[Vision2020] And in Washington State . . .

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted from today's (November 22, 2004) Moscow-Pullman Daily News
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Judge denies request that ballots not be counted 

 

Associated Press

 

SEATTLE - A federal judge has denied the Republican Party's bid to force one
of the state's most heavily Democratic counties to stop counting some
ballots in the recount of the extremely close race for governor. 

In a conference call Sunday with lawyers, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman
denied the state GOP's request for a temporary restraining order barring
King County from hand-counting ballots that optical scanning machines reject
because they can't be read electronically. 

 

Republican state Chairman Chris Vance, noting that the lawsuit continues,
said Pechman's decision dealt with only one aspect of the case. He said the
decision was based on King County's assurance that all ballots in question
were being kept separate from the others so they can be reviewed if any
mistakes are made. 

 

''We don't believe King County,'' Vance said. ''Our observers have watched.
Ballots are being altered. And we don't believe they are being set aside.'' 

 

State Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt praised the judge's ruling as
''a good decision.'' 

 

''It's good for voters because it's consistent with the standard we would
like to see - that every vote be counted,'' Berendt said. 

 

After all counties reported their tallies Wednesday, Republican Dino Rossi
led Democrat Christine Gregoire for governor by 261 votes out of some 2.8
million ballots cast. State law requires a machine recount when the margin
is less than 2,000 votes. 

 

The recount began in a handful of counties Saturday, continued Sunday and
was expected to wrap up by Wednesday. So far, Klickitat County in southwest
Washington has been the only one to post results, giving Rossi one more vote
in results released Saturday. 

 

Pechman agreed to rule on the lawsuit filed Saturday on an emergency basis.
The case was reassigned to U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez on Monday
morning, and Republicans were hoping to get an afternoon hearing, Rossi
spokeswoman Mary Lane said. 

 

Republicans sued Secretary of State Sam Reed and the King County's election
division on Saturday, arguing that ballots the machines can't count should
be excluded from the recount because they have to be checked by hand. 

 

''This constitutes a clear violation of hundreds of thousands of Washington
voters' right to equal protection under the United States and Washington
State Constitutions,'' the lawsuit stated. 

 

King County voters use paper ballots that are optically scanned. The
Republicans' lawsuit said most of the state's 39 counties use optical
scanners while 14 use the punchcard system. Rossi got a majority of votes in
11 of those punchcard counties, while Gregoire led in King County, the
lawsuit said. 

 

King County Elections Superintendent Bill Huennekens said the recount is
being handled scrupulously, with observers from each party watching closely.


 

''In an election this close, each side has an interest in pressuring and
advancing their issues and concerns, and we have a duty ... to conduct the
recount according to law and our long-standing established policies and
procedures,'' Huennekens said. 

 

Republicans complained Sunday that Huennekens refused to send at least one
ballot to a canvassing board for review, even though the bubble next to
Rossi's name was clearly filled in, with only a small mark next to
Gregoire's name. Huennekens said the mark actually was made in the Gregoire
bubble, which made it an ''overvote'' that can't be counted toward either
candidate's total. 

 

A former Democratic precinct committee officer in Mason County, Huennekens
scoffed at Republicans' suggestion that he was letting politics taint the
process. ''I'm not a PCO anymore and I conduct elections in a nonpartisan
manner according to state law,'' he said. 

 

Among other complaints, Republicans said a box of ballots that was supposed
to be sealed was found unsealed and had 201 ballots - two more than a
receipt on the box said it should have had. 

 

Dean Logan, King County's elections director, said such discrepancies occur
occasionally, and that in any such case, the box is set aside and counted
again to make sure it has the right number of ballots.

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