Washington revote

[iwillfearnoevil]

Christine Gregoire gained enough votes through a manual recound to eek out a 129 vote lead over Dino Rossi to become Washington state's new governor. For some reason this is getting no national news and is far more of a scandal than anything that happened in other states. it was a democratic governor who triumphed so thus the outrage is on the republican side. that may be why boxer didn't mention this last week.

blog that is right on top of the story:
http://www.soundpolitics.com/

latest news story:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002161949_vance27m.html

basically the latest is that 737 illegal votes have been found so far and more every day. this is in the courts and a re-vote is a possibility as the state has no way to find out who voted for who. for example, provisional ballots are filled out for those who may not be on the eligible voter list. if they are determined valid (ie, haven't voted elsewhere, then they are counted.)

-186 felons in King County

-54 felons from elsewhere in the state

-44 people who died before absentee ballots were mailed

-10 who voted twice in Washington state

-6 who voted in Washington and another state

-437 provisional ballots that were illegally fed directly into voting machines, as reported by King, Pierce and Stevens counties.

[saint]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It does, however, seem to be getting plenty of national press from what I can see...

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=washington+governor+recount&ie=UTF-8&start=30&sa=N
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24878-2005Jan20.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4227-2005Jan12.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002148856_webgovernor12.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/12/washington.governor.ap/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6744362/

among others...

I recall seeing quite a bit about this one actually...

Christine Gregoire gained enough votes through a manual recound to eek out a 129 vote lead over Dino Rossi to become Washington state's new governor. For some reason this is getting no national news and is far more of a scandal than anything that happened in other states. it was a democratic governor who triumphed so thus the outrage is on the republican side. that may be why boxer didn't mention this last week.

blog that is right on top of the story:
http://www.soundpolitics.com/

latest news story:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002161949_vance27m.html

basically the latest is that 737 illegal votes have been found so far and more every day. this is in the courts and a re-vote is a possibility as the state has no way to find out who voted for who. for example, provisional ballots are filled out for those who may not be on the eligible voter list. if they are determined valid (ie, haven't voted elsewhere, then they are counted.)

-186 felons in King County

-54 felons from elsewhere in the state

-44 people who died before absentee ballots were mailed

-10 who voted twice in Washington state

-6 who voted in Washington and another state

-437 provisional ballots that were illegally fed directly into voting machines, as reported by King, Pierce and Stevens counties.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I support a revote in Washington and a revote in Ohio! It's the only way we can solve these issues along bi-partisan lines.

By the looks of it jened supports one in Ohio too, since there have been WAY more questions raised in that state then there have been in Washington! Way to go jened!!!

mrC

[shmokes]

I think she deserves to be governor.  According to Washington State law the person requesting a recount has to pay for it.  She had to raise enough money for the recount, which apparently cost considerably more than her entire campaign.   

But yeah...I've known about this for a long time.  I don't know about across the board (though Saint's links suggest that it's being covered in all the major news outlets) but I heard about it very frequently (especially when it was actually happening) on NPR.  Now that it's all over but the lawsuits I don't hear about it much, but when it's resolved with finality I'm sure they will report on it.

Also, I say good for those felons for managing to have their votes counted.  The rest are indeed fishy, probably fraudulent.   I don't just think that felons should be allowed to vote; I think that felons who are currently incarcerated, including those on death row should be allowed to vote.  If you are old enough to vote, and the decisions of someone in power can and will be directly applied to you, you should have a say in who those people in power are.

[iwillfearnoevil]

I recall seeing quite a bit about this one actually...

you had no idea about the dead voting when mentioned a couple of days ago ...

[mr.Curmudgeon]

you had no idea about the dead voting when mentioned a couple of days ago ...

Damn it...and I tried SOOOOOoooo hard to keep that from leaking to the press. Looks like I lose my 'lib' credentials.


mrC

[Ken Layton]

Christine Gregoire is our bought and paid for governor. She bought all those extra votes and stuffed the ballot box. She said she'd win by hook or crook. 

 I voted for Rossi. 

[Mameotron]

Now that it's all over but the lawsuits I don't hear about it much, but when it's resolved with finality I'm sure they will report on it.

Over the weekend the lawsuits in Ohio were dropped.  Lack of evidence was cited.

I know that the Ohio results are close and indeed seem fishy.  At this point, what more can you do?  It seems that there isn't enough evidence for a recount, so now what?

Well, give Ken Blackwell credit, he IS doing something.  From now on, all ballots in Ohio will be the kind where you fill in the circle with a #2 pencil (just like school!) and they will then be fed into optical scanners for vote counting.  I'm sure that they will rely on the computers in the scanners for counting, but there are the actual ballots there if results are questioned.

I'm not saying this is a perfect system, but he is really trying to make things work better.  He has gotten rid of the "hanging chad" crap, and the no paper trail problem.  He also has given all the county board of elections offices one month to choose between the few different options available.  Some people think that is not enough time, but if there are only three choices how much time do you need?  Good for him, he's not letting the bureaucracy stall out the process.

[iwillfearnoevil]

that ohio thing was just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. if it were serious, i feel kerry would have kept on it more rather than leave it to the fringe left to talk about disenfranchisement.

now, back to washington (hat tip: Rich Lowry from NRO's Corner). interesting results from a poll just released.

Attached is a poll of Washington voters on the disputed gubernatorial election conducted by Strategic Vision, LLC. The poll was conducted January 24-26, 2005 with 800 voters polled and a margin of error of +/- 3%.

The poll finds that 53% of respondents favor a revote for governor; 35% oppose; and 12% are undecided. If there was a revote, 51% would support Republican Dino Rossi; 43% would support Christine Gregoire; and 6% were undecided. When asked who they believe actually won the gubernatorial election in November 53% said Dino Rossi; 37% said Christine Gregoire; and 10% were undecided. When asked if they believed if the courts would allow a revote, 41% said yes; 55% said no; 4% were undecided. Christine Gregoire was viewed favorably by 38%; 57% viewed her unfavorably; and 5% were undecided. Dino Rossi was viewed favorably by 50%; 47% viewed him unfavorably; and 3% were undecided.

[Dartful Dodger]

that ohio thing was just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. if it were serious, i feel kerry would have kept on it more rather than leave it to the fringe left to talk about disenfranchisement.

You don't know Kerry.  It doesn't matter if it's serious or not.  He could bring it up again.

Then drop it again.

Then bring it back up.

Then drop it.

Then bring it back up.

Then drop it.

And no matter what side of the fence he's on, the people who hate Bush will agree with him.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

the people who hate Bush will agree with him.

And the people who love Bush will hate Kerry. So what's your point?

[iwillfearnoevil]

another update ... setback for washingston dems ... my comments in bold
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002163149_revote28m.html

Secretary of State Sam Reed filed court papers this week siding with Republicans on key legal issues in the lawsuit over the governor's election, saying, for example, that the dispute should stay in the courts and not move to the Legislature as Democrats want.

Reed is a Republican and the state's chief election official. In the nearly three months of legal wrangling over the Nov. 2 election, he has sided at various times with Democrats or Republicans. His apparent nonpartisan approach has angered some Republicans who thought he should aggressively fight for Dino Rossi.

i think this is a fair assessment and he has garnered lots of praise from the dems. i guess whatever side benefits from the latest ruling is the least upset at him

Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp yesterday added his voice to those opposed to having the Legislature settle the disputed election. Chopp said he hasn't polled Democratic lawmakers but said, "quite a large number disagree with the state party on that."

so now there is a public conflict between state dems and dem speaker of house. i wonder how this will play out? maybe some national pressure to be applied on chopp?

[saint]

I knew the election was under dispute and undergoing revotes, and that fraud was alleged. I did not know the specifics, such as the dead being counted. My point was not to claim my expertise on this issue, but to point out that I had been exposed to it via the mass media and that I did not think it was a hidden or buried news item. I.E. the fact that I did not absorb all the facts of the matter does not mean that it was not there for me to absorb, had I chosen to do so.

--- saint

I recall seeing quite a bit about this one actually...

you had no idea about the dead voting when mentioned a couple of days ago ...

[iwillfearnoevil]

I.E. the fact that I did not absorb all the facts of the matter does not mean that it was not there for me to absorb, had I chosen to do so.

good point. it's out there, but i disagree on how mainstream it is. thankfully in internet age google will find you everything you want to know. unfortunately non-stories like ohio were covered in detail over real election problems which is as much boxer's fault as the media. just doing a google search does show how much more ohio was covered than washington or wisconsin for example.

[DrewKaree]

now, back to washington (hat tip: Rich Lowry from NRO's Corner). interesting results from a poll just released.

Attached is a poll of Washington voters on the disputed gubernatorial election conducted by Strategic Vision, LLC. The poll was conducted January 24-26, 2005 with 800 voters polled and a margin of error of +/- 3%.

No offense, but I simply can't look at a poll ever the same.  I never put much faith in them beforehand, and after all the hullabaloo after this past election, and the results from all those "exit polls", if I were to put stock in ANY poll, it would be intellectually dishonest of me, and an example of blatant hypocrisy.

Wait, maybe I WILL believe in just one more poll   

I'm for viewing reported facts, not "educated guesses based on a random sample". 

The reported facts can be investigated, polls can't.  I DO look forward to more reported facts!:police:

[iwillfearnoevil]

No offense, but I simply can't look at a poll ever the same.