Sound Politics: Deposition Week

April 22, 2005

Deposition Week

This week is deposition week in the gubernatorial election contest. Dean Logan was deposed by the Republicans on Monday and the Democrats on Tuesday. Bill Huennekens turn is yesterday and today.

The Republicans are starting to talk about what came out. The punchline: Logan admitted to a number of serious shortcomings and outright violations in ballot processing, security and accounting. The RevoteWA.com group sent out an e-mail with this jaw-dropper:

Attorneys fighting for a ReVote just forced King County Elections officials to admit they printed individual ballots ‘on demand’ during the election. No tracking. No accounting. No record kept at all.

That just might explain where some of the hundreds of unaccounted-for absentee ballots came from.

Chris Vance was on the Mike Siegel Show this morning. He mentioned that the blank polling-place ballots, which are by procedure delivered to the poll inspectors days before the election, weren't counted as required to ensure that no ballots leaked out and leaked back into the AccuVote. Also, Logan apparently admitted under oath what I reported on Monday -- that King County violated state election rules and counted the provisional ballots before they finished counting the absentees.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 22, 2005 09:25 AM | Email This

Comments

1. Why am I not surprised? Thnks you Stefan for all your hard work and dedication of bringing light to the darkness that is King County.

Let's show Gregoire a moving party on Independence day!

Posted by: Ken on April 22, 2005 09:40 AM

2. This is where the fun part begins. It is what the Democrats from across the country hoped would never happen (looking inside their operations, in and official capacity, with subpoena power). If you think that the National Democratic Committee isn’t panicked about this, you also probably also subscribe to the notion that AlGore won Florida in 2000.

Posted by: JDH on April 22, 2005 09:43 AM

3. Uh Nelson???...Nelson???

While it has never been necessary to prove fraud, which you continue to maintain is somehow necessary ... can you say fraud now????

Posted by: Jay on April 22, 2005 09:47 AM

4. Looks like Dean Logan has decided being convicted in Federal court on perjury is not a good idea and is coming clean. And boy is he leaving a foul ring in regards to Gregoire's selection.

Who has the popcorn concession?

Posted by: Anna on April 22, 2005 09:54 AM

5. Dean Logan is the best witness for a ReVote.

Posted by: otto on April 22, 2005 10:21 AM

6. Sounds like pretty soon it is going to easier to keep track of the short list of WACs and RCWs that KCE did NOT violate since election day 2004, rather than the other way around.

This is going to be a VERY interesting trial when it opens on 23 May in Judge Bridge's court...
For unrelated reasons I expect to be passing through Wenatchee on 24 May; if I have time I will stop by and see if there is any space left for the public at the trial.

In line with that: FYI for anyone who cares:

I talked to Chelan County Superior Court, and they said Judge Bridges has NOT decided WHERE the trial will be held yet. They expect a lot of citizens will want to attend (understatement), and sounds like within reason they will try and accomodate the public. Person I talked to could not say just when they would know where either, but sounds like the location will be made public well before the 23 May start date.

Methow Ken

Posted by: Methow Ken on April 22, 2005 10:22 AM

7. I'm speechless. I want to hear more about this printing on demand thing. So they just printed more as they thought they needed AFTER election day?

Posted by: Michele on April 22, 2005 10:22 AM

8. Well, guess we don't have to wonder who the first to crack is going to be, anymore.

Posted by: Editor on April 22, 2005 10:24 AM

9. Y A W N &, of yeah, more Y A W N!!!

You guys lost, fair and square. Tough luck. Better luch in 2008.

The 2004 election is over, don't you get it yet?

We have a fine governor and she'll be the governor for at least a full four year term and probably get re-elected in a monstrous landslide because of your GOP sore loserness.

Posted by: Nelson on April 22, 2005 10:25 AM

10. I think Nelson about choked on his meds. But he rallied and guess what, coughed up the same 'talking' points as before. Dang a vinyl record in the age of CDs, just keeps going on and on and on.

Posted by: Anna on April 22, 2005 10:28 AM

11. This infuriates me greatly. At this rate, I wonder if the day will come where a hostile takeover comes to play. Not likely, since it's a state matter, but I do wonder. The sad thing is, that there are so many supporters of the corrupt government we are ruled by in Washington. That's how they can get away with it. You just can't reason with some people. Their brains are like cement, thouroughly mixed up and permanently set.

Posted by: Mike R on April 22, 2005 10:38 AM

12. You guys lost, fair and square.

Heh, I disagree. I can't wait to see the outcome of the trial. Let Justice be served. Any speculations on the outcome at this point is just that, speculation.

Posted by: Mike R on April 22, 2005 10:48 AM

13. Uh Nelson,
The big losers are going to be the Democrat Party and their 'partners in crime,' the political machines that they have in place in damn near every metropolitan area in the entire Country. The veil of 'palusable deniability' that has been their saving grace was not monitored by Sims & Co, the Dems are going to curse the day they allowed this buffonn free reign.

Posted by: JDH on April 22, 2005 11:08 AM

14. Well, I have to commend Logan for at least comming clean now. Would have saved a whole lot of hassle had he done it sooner and voluntarily, or better yet, had he not allowed (or perhaps directed) any of this to happen in the first place.

Apparently he has realized that every attempt at coverup has been exposed, so trying to do more of the same with real jail time on the line simply wasn't worth it.

My gut feeling at this point is that we will be having a new election for Governor in November.

Posted by: Jason on April 22, 2005 11:34 AM

15. Am reading American Center for voting Rights report to the U.S. House of Reps. on Ohio, and the Democrat registration fraud (NAACP, AFL-CIO, ACORN etc) going on in there was of mind-blowing proportions. What happened there and here has GOT to stop. These people have no conscience. Imagine the possibilities for abuse here in KC when ballots were sent home with Democrat polling place inspectors and never required to be returned. Are these people crazy?? (like a fox)

Posted by: Michele on April 22, 2005 11:37 AM

16. If the poll-workers were each given 20 blank ballots to hand out to ballotless voters before the election, why would they be printing them "on demand" if the ballots were pre-printed? Aren't these provisional ballots? You are masters at twisting the mundane into conspiracies.

Posted by: headless lucy on April 22, 2005 02:17 PM

17. LUCY....you I.G.N.O.R.A.N.T. S.L.U.T.

Posted by: Teri on April 22, 2005 05:31 PM

18. HL knows more than I suspected. I didn't see antying on this topic item that mentioned HOW MANY ballots the poll workers were given.

Interesting that HL also conflates the ballots handed out BEFORE the election and ballots printed "on demand." Hmmmm

Posted by: Mac on April 22, 2005 07:08 PM

19. This printing on demand thing is very curious. This past election, I did not receive my mail in ballot before leaving on a long trip from which I would not get back before the election. So, I went to the elections office to get another ballot.

They gave me a photo copied ballot and told me it would be the same as an original. I used it and my vote for Rossi, as far as I have been able to ascertain, was counted. But, I did think it was odd for them to hand out photocopied ballots.

Now, I can see that they must have been photocopying ballots for purposes other than giving to valid voters.

Posted by: DeadManVoting (aka Iguana) on April 23, 2005 03:29 AM

20. Ever since O.J. I have wanted (just once) to see the GUILTY pay!

'Evil can grow ONLY when good people do NOTHING!'

Thanks to all who have brought this to trial!

Hat Tip and Wink, Stefan! \;-D

Posted by: Arky on April 23, 2005 04:50 AM