As I noted earlier, various news items reported that the Secretary of State suspected only 30 of the more than 55,000 recently purged double registrants of voting twice. As I also noted earlier, this would be a significant understatement of the number of actual double votes in recent elections. Assistant Secretary of State Steve Excell confirmed in a recent email that:
The state VRDB does not have voter history going back further than last Fall. The state assumed responsibility for the consolidated VRDB on January 01, 2006 – and we've never claimed we were going back in time to re-analyze the 2004 election ... The numbers are numbers: (1) we deleted 55,000 registrations; (3) we have referred 30 suspected of voting twice in the November 2005 general election to the counties in question. I can't change what we've found to date.The news reports (and especially the P-I's editorial) implied that this was the entire universe of double votes. But it would have been more accurate to say that "The Secretary of State suspects 30 voters of voting twice in the November 2005 general election. He has no idea how many voted twice in previous elections and he's not inclined to find out".
Figuring out how many double voters there were in recent elections is not going to change the outcome of any election, but it will provide useful information on the performance of the county auditors. (I suspect that a substantial number of the double voters before the statewide database came online were within the same county and did not require a statewide database to prevent or catch. That was certainly the case in King County). Most of the auditors are up for re-election this year. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State seems to define his primary role not as ensuring the integrity of elections, but as defending the county auditors from public criticism.
The P-I has a stated policy of correcting editorial page errors. If the P-I is serious about this, this editorial would seem to warrant a correction.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at May 19, 2006 01:22 PM | Email ThisInstead, we get elections directors that are trying to convince us of the accuracy of signature verification and refusing to take a hard stance on real voter reform. It's obvious that secure voting requires accurate identification and better authentication with transprency to the the entire process.
The public is fully aware of security. Every WA citizen that has ever been required to present identification for every day activities such as withdrawing money at a bank or obtaining a new loan for an automobile knows that the current elections are not secure.
It's an uphill battle for Sam Reed to ever regain public trust, regardless of how many mainstream media sycophants write stories coming to his defense.
Posted by: Jeff B. on May 19, 2006 01:58 PMHowever, it will show that the problem is greater than these gurus think and will give them a greater sense of urgency that cleanup is needed.
Posted by: swatter on May 19, 2006 02:55 PM1 Sam Reed is Chair & Co-Host of the Mainstream Republicans Cascade Conference Fri evening till Noon Sun May 19, 20, & 21, 2006
2 For $100 including the banquet Sat nite w/ Milt Romney, Massachusetts Governor, as speaker
Wow...This statement is a head-scratcher!
"can't change what we've found to date"? Hmmm...
Can't they "improve" on what they've found to date? Perhaps by crosschecking the county voter databases from 2004? The "found to date" part is what's confusing.... Does it imply that there will be new dates that will alter today's "found to date"? Then there is the "I" and the "we've"...Who's "we"?
This is the worst case of double-speak spin..I've witnessed yet...
After noting the article about alligators being exported from Florida to Arizona & NM to protect the borders, in the same spirit, someone should release some hungry alligators in the office of King County elections and the Secretary of State's office with placards advocating fair & clean elections and depose Dean Logan & Sam Reed ! Then, perhaps the alligators will depose and dispose of them right there on the spot !
Posted by: KS on May 19, 2006 09:16 PMSo why isn't this a campaign pledge by the Republicans (WSRP) ?
This state cannot afford to be a one party state, but if the minority party remains inept it will continue. Wake up WSRP !
Posted by: KS on May 20, 2006 10:50 AMMcKenna is much worse than sam Reed.
Posted by: Don on May 20, 2006 05:50 PMThey don't want to look. They want to keep things just they way they are.
What a SHAM!
Posted by: SP Fan on May 20, 2006 06:11 PMI'm not happy either, but what would you have us do?
Posted by: Amused by liberals on May 20, 2006 08:11 PMThe central theme of this year's convention is, "ONE TEAM, ONE MISSION." I find this to be particularly relevant to the upcoming election cycle. As Republicans we are all on the same team. We must always remember to focus on our common values, and not on the small differences that threaten to divide us. With this in mind, I firmly believe that we can achieve our mission and make 2006 a big year for the GOP. Electoral success in this state is well within our grasp.
I encourage all delegates in the upcoming days to get their registration forms ASAP. It looks as if we are going to have a productive time in Yakima, and I look forward to seeing all of you. Diane
KS is right!
What good does any of the campaigning, registration, contributing, volunteering, etc do - if our elections system is corrupt?
It makes no sense! We've are going on 2 years now - after the obvious 2004 election fraud fiasco. Two years! And what has ben corrected? Who has been fired, arrested, prosecuted? No one - directly responsible for the fraud has ever been dealt with. In fact - the Democrats in Olympia have successfully made it easier than ever to commit election fraud since 2004!
No amount of doorbelling, phonecalling, registering, contributing, etc.. is going to help get the corrupt people out of office in this state if they are the ones who are allowed to count the votes!
Posted by: Deborah on May 20, 2006 08:39 PMI agree with your comments and I share your angst along with many in the party.
However, we must not allow the democrat criminals or our own doubts to lure us into a defeatist mindset. War and politics are figurative siblings and in war there is a common conception that no matter how well you plan, how just your cause may be, or how well your enemies may do the same things, chance is always a factor and fortune favors the brave. That means that when things look their very worst is when it is most important to be singularly resolute. “Chance” is omnipresent, deceit a glib and oily art subject to failings, and change the great leveler of fortunes.
In the Man of La Mancha about Don Quixote it was said, “he got the better of himself and that’s the best kind of victory one can wish for.” The question in this situation is which side will defeat itself? Let the liberals be smug in their web of criminal inveiglement; it will fail.
No one can say how things will turn out here in Washington State, but things will change. How they will change, what new wrinkles in enforcement, and what corruption Gregoire and her cadre will be caught for is anyone's guess, but when they are caught, we need to be ready to seize the initiative. I'm going to stay the course, turn out to vote and act like GW Bush and Stefan Sharkansky, honest, persistent, and doggedly resolute. I won’t try to beat up my own party over small differences, and unlike liberals I will act out of thoughtful deliberation, rather than blind prejudice and passion. I know that deep down, many including erstwhile liberals are sick of liberal corruption and deceit.
Thank you and all of the conservatives at Sound Politics for your decency, integrity, and honesty.
We will win if we stick to the truth, the facts, and together.
Thank you Amused.
I'm not going anywhere...
Posted by: Deborah on May 20, 2006 11:57 PM