Voting Postmortem in Washington

Voting postmortem in Washington

Dino Rossi and his supporters have a right to go to court, but it's hard to see the governor's election being voided

Saturday, January 08, 2005

Sixteen days ago, in commenting on Washington state's tight governor's race, we cautiously opined that it looked like time for Dino Rossi to concede -- barring any convincing evidence of election fraud or procedural error.

Today, amid widespread claims of procedural error, it appears caution was warranted. Rossi and his Washington State Republican Party said Friday they will take one more shot by exercising their right to challenge the vote results on legal grounds.

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The Seattle Times said it found 24 examples of people being credited with voting in the November election even though they had died before absentee ballots were mailed.
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Here's what hurts Rossi's chances in court: So far, the largest verified error in this election favored him. More than 700 King County ballots, most of them for Gregoire, were wrongly disqualified in the initial count.

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Yes, it's a mess, and it doesn't favor Dino Rossi. Perhaps he can take comfort, though, in something the Seattle papers reported. Both quoted an elderly gentleman who admitted following his dying wife's wishes. She died on Sept. 29, and the faithful husband cast her vote for . . . Rossi.

Gregoire's winning margin just jumped from 129 to 130.

http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/110518928484020.xml

(article mentions the GOP is now complaining of overseas military ballots not received, provisional ballots not counted, and a litany of other quibbling. This is great--now Dems can point out that this is really a bipartisan issue; all Republicans should insist upon electoral reform to make sure all votes are counted!)

Rossi can have his governorship if Al Gore can have the presidency that he rightfully won.

Republicans are always hypocrites. Just look how the Repugs in Congress are attacking California's Democratic Secretary of State (the one who sued Diebold to make them take back their crooked machines) but turning a blind eye to Kenneth Blackwell breaking every law on the books.