subtract that from Rossi's actual vote and, Voila!, get a grand total of 1,295,232 known ROSSI supporters who are willing to accept the decision of the voters that Christine Gregoire will be (and should be) the next governor of the State of Washington.
That shows, by the way, that only 1.37% of known Rossi voters are supporting this charade!
Posted by: Nelson on January 7, 2005 06:10 PMThe truth is that we'll never know with certainty who the legitimate voters of Washington chose to be governor. I believe it was Rossi, but I'm a Republican. :-)
Posted by: Julie B. on January 7, 2005 06:13 PM10:30am
Jan. 11th
Olympia
Need to make sure our legislators know that the majority of the population does not support the certification of Chris/Christine Gregoire.
Also if you haven't already PLEASE go to revotewa.com and fill out the petition!
Wait till the 2002 Sec State Audit of King Co. Elections hits the news. King Co. was TOLD by Sec State 2 years ago that if they didn't fix the process a contested election was likely.
Number of hits on a blog site (no matter how good or relevant) is not a measure of public opinion. Sites like SP only appeals to serious political junkies.
Posted by: John Mount on January 7, 2005 06:20 PMTheir minds are made up, they don't to convince, they don't listen. They seem to enjoy ranting, though.
Posted by: Bostonian on January 7, 2005 06:21 PMTheir minds are made up, they don't to try convince, they don't listen. They seem to enjoy ranting, though.
Posted by: Bostonian on January 7, 2005 06:21 PMYIKES!!!
You said "OK, let's take some of your logic".
You should have taken a bit more!
Let me amend that: you should have taken a whole LOT more!
Posted by: Cheryl on January 7, 2005 06:24 PMWell you finally figured out that a bunch of us around here like Rossi ?
Well if you are intelligent enough to figure that out maybe you will be intelligent enough to figure out that all that BS Florida diatribe has been overdone around here. I think you need to as they say around here "Get over it and move on"
As unhappy as you appear to be with this blog maybe you can intelligently explain why you keep trolling I mean hanging around ?
And what exactly is it that you are "scared" of anyway ?
Hopefully not an honest election because if so you've got some bad days coming your way .
Other than the bad news today about Dino contesting the election I hope the rest of your day goes well with you !
Think of all the whining, hand-wringing, and blathering you can do after the de-frocking of your Queen and election of Rossi...what else would you be doing with your time?
Great opportunities will be forthcoming soon, and you can return and post to your heart's content about the VAST right-wing conspiracy and how the libs were burned yet again. Then you can wear that "Victory to the Iraqi Insurgents" button you purchased from Air Puke with true victim-hood pride.
Don't bogart that joint.
Posted by: Shaun on January 7, 2005 06:49 PMI have already seen the Democrats including Dean Logan start spinning the provisional's by applying the legally voted provisional validity percentage to the illegally cast ballots. That validity rate can only be applied to legal ballots. The intent in casting the illegal PV ballots has to be in question therefore the legal validity rate cannot be applied!
"The remaining difference in the number of votes cast versus the number of registrations credited with voting in the 2004 General Election is 1,217 – an accuracy rate of 99.99% based on close to 900,000 ballots cast.
This number is consistent with historic reconciliation rates for King County. In 2000 this number was 1,230."
Whoooohooo pop the cork on the champagne! 13 less ballots not matched to any voter good job guys! Maybe by the year 2044 we could have that down to say around 129?
I don't think I will be invited to their party.
A revote is the only way to settle this. The Dems must be afraid of losing. It seams to me that if she really won this election she should be confident of her victory in a revote.
Posted by: Gil on January 7, 2005 07:48 PMComrades, this is truly a magnificent election process to show the world. Only 153 dead voters cast ballots in our county this year, down from 211. And this year, we have confirmed that only .001% of our citizens voted twice...truly a remarkable statistic that will shine light upon our glorious leader's county of support.
Finally, we can announce that our unsigned absentee ballot count-rate was an all-time low of only 1 out of 10,000.
What an election!!
Posted by: Shaun on January 7, 2005 07:50 PMUsing some of the sound logic presented by the "you all stole Florida in 2000 so we're stealing Washington 2004" crowd, I am registering Elvis as a voter in Washington State. Saturday is his 70th birthday, and while he may be dead, and it was said that he ingested up to 400 pills a day before he died, and he may have resided in another state, none of that should matter.
He now lives in King County, because I say he does. After all, he was the King of Rock 'n' Roll. I am really showing my age, not my dementia (well, maybe both).
Seriously, Governor-Elect Rossi is well within his rights to go to court. Leftist rants and hysteria will not stop his day in court.
However, who knows what will happen in court?
I hope he prevails, but I tend to think that often times we have more of a legal system than a justice system. I hope that we will have both this time.
---------
If there is credible evidence of fraud I will consider a revote.
Otherwise I will vote to certify this election and prepare to move on to the business of the 49th district and the State of Washington. I suggest you do the same. At this point there is no evidence I have seen to support a revote. I'm not afraid of defending certifying a election that has no evidence of fraud. Why would I? I know exactly whom I represent.
I also know that I swore to uphold the constitution and the laws of this state. That's exactly what I intend to do on Wednesday.
Your association of the situation with Scoop Jackson and Dan Evans is not the same and it is now standard that every appointed official has to stand for election at the next general election after appointment to fill a vacancy. What do [sic] this have to do with the situation at hand?
There is one thing that has become exceedingly clear to me over the past week. Although I was willing (wanting) to believe in the altruistic motives of constituents asking for a revote, this whole revote initiative is INDEED about over turning a legal, certified election and getting Rossi installed as governor. Sour grapes. I have looked at the website [Sound Politics] and I'm understanding that the "problems" identified are not about fraud. The Secretary of State denies fraud, our county auditor denies fraud even the Republican party has not claimed fraud. Without evidence of fraud this election is OVER.
Sincerely,
Rep. Jim Moeller
--------------
End response.
Posted by: JRR on January 7, 2005 08:12 PMGoing into this election, Gregoire KNEW - at best - she was only going to appeal to 50% of the voter's in this state.
After the first vote count - it was indeed very close - yet Rossi won. This should have shown Gregoire how divided the state was.
After the machine recount - it was still very close! - yet Rossi won. If Gregoire's light bulb didn't go off by now...one has to wonder...
After the hand recount - that included HUNDREDS of ballots that were never counted in the previous vote counts - it was STILL very close! - yet with the inclusion of those hundreds of questionable Gregoire leaning provisional and absentee and misplaced ballots....she only won by 129!!
Gregoire MUST understand, that at least 50 percent of the voting public of Washington State -are demanding a revote! How can she attempt to deny this? Why would she attempt to deny this?
She has to understand that 50 % of the voting public in this state are far too many to simply deny. What on earth is she thinking?
Here's the deal Christine...
Even if there were NO ballots added to the recounts, even if all election procedures were followed precisely,.......you would still not appeal to 50% of the voting public in this state!
Now given that there were so many irregularities and questionable procedures in this election and recounts.....do you truly believe that HALF of the voters in this state are simply going to allow you to pooh pooh Rossi's attempt to bring legitimacy to our state elections?
It just can't be spun this time...sorry Christine....
Posted by: Deborah on January 7, 2005 08:13 PMDouble voting as fraud?
Dead people voting as fraud?
Felons in prison voting as fraud?
Let me bottom line it for Jim Moeller: When someone votes that is not permitted to vote or votes multiple times it is FRAUD. No spin in the world can get you around that.
Posted by: Joe on January 7, 2005 08:33 PMSincerely,
Rep. Jim Moeller"
You wish, Jimbo.
JRR, I think you are really going to enjoy some future e-mail with your "representative"...say, about April or so?
Cheers
Posted by: Shaun on January 7, 2005 08:40 PMMost normal people have a problem with pedophilia, so I assume you don't based on your comment?
Posted by: smegma on January 7, 2005 08:53 PMA liberal classic debate tactic.
Way to go!
Posted by: Joe on January 7, 2005 08:59 PMHowever the tone of Mr. Moore's post implies that he is basically a partisan ass.
Posted by: Not a Yank on January 7, 2005 09:06 PM"The remaining difference in the number of votes cast versus the number of registrations credited with voting in the 2004 General Election is 1,217 – an accuracy rate of 99.99% based on close to 900,000 ballots cast."
.01% of 900,000 is 90 -- not 1217. So King County is only off by an order of magnitude.
With these amazing mathematical abilities, I'm sure they got the election totals right.
Methow Ken
Posted by: Methow Ken on January 7, 2005 09:08 PMWhat the heck only a few cases of malfeasance no big deal. /Sar.
Posted by: Mike H. on January 7, 2005 09:17 PMThere must have been a memo sent! Hah!
*A reminder*
Liberals embrace a Counter point strategy for debates. AND They will never concede to a stated fact in an argument. They can only go in circles - never forward in a debate.
So - if any of you just have plenty of time and patience - you can actually play the trolls like a video game! snicker....
But - for the sake of this blog, please try to refrain from feeding them!
Posted by: Deborah on January 7, 2005 09:27 PMHe even puts quotes around 'problems'... like he doesn't believe there were any problems? Hey Jim... get your head out of the sand (or a$$, take your pick).
Posted by: TomP on January 7, 2005 09:31 PMto:
DistrictCourt.Clerk@co.chelan.wa.us
Hello, In the Seattle Times today, it reads
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002144756_webrossi07m.html
Friday, January 07, 2005 - Page updated at 04:09 P.M.
Rossi challenges governor's election
By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter
Republican Dino Rossi filed a sweeping lawsuit today challenging Democrat Christine Gregoire's election as governor.
"It is clear this election is a mess," Rossi said this afternoon as he announced the lawsuit in Bellevue.
Rossi and the state Republican Party say a series of problems in King County, as well as evidence that votes were cast under the names of dead people and felons means a judge should throw out the Nov. 2 election and call for a new one.
"The counties have counted a huge number of invalid and illegal votes," said attorney Harry Korrell.
The suit was filed in Chelan County Superior Court.
...
Can you please inform me how I can download a filing of this?
Thank you.
Roleigh Martin, M.A.
Mr. Moeller, the six stages of grief are denial, depression, bargaining, anger, guilt, and hope. You appear to be in stage one.
Fasten you seat belt, I see a bumpy ride for you and yours ahead.
I'm new at posting comments, but here is what I've encountered with the legislature.
I've sent messages to both my Demo senator and Demo rep for the 25th district.(and I was polite but firm). Asked for re-vote support and a response back on their position. So far, no communication. Has any democrat stepped forward and publically supported non-certification of the election and a re-vote??? And by the way, Where are the Republican legislators? There needs to be more public comment from them on this issue.
Posted by: MikeF on January 7, 2005 10:00 PM"- 52 felons in Pierce" isn't enough
"- 8 dead voters in King County" isn't enough
"- 3 known double voters" isn't enough
"-100 provisional ballots (based on generous one-third of entered without review being illegitimate, probably more)" isn't enough
Make no mistake, I strongly suspect that Gregoire by and through her ground-level minions stole this election. That's the long and short of it. But that's not what YOU are saying happened. You aren't saying that at all. You are saying that there were mistakes -bad mistakes- in the conduct of the election. And I'm telling you that's not ever going to be enough. I could go into a long boring explanation, but to cut to the quick, suffice it to say that isn't enough to merely show that the election was imperfect, because all elections in every state in the US are imperfect. There's no such thing as a perfect election. And it isn't enough to show that the election was close, and that with the imperfections taken into account it might have turned out differently. That's because that'd be pure rank speculation. No one knows if that's true. And who's to say that a simple revote wouldn't be equally close and have the equal number of imperfections? Obviously no one can say that, so what's to be gained by a revote? You'd just be substituting one close election with a set of mistakes with another close election, with its own set of mistakes. Your opponents will just say that one thing that can be said in favor of the status quo is that they counted every vote as best they could, and again, and yet again, all the time with the political parties at the table overseeing it, and this was the best they could do, and Gregoire won by 139 votes. Period. Case closed. Try again in 4 years Mr. Rossi.
Understand what I'm saying: what I'm saying is that what you have here isn't enough. That's all. But there could be enough, but to get there you have to take on this fight on with bare knuckles, aqnd not draped in wishy-washy sound-good feel-good homilies about a revote is necessary because no one knows who really won. Flush that. Hey, they found a winner. And the loser always feels like s/he got jobbed. No, what you have to show is a little thing called f-r-a-u-d. You have to stop beating around the bush and come out and say it out loud, and then be prepared to prove it. You have to name names and name places. You have to show how the election was fraudulently stolen, by whom, and how was done. Allege it that way, and prove it, and you'll get your revote. Imperfections and mistakes they can live with, even explain away. Demonstrable fraud they can't.
The good news is that you have the makings of a case here. You have to reframe it, put it in the right words, and pin it on the perps who did it.
Posted by: jay bird on January 7, 2005 10:23 PMSo, another, entirely legal, vote for Dino.
Also, thanks to the guys at Sound Politics. My Navy work has kept me from home for that past few months, so this is my only serious means of staying on top of WA politics.
+Photi
Posted by: Photios on January 7, 2005 10:36 PMkirotv poll says 74% yes revote
Posted by: CJensen on January 7, 2005 10:37 PM
Jay Bird: "You have to show how the election was fraudulently stolen, by whom, and how was done. "
I think Boonie has hit the nail on the head - when the Democrats say "there is no evidence of fraud," they mean no evidence of a coordinated effort - i.e., a conspiracy. That is what they want everyone to believe "fraud" means. Jay Bird incorrectly asserts that such a conspiracy must be proven, when in fact all that must be shown is that a number of *individual* (i.e., uncoordinated) illegal acts were committed equal to or greater than the margin of victory. It is not necessary to prove a conspiracy in order to prove that election fraud occurred.
Posted by: Patrick on January 7, 2005 10:52 PMAnd GOPwhiner, if you have to resort to garbage insults of Dino like that, then you must be REALLY scared. You should try to join x-tine on her 'healing' tour. I hear it's going a little roughly. I think we'll be getting an 'update' tomorrow on how it's going.
Posted by: Michele on January 7, 2005 10:52 PMThe democracy is at peril -- the Republicans, unhappy with the legal end result, take to the hated courts, the high-priced lawyers and the activist judges which they otherwise claim are completely evil.
But, when they can be used to their advantage, no matter how indefensible the case, they jump on it.
So this hyporcrisy -- combined with Rossi's total hypocrisy "Concede, Christine, as you are losing; but now that I'm losing, I'll cry FOUL!" suggests that fair play is the furthest thing from the republican thinking.
Instead, it's how can I cajole myself into an offic I didn't win.
Liking Rossi is fine and dandy; but twisting arguments from 100% against to 100% for as the vote changes is hardly a show of liking Rossi. It's a mockery of our system...designed to get wishy-washy Rossi into office at all costs.
It is refreshing beyond belife to see Reed act responsibly; eschewing the partisan beckoning of Sound Politics brainwashed right wing idealogues....
I can just imagine the rancor the Republicans would further were Gregoire to be trailing by a few votes and claiming the election was unfair. Rush, himself, would have a field day descrbing Democrats as sore losers, manipulators, users of lawyers to get their way...come to think of it, that IS what Rush said about the Dems in FL 2000.....MORE hypocrisy on the Republican side.
Posted by: Scared for USA on January 7, 2005 10:55 PMI tend to agree with a lot of what you stated. Including this:
And it isn't enough to show that the election was close, and that with the imperfections taken into account it might have turned out differently. That's because that'd be pure rank speculation. No one knows if that's true.
Except that you need to turn it around in your thinking. What we're realizing is that with the imperfections, it's rank speculation as to who the winner might be, even though right now it's "officially" Gregoire.
True, it probably will take some very solid evidence of real fraud to bring about the revote. But, at a minimum, we need the fight to fix this once and for all.
It's truly discouraging to me that I take the time to educate myself, to go to the polls, and to vote, only to find out that my vote could have been offset by a felon, a dead person, a double-count, a forgery, or simply gross negligence.
Posted by: Ken on January 7, 2005 11:00 PM"Gop Whiner-
Most normal people have a problem with pedophilia, so I assume you don't based on your comment?"
HaHaHa!!! ...I love the way you turned that one around! Nothing short of classic!
Go Dino!!!
cb
See:
http://crokersack.blogspot.com/2005/01/washingtons-gubernatorial-election-may.html
"...but it looks like at least one Democrat is willing to side with the Republicans. Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, on Thursday night send a letter urging fellow lawmakers to delay certifying the election until errors can be researched more."
From The Spokesman-Review, 1-7-05, pg A1 and A5, "Citizens challenge election outcome," by Richard Roesler, staff writer.
Christine and the Dems requested and paid for a hand recount, as is their right by Washington State Law. Now, Rossi and the GOP are contesting the election, as is their right by Washington State Law. So, what's your problem?
Obviously, errors happen in all elections. In this case, the errors were greater than the margin of victory. When the election results are really close like this, it makes no sense to do any recounts, because no matter how many times you do them, the margin of error is going to be higher than the margin of victory. Garbage in, garbage out. I know that state law dictates recounts, but it doesn't make sense. And that's why it made sense for Rossi to ask Gregoire to concede.
Either we should accept the first result, or we should have an automatic run-off between the top two candidates.
I'm for a revote, as long as it's a run-off between Rossi and Gregoire.
Posted by: Kathy on January 7, 2005 11:33 PMThis was from Scared for USA:
"The democracy is at peril -- the Republicans, unhappy with the legal end result, take to the hated courts, the high-priced lawyers and the activist judges which they otherwise claim are completely evil.
But, when they can be used to their advantage, no matter how indefensible the case, they jump on it.
So this hyporcrisy -- combined with Rossi's total hypocrisy "Concede, Christine, as you are losing; but now that I'm losing, I'll cry FOUL!" suggests that fair play is the furthest thing from the republican thinking.
Instead, it's how can I cajole myself into an offic I didn't win.
Liking Rossi is fine and dandy; but twisting arguments from 100% against to 100% for as the vote changes is hardly a show of liking Rossi. It's a mockery of our system...designed to get wishy-washy Rossi into office at all costs."
Isn't this accusation interesting? It's not the first time I've heard it. But it contains a seriously flawed logic. Let me explain with a metaphor.
Let's talk about playing by the rules. Take basketball for example: Let's say the Seattle Super Sonics are playing the Lakers in Los Angeles. The game progresses normally and there is fairly even competition and at the final buzzer the score is tied. So now we go into overtime. After another five minutes, the score again is tied.
Then, in the course of a second overtime, the Lakers begin to ignore the rules of the game while the Sonics keep playing by them. The Lakers run with the ball, run out of bounds, hold the ball longer than the shot clock allows, deliberately foul the Sonics players, etc. - and through all of this, the referees never once call the Lakers for any of these violations. However, they continue to make the Sonics abide by the rules of the game, thus putting the Sonics at a disadvantage.
The Sonics have a choice: they could continue to abide by what they know are the rules of the game and appeal to the referees to do their job or they could adjust to the new "rules" of the game as they are defined by the Lakers.
So, back to the election: What has happened is the King County Elections Board changed the rules in the second overtime period and Rossi's camp appealed to the referees to maintain the rules, which they did not do. Rossi's camp never resorted to adjusting their game play to reflect the tactics being used against them. Now they are contesting the results of the second overtime in court.
Yeah, Scared of USA, it is sad when political parties have to go to court to settle a matter that should be resolved in the political arena. But instead of rolling over and taking it from the King County Elections Board, the Rossi Camp is fighting to have the results thrown out and have a new game where both teams play by the rules up until and through to the end of the game.
It's not about winning or losing. It's not about installing Rossi as Governor. It never has been. (He seems to think the valid votes are there to elect him to the office of Governor and there's a lot of evidence being presented to suggest that he is right.)
It's about having an honest and fair election in which everyone that can and chooses to vote does so one time and that all those votes are counted from the beginning. If Gregoire wins, great. The majority will have voted for her and Rossi will concede. If she loses, then Rossi will win the revote with the support of the majority of Washingtonians.
Why is this such a hard concept to understand? And why are there so many people afraid of letting actual democracy run its course? I just don't get it.
Posted by: JRR on January 7, 2005 11:45 PMI guess the Dems can try to spin on the blogs. But in the Court they will actually look at the law.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on January 8, 2005 12:07 AMAs you know, Dino Rossi sent a letter to Christine Gregoire on December 29 asking her to join him in requesting the Legislature to call a new election. Ms. Gregoire has rejected this request. She has now been certified by the Secretary of State as the winner of the November 2 election.
The procedure for the Legislature to call a special election is as follows: Any member of the House or Senate can introduce a bill specifically tailored to force a runoff between Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire in a special election for governor.
However, with both the House and Senate under Democrat control and the Democrat governor-elect not wanting a runoff, there is little chance that such a bill would become law.
Dino Rossi, in calling for new election, said it was the only way to regain voter confidence in the election process. He said right now we have "total voter mistrust" of the November 2 election results.
Clearly, King County has a lot of work to do to make its process reliable and trustworthy in the future. King County’s elections department has been plagued with problems for far too long.
I also believe the Legislature must take a comprehensive look at state elections laws in the upcoming session to ensure our laws are clear and fair for every conceivable issue that may arise. We have learned a lot from the 2004 governor’s race and we should take what we’ve learned to the next level and fix any and all problems.
You may also be aware that any citizen may file a challenge to the November 2 election until January 22, 2005. This would force the issue into the courts to decide if the election is valid or not.
Cordially yours,
BOB MORTON, State Senator
You have inquired of my office an update on the questionable outcome of the governor’s race.
The Legislature convenes on Monday, January 10 and will address possible actions to be taken on Monday and Tuesday, January 10 and 11 respectively. The new governor is scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday, January 12.
I personally am pushing hard for a statewide revote of the governor’s position because I believe that is the best way that the citizen voter, not the Legislature or the courts, can determine our next governor.
Following is a very serious list of what appear to be significant irregularities that legislators should address before the swearing-in of a new governor.
Enhanced ballots
The state Republican Party on Saturday sued King County over how it was handling ballots that had been rejected by the counting machines. The Republicans argued those ballots should be excluded from the recount because they have to be checked by hand and inspectors have to surmise the intent of the voter, a process they say isn’t being followed in 14 counties that use punch-card ballots.
If the voter’s intent is clear – say, an oval was circled instead of filled in or punched out – the election worker fixes the ballot and sends it back through the machine. If it isn’t clear, a canvassing board takes an even closer look to make a final determination about the vote.
– Seattle Times, November 23, 2004
Clearly this is a very subjective process. Additionally, enhanced ballots are only supposed to be temporarily enhanced so they can be reevaluated in original form.
Late military ballots
Tyler Farmer, a Marine, opened up his absentee ballot in Iraq right around the time President Bush was declared the victor in his re-election bid.
Farmer – a 23-year-old…was bummed because he figured it was too late to mail in his ballot. He chucked it, because he thought rules are rules, not to be broken.
– Seattle Times, December 29, 2004
Vote differential
The state Republican Party yesterday called on county election officials to explain what the GOP says is a nearly 8,500-vote discrepancy between county vote tallies and the number of people credited with actually voting in the election.
– Seattle PI, January 4, 2005
Commingled ballots (provisional ballots must remain separated from regular ballots)
Two King County election workers, both Republicans, yesterday said they believe hundreds of provisional ballots were illegally fed through vote-counting machines on Election Day.
The special ballots are given to voters who show up at the wrong precinct on Election Day or whose registration is in question, and they are supposed to be set aside until the voter's status can be determined.
Election officials acknowledge that once provisional ballots were put through voting machines, it became impossible to separate legitimate from illegitimate ballots.
– Seattle Times, January 6, 2005
Discovery of additional ballots (on nine separate occasions in King County alone)
New votes are turning up in the governor’s race around the state as election workers find ballots that were never counted, punch cards with problem chads and optical scan ballots what weren’t marked properly.
– Seattle Times, December 10, 2004
Hand count less accurate
State elections information manager Paul Miller said that, alone hand counts are likely less accurate. But the system in place requires the manual tallies to be compared with the previous machine counts. With the cross-check, the count is “actually more accurate.”
King county Elections Director Dean Logan disagreed.
Logan will do everything possible to make an accurate hand count, though he thinks manual counts are intrinsically less accurate…
– Seattle PI, December 4, 2004
Other concerns, like ballots found to be filled out by deceased voters, the Secretary of State’s failure to implement the federal and state Help America Vote Act, and ballots with identifying marks that can determine the voter and therefore are not secret are also raising more questions as to the validity of the election outcome.
In closing, I would like to leave you with a December 31, 2004 statement by former Washington State Governor and U.S. Senator Dan Evans, who recently endorsed a revote of the governor’s race here in Washington state. This endorsement can also be found at www.revotewa.com.
When Washington’s Democrat Senator Henry Jackson died unexpectedly in 1983, Republican Governor John Spellman appointed me to fill the seat. Due to recent changes in election laws, there was a heated debate about when the voters should be able to have their say as to who should remain in the seat for the full term. Democrats, obviously, wanted an election right away. I felt the voters were entitled to settle the issue at the earliest time possible.
In a special session of the Legislature, which the Democrats controlled, the Governor and I lobbied in favor of letting the voters speak as soon as possible. I don’t recall the Democrats complaining of cost, but I do remember they acted swiftly. A special primary election was held, and the whole matter was settled in just over 60 days from Scoop’s passing.
What, really, is different now?
Then, there was no question that the process used to appoint me to serve was done properly. There was, however, a political question of the true will of the voters, and for John Spellman and me, that became the driving principle. After the voters agreed with the Governor, no one ever questioned that I was the rightful representative of the people in that office. We all moved on to more important matters.
Now, there are many questions, but there is also the same principle: both the officeholder and the voters need to know the voters’ will has been done.
The fact is, we don’t know that now. We do know that in King County alone, a
number of irregularities or questions exist. For example:
§ Elections workers “enhanced” more than 55,000 ballots, but contrary to state law, they permanently obscured the original marks on many, preventing a review of their decisions.
§ Poll workers fed some provisional ballots directly into counting machines, commingling them with legal ballots and circumventing the process of keeping them out of the count if they proved to be illegal.
§ There are numerous reports of military personnel either never receiving their ballots or getting them too late to vote.
§ King County has counted 3,539 more votes than they can provide voter’s names for.
§ The County “discovered” additional ballots to be counted on nine separate occasions. Questions exist about whether those ballots were always secure, as required by law.
§ These and the perception of other problems have created a real crisis of confidence about this election. A majority of voters do not accept the outcome of the hand count as legitimate. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to govern in this situation.
What should we do?
I say take a page from our own history and hold another election. And I’m not the only example. While I was Governor, an Adams County commissioner race was extremely close and questions were raised about the security of the ballots. The election was contested. Our Supreme Court decided the best way to resolve the contest was to vote again. And just this week, North Carolina decided to re-vote a statewide position.
Democracy may be messy, but its principles are why it still serves us best. If we screw up the implementation, let’s go back to the principles. The voters’ will is paramount. We must believe our elections are legitimate.
Some would have the contest ‘judged’ by our state legislature while others suggest it go to federal court. The first would only tie up Olympia when legislators should be taking care of business, while the second would likely turn into a Bush/Gore-like legal circus.
This legislature, like the one in 1983 that acted so swiftly, is controlled by Democrats. The democratic principles at stake are the same. The circumstances are very similar, with one major exception: they now hold the office at stake. Will they risk power for principle, as the Republicans did, and let the voters settle it? Or is power simply too important to them?
The right thing, a re-vote, is really very straightforward. There is a regularly scheduled election in early February in many jurisdictions around the state. If the Democrats were willing, they could pass this in a day and order the re-vote in time for the February election. And if “Governor” Gregoire were to sign the bill, she’d certainly boost her standing with the voters.
If you agree, please join me in the effort to make a re-vote happen. Go to revotewa.com and register your support for a new Governor’s election. Let’s work together to re-establish democratic integrity in Washington.
Cordially yours,
BOB MORTON
State Senator
If sufficient number of illegal votes CAST SPECIFICALLY FOR GREGOIRE cannot be identified and presented in court, intentional malfeasance by election workers must be proven. Not incompetence, but an intent to elevate one candidate over another. Since Rossi seems to have admitted they have no fraud argument to make, the contest rests on the identification of illegal votes. The provisionals can't be produced in court, and the dead folks and felons are valid after certification.
What does a re-vote solve? That election would be subject to exactly the same problems as this one.
Anytime someone wants to justify their position with state law, let me know.
Posted by: torridjoe on January 8, 2005 09:43 AMI think they sure make a compelling case to anyone that is willing to be FAIR and OBJECTIVE.
Posted by: JG on January 8, 2005 10:17 AMI believe this is the way King County Elections is reading the law also, and that's why we're seeing strategic incompetence. Logan and company have made it impossible to know or prove anything specific, except that ballots were cast illegally. They admit it.
Joe's read of the law would make a successful contest virtually impossible, given that the system is designed to make it impossible to tell who voted for who.
Why do I smell a lefty attorney?
Posted by: South County on January 8, 2005 11:07 AMThat's not the sign of a confident advisor.
Posted by: Bostonian on January 8, 2005 11:32 AMI do disagree with South County that the system is DESIGNED to make contests impossible to sustain. That's ridiculous. It's designed to make the margin of error of human elections insufficient grounds for setting it aside. Why? Because unless we turn the next election over to the animal kingdom, humans are going to run any revote, and subject it to the same error.
Telling Gregoire supporters about all this doesn't seem to have a point. They understand it by and large, although no doubt there are trollish idiots in her camp as well, shouting get over it and calling him Hypocrossi. Notice I don't bother with any of that; I fully support Rossi's right to challenge, as Gregoire says she does. I just think it's so far pretty clear he's not blessed with much in the way of standing.
Posted by: torridjoe on January 8, 2005 12:51 PMNot only is the ORANGE rally still on, but also this is what you might want to consider when going:
1. Wear insulated shoes (the cement gets very cold this time of the year)
2. Carpool if you can (this prevents parking headaches at the Olympia Capitol)
3. Keep your feet off the grass (the lawmakers don't like it when you step on their grass or hug their trees – could incur damage)
Take it from someone who has been to the Capitol annually for peaceful protests. Once you get there, you'll "hug" me for it! ;)
Posted by: TADD on January 8, 2005 02:14 PMThe Rossi campaign has contested the election in court. Good, as that's where it needs to be. There's been way too much rhetoric, rumor and just plain wrong information floating around for me to entirely believe the stories from either side. A couple of examples:
"52 Felons voting in Pierce County." Here's the investigation from the Tacoma News Tribune (which, incidentally, supported Mr. Rossi): http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/4419176p-4187231c.html
It does appear that there were a very few, but not 52, and most the ones that did may well be honest error, rather than a deliberate attempt to violate the law. There was a form that needed to be filled out and submitted, but was not. (Yes, I agree that their votes should not have been counted, even if it was simply due to a technicality. Those technicalities are there for good reason.)
"disenfranchised military voters" (I'm retired military, so this is near and dear to me.)
What isn't mentioned is that, as this has been a problem (nationwide) for as long as anyone can remember, there is a backup system to allow military members overseas to vote even without an absentee ballot. It's the "Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot" (FWAB SF-186). Voting Assistance Officers with local ballot information are available in every unit. Commanders ACTIVELY encourage military personnel to vote. In essence, any military member that wanted to vote was given the opportunity. I would be interested to know if any SF-186 forms (properly postmarked before the election) were rejected. Anyone here know?
"55,000 enhanced ballots"
As any "enhancement" was presumably done with both Democrat and Republican observers present, I'm having a hard time getting very excited about this. Still, if observers saw improper "enhancements," the appropriate place for this to come out is in court, under oath. Anything else is just rumor and gossip.
"1,565 voterless mystery ballots"
This number seems to change daily, but it is almost certainly the best reason to have a court look at this, along with a team of auditors. Is there an innocent explanation? Beats me, as I don't have a team of auditors handy, and the various news organizations and blogs all have different stories. Still, there's that "appearance of impropriety," even if it's completely innocent, so having a court look at it seems the best answer.
What I don't understand is the call for marches on Olympia. Do we really believe that the court should be swayed by public opinion? If the court finds no reason for a re-vote, I'll be somewhat surprised. But having the legislature impose one after such a decision really would be "changing the rules in the middle of the game."
You do sound like an attorney...
I didn't say the law made it impossible to successfully contest an election. I said your interpretation couldn't be true, because if it was it would be impossible to contest an election; there would be no useful purpose for a contest provision.
Viewed in the context of this discussion...do we have too many lawyers involved in politics?
Posted by: South County on January 9, 2005 09:30 AM