Wash. State Republican Party Says Clerical Error Should Bar 735 Ballots

[Eric J in MN]

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_12_21_washington_state_recount_for_governor_and_735_ballots.asp

In Washington State, they are doing a hand-recount in their close governor's race.

In majority-Democratic King County, Washington, election workers discovered that they mistakenly rejected 735 legal absentee ballots.

They rejected those absentee ballots because they didn't have a signautre-on-file in the computer.

But they now realize they do have a signature-on-file on paper.

Washington State only mails absentee ballots in the first place when they have a signature-on-file.

The election officials in King County want to count those ballots for this recount. However, "on Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend granted a (Washingon State) Republican (Party) request for a temporary order preventing King County from including the ballots in the hand recount. Democrats, King County and Reed have appealed that to the Supreme Court, which will consider the matter tomorrow." ("Reed says county has right to fix error, tally 735 ballots" by David Postman, Dec. 21, 2004.)

This how Republican Dino Rossi responded through a spokeswoman to the news that several-hundred ballots won't be counted, pending appeal ("Judge blocks count of some Wash. Ballots," AP via USA Today, Dec. 17, 2004):

Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane said the judge made the right decision.

"If King County were allowed to keep adding more ballots, elections would never end," Lane said.

As for those whose ballots aren't counted, she said: "That is King County's fault. We cannot be held responsible for the fact that King County made a mistake."

People like Dino Rossi and his spokeswoman Mary Lane, who are contemptuous of democracy, should not hold power in a democratic society.

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_12_21_washington_state_recount_for_governor_and_735_ballots.asp

[Fiona]

1. Gregoire needs to pin them down on this:

The implication is the votes are somehow supsect because they weren't counted the first time. She needs to make them specify WHY they think the votes are suspect - do they think they're manufactured after the election?

If it can be shown the votes were properly cast and not counted due to error, would they accept that? She needs to make Rossi say, out loud, that he would support tossing legally cast votes.

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. My Ballot is one of the 735

And Rossi is right. This F*&^ up is on the hands of King County. The supervisor of Electios there made the decision not to count ballots that did not have a sig on file. I know this for a fact. The SUP is a Dem BTW. We all had sigs on paper an instead of disqualifying the ballots he should have had them checked. But nooooo....So now we had a big old mess and no way to fix it. I think Dean Logan and Bill Hunnekins need to go. They are inept and should not be runnng an elections office. I know I know them both...they have lied to me and to the press something another Supervisor of Elections was hung out to dry for. Problem is...she was scapegoated to cover Diebolds ass.

This whole thing reeks...another finger of blame should point squarely at Ron Sims...the county Exec. Under his watchful eye (sarcasm) King county elections has steadily gotten worse. I don't hold out hope those ballots are going to be counted...But I do hold out hope that heads are going to roll......

This is just getting interesting.

Andy

[Fiona]

3. god_bush_n_cheny

why wouldn't the votes be counted? Were they not legally cast? If the county (or state) fucks up counting the votes the first time around, is there a legal reason to not count them in a recount?

[Eric J in MN]

9. The argument against counting those absentee ballots in

King County is that only previously counted votes should be counted in a recount.

[Fiona]

11. but who says that?

the law or the republicans?

If it's the law, the law is flawed. Legally cast ballots should be counted.

[Eric J in MN]

15. The Washington State Republican Party, the Dino Rossi

campaign, and a lower state court.

The lower state court was basing that off a recent State Supreme Court ruling that counties aren't required to double-check rejected ballots during the recount.

[Eric J in MN]

6. The way to fix the mess is to count your ballot and the other 734 (nt)

nt

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Isn't the PURPOSE of a recount to count all legal ballots?

The Repubs are basically saying, we don't want to add any more votes even if they are legal. So how do they define a recount? And we all know their rules would suddenly change if the 758 votes were for a Repub candidate.

This really, really reeks. It will be a major blow if they are allowed to bar these perfectly legal ballots.

[Eric J in MN]

7. It should be (nt)

nt

[merwin]

17. The law is conflicting in WA...

First it says that a recount is only counting what was counted the first time (legally cast ballots). And since these were rejected, the argument goes that they were never legally cast.

BUT, the law also provides for counties to fix their fuck-ups, which is what has been going on in other counties that have included other ballots that weren't counted the first time.

The only reason that the rossi is whining about king county is that it's the one county where the dems will kick ass 100% of the time, no matter what :)

[SaveAmerica]

5. Think of all the 'mistakes' all across America...

If you use this as a standard for counting ballots, you'd have the biggest mess (sorry, bigger than we're seeing). For example, in Charlotte (if I remember correctly) some ballots were originally put through the counting machines twice. If we use this 'oopsie' factor, when they did the recount (where the mistake was discovered) those double votes would have stood as they were since it was the fault of the board and counters. It's just stupid, count the votes, 1 vote per ballot, it's not rocket science!

ps if you're from Charlotte let me know if I have those details wrong, the week of Nov 2 is a blur.

[Eric J in MN]

8. The Seatlle Times agrees that mistakes should be fixed

during this period, even though the Seattle Times endorsed Republican Dino Rossi and knows that counting those 735 ballots will make Democrat Chritine Gregoire the winner:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2002125493_countemed21.html

Count the votes in King County

Editorial

One of the most fundamental beliefs of American citizens is that after they cast their ballots, election workers will do everything possible to count the votes.

That did not happen for several hundred voters in King County. Signatures on file were not properly loaded into a computer and election workers did not check signatures in the paper files. This clerical error belongs to election workers and can only be rectified by counting all valid votes. The state Supreme Court has all the appropriate material before it to rule this week that every vote cast in the election, including more than 700 ballots in King County, should be counted if signatures on absentee ballots match signatures on file.

The other alternative is too scary and runs the risk of suppressing votes and vote-counting to achieve a particular result.

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. I really like this part of what you excerpted

from the Seattle Times:

(snip)
The state Supreme Court has all the appropriate material before it to rule this week that every vote cast in the election, including more than 700 ballots in King County, should be counted if signatures on absentee ballots match signatures on file.

The other alternative is too scary and runs the risk of suppressing votes and vote-counting to achieve a particular result.

That is about as clear and forceful as can be said without cuss words added. And this was a newspaper, you say, that actually had supported the Repub candidate. I'm glad to see such unambiguous support for democracy over partisan politics in a newspaper. There isn't enough of this these days. I hope the Supreme Court agrees.

[Raster]

10. As a citizen of Washington state, I say COUNT ALL THE BALLOTS

I guarantee you, if those ballots had come from one of the counties over the mountains, namely one with a high concentration of repub voters, the 'pubs would be SCREAMING TO HIGH HEAVEN to count those ballots.

How do you spell "hypocritical pile of shit"? r-e-p-u-b-l-i-c-a-n.

[Pithy Cherub]

13. If a vote was legally cast, it should be legally counted! n/t

[RevCheesehead]

14. In a "Worse Case Scenario," assume Rossi is elected, w/out the 700+

Would that provide a reason for WA to hold a "recall" election, like they did in California? Or is WA law different?

I cannot for the life of me think of a reason why a legally cast vote should not be counted. A recall is to count VOTES, not a process to audit machine accuracy.

[Andy_Stephenson]

16. Either way...

Gregoire or Rossi win...I am filing a disenfranchisement lawsuit against King County. Logan, Hunnekins and Sims have to go.

[mod mom]

18. that's right it's the county's fault, not the voters

Count the damn votes!

[Eric J in MN]

19. Yes, count every legal ballot (nt)

nt