I attended Sam Reed's Pig Feed at the Puget Sound Yacht Club in Seattle this afternoon. Yummy pork sandwiches and side dishes and good beer.
Sam gets props for three very important things this year:
* Quashing the attempt by Democrats in the Legislature to enact election-day voter registration.
* His strong support for I-25.
* Leadership in preserving the state's 2008 presidential preference primary.
If one is going to have Election Day registration, one might as well just set the ballots in a barrel out at the curb at the start of the day then come back in the evening and count what's there.
Posted by: km on June 16, 2007 09:25 PMHow many of those votes were actually counted? Was it you filled out the form and they were automatically put in the ballot box, or were they held until the voter could be verified?
Posted by: Mike H on June 16, 2007 10:21 PM4 more years!
Posted by: Anthony on June 17, 2007 01:37 AMSam has done a great job in an incredibly dfficult office. Can you imagine Laura Ruderman as Secretary of State? I can, and it's a horror movie. If we lose this office we will have SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION AND MORE STOLEN ELECTIONS!
JH - grow up and smell the coffee.
Posted by: Eunice Burns on June 17, 2007 09:45 AMSam Reed is Ron Sims toady
Contrary to Eunice Burns, Sam Reed has had the chance to lead multiple times, but Sam has repeatedly chosen to fail
Sam Reed talks tough now, but in 2004 he was worthless and willingly chose to be Ron Sims handpuppet
If a competent Democrat like Brian Sontag or Lloyd Hara ran for SOS, I would vote for them over an incompetent like Sam Reed
Posted by: Reed is scared of Sims on June 17, 2007 10:44 AMI want him OUT, and I will send the democrats money to help GET him out.
That he supports I-25 is swell, but at the end of the day, he should be less concerned about 25 (and really, does ANYONE believe that ANYONE is gonna vote for this because Reed supports it?) and MORE concerned about these 3 issues, and any other issue concerning efforts to insure that those voting in our elections are legally allowed to do so.
Posted by: Hinton on June 17, 2007 11:48 AMIt's an issue of what's right... and what isn't.
Failing to make any effort to reform the system has nothing to do with "resisting temptation." It has to do with a lack of emphasis on those things MOST important to the electorate... which includes a secure system that keeps those who should not be voting FROM voting.
And that includes convicted felons who have not completed their sentences... INCLUDING restitution.
As for the "job" he's doing, it makes no difference what the party is of the person holding that job. I want the job done right to the best of the holder's ability, regardless of party. The idea that one of us should do his job by "petitioning the legislature" is the height of absurdity.
This guy went around the state listening to people's concerns (which were much the same most everywhere he went)... and then did absolutely nothing to address them.
He not only does not deserve re-election... he should have resigned 2 years ago.
Posted by: Hinton on June 17, 2007 06:09 PMMy vote is for Sam Reed.
Posted by: JimD on June 17, 2007 06:50 PMI would point out that there are only three Republicans elected to state wide office: Sam, Doug Sutherland and Rob McKenna. Why? Because folks like the above mentioned blogers will cut off their noses to spite their faces. According to them, it is only leadership when the official does what they want. If the officials do anything else, they are considered RINO's or a toady.
That Sam demonstrated his leadership to help get legislation to correct deficiencies in the law and improve the process is ignored by these detractors. When the Republicans are in a greater minority with fewer, if any, statewide elected officials, these same folks will bemoan the losses; never mind their failure to support our incumbents and other candidates.
I would point out that there are only three Republicans elected to state wide office: Sam, Doug Sutherland and Rob McKenna. Why? Because folks like the above mentioned blogers will cut off their noses to spite their faces. According to them, it is only leadership when the official does what they want. If the officials do anything else, they are considered RINO's or a toady.
That Sam demonstrated his leadership to help get legislation to correct deficiencies in the law and improve the process is ignored by these detractors. When the Republicans are in a greater minority with fewer, if any, statewide elected officials, these same folks will bemoan the losses; never mind their failure to support our incumbents and other candidates.
Also, to comment #9, Sam Reed could not have "thrown" the 2000 election as he was just elected that year and not yet in office.
Posted by: Scott on June 18, 2007 11:33 AMSam Reed is actively pushing VoteHere's Mail-in Ballot Tracker (MiBT) product. In San Juan County, MiBT is used to link your voter id to your ballot. This destroys your secret ballot. It's unconstitutional. (We had a fund raiser for local activists who are suing their county.)
Sam Reed is for counting ballots before election day. That's right. Ballots are "pre-processed" before election day. The election officials make a fictional distinction between "pre-processing" and "tabulation". Why is this a problem? Because people can get early results. Google for "cheat peak pima az" to learn how this is being done today.
Sam Reed is for fiddling with the votes recorded in the tabulation database, vs today's process of manually duplicating ballots.
Sam Reed is for computerized automatic signature verification software, vs today's process of using humans to compare voter's signatures.
Sam Reed is against mandatory audits of the ballot tabulators used for the central count.
Sam Reed repeatedly uses his "emergency" rulemaking authority to rush bad decisions through the back door. Next up: circumventing our state's certification process so that King County can be the first in the country to use Diebold's new DRS PS900 iM2 highspeed ballot tabulator and Central Tally System (CTS) software. Just in time for Nov 2008.
Etc, etc.
Posted by: zappini on June 18, 2007 05:34 PMSecretary Reed is the Defendant in the Madison court case that is seeking to set-aside our state's felon voting statute. Both he and Attorney General McKenna have defended our statute from those who want to set it aside. We are awaiting the final decision of the State Supreme Court.
Since January 2006, when the new Statewide Voter Registration database came online, 5,976 felon voter registrations have been cancelled. That is strong enforcement of the law, not just paying lip service to it.
Steve Excell
Assistant Secretary of State
Olympia, WA
"reality-based community, my ass" -- pudge
Posted by: zappini on June 19, 2007 04:07 PMSecretary Reed has actively sought more secure, more efficient, and more reliable means to conduct elections in the state of Washington. No election was ever scrutinized as closely as the 2004 gubernatorial election.
In a legal contest that lasted more than five months, a judge ruled that there was no evidence of organized fraud, but there was a great deal of evidence of human error. Sam Reed has dedicated the last three years to decreasing opportunity for human error in the conduct of elections in this state, including seeking out and testing new technology to improve the accuracy of counting and reconcillation. He continues to implement and comply with all election reform laws that have been passed by the legislature. He is a leader in the nation in this area.
Processing absentee ballots is not counting absentee ballots. It is verifying the signature on the ballot with the signature on the voter registration database in order to prevent fraud. It is opening envelopes, sorting by precinct in some cases, and stacking ballots with weights so they will run through the tabulation machines on Election Day in a smoother fashion.
There is one digital system that does allow the scanning and storing of ballot images, but does not tabulate the ballots. Tabulation occurs only on Election Day in all voting systems in this state, according to statute. This is open to observation and verification by any member of the public at any of the 38 County Auditor's offices, and King County's REALs office.
The state legislature - not Secretary Reed - authorized the use of automated signature verification in the 2006 legislative session, provided the technology was approved by the Office of the Secretary of State.
Automated signature verification is undergoing testing at this time but Secretary Reed has not approved any system for use in the state and will not do so until one can meet the standards and requirements set forth by his office.
Secretary Reed has never made a negative comment regarding the auditing of tabulation systems. He has implemented laws that allow parties to request hand counting of specific precincts on Election Day, and laws that require a paper audit trail on any electronic voting device.
In addition to the logic and accuracy testing of all voting equipment, he has advocated the random audit of electronic voting equiption - which is now being done.
He has actively supported efforts on the national level to set more stringent security standards for voting systems.
He has pushed for more accuracy and accountability in elections equipment while recognizing the need to use machines to actually conduct the tabulation of up to 3.2 million ballots statewide.
Neither King County, nor the Office of Secretary of State has circumvented any laws or intends to circumvent any laws in regards to voting equipment for King County. The new Diebold high speed ballot tabulator will be held to the same statutory requirements that any other voting system is. If the company does not submit it in time, it will not be used in 2008. If the system does qualify on the federal level and passes the State's own testing, and only then, will it be certified for use in Washington by King County or any other county.
Steve Excell
Assistant Secretary of State
Olympia, WA