What ever happened to the Washting gov recount??

Aabe · Post by **Aabe** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:44 pm

My boss just came back from Washington State and relayed some articles he read about the gov election there. He said even though they swore in the new govenor. Apparently there was a court challege. 45% of democrates in the state wanted a new election. Some districs has accepted all voters no ID required, felons voted, even a few dead voters and all the other fun stuff that can happen at election time.

I was a bit taken aback. I mean if they had said it was about Chicago or North Dacota, sure.. But Washington, my how my old progressive state has progressed.

Sounded kinda messy, just wondering how true the problems are and given the Ukraine RE elections, are condions there messy enough that we realisticly might see a REelection there as well??

Dang. this could be a fun year for all you Washingtonians, if this comes to pass.

Post by **Relbeek Einre** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:47 pm

A new election is probably a good thing in theory. The only problem with it is that it'll be come more a referendum on the previous election debacle and less about which of the candidates will make a better Governor.

Aabe · Post by **Aabe** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:21 pm

True. But at this point neither side will hold much credibility no matter how the courts end up slicing it. Another "no win" I guess.

Post by **Relbeek Einre** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:46 pm

Yeah.

ZanypherCocoapuffs · Post by **ZanypherCocoapuffs** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:54 pm

The outcry in Washington is more over the sloppiness of the election then the gerrymandering during the recounts. Oh sure, either side was upset with the individual recount votes when they weren't in their favor, but the rest of the state is more embarrassed by the whole ordeal then anything else. The Revote will never happen because Sec of State Sam Reed has basically ended the stupid thing. Probably a good idea, but he ended it awfully premature after the Gregoire winning tally recount.

I had a chance to meet Sam Reed when he was visiting the Hanford Site a year ago and he stayed in the hotel I worked at. He was a hell of a nice guy with some pretty nifty ideas as well as charisma. I'm kind of sorry this kind of crap had to happen on his watch, because it was pretty much a political landmine regardless of where he goes with it. As for the revote, that has been mostly spouted about by conservatives who don't like the idea of Christine Gregoire being governer. Frankly, I don't like her either, and like most Washingtonians hate the idea of someone winning after a crybaby fit of recounting, but she's our governer and that's where it should end.

Post by **Relbeek Einre** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 4:00 pm

then the gerrymandering during the recounts.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

ZanypherCocoapuffs · Post by **ZanypherCocoapuffs** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:47 pm

Well whatever. The point is people were being assholes, and that's the worst part of it in the eyes of Washingtonians. For most, the revote would be a way of "fixing" what was undoubtly an error in the first place.

Gutofsouls · Post by **Gutofsouls** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 1:20 am

holy fuck is the states ever fucked up side the head its like u guys got hit with a big massive stupid stick up side the fucking head.....
after all that has happened in 2000 with the votes u guys are by far the worest country in the fucking worlding for voting recounts every fucking day for fuck sake

ZanypherCocoapuffs · Post by **ZanypherCocoapuffs** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:56 am

Gutofsouls wrote:holy fuck is the states ever fucked up side the head its like u guys got hit with a big massive stupid stick up side the fucking head.....
after all that has happened in 2000 with the votes u guys are by far the worest country in the fucking worlding for voting recounts every fucking day for fuck sake

Thanks for the social commentary.

You're right about one thing: the denizens of Washington have apparently forgotten about the shit that happened 4 years ago. Indeed, the parralels between Florida's recount, the hand recount, hanging chads, and especially the shit with the handfull of Democrat strongholds, and the recounts here, hand recount, and focusing on the "mistakes" in the primarily Democrat stronghold King County are interesting. Honestly there is no difference in the approach and the getaway except this time the Democrats managed to find enough votes to win the election, and the door was slammed shut before anything could continue.

Aabe · Post by **Aabe** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:21 am

ZanypherCocoapuffs wrote: The Revote will never happen because Sec of State Sam Reed has basically ended the stupid thing. Probably a good idea, but he ended it awfully premature after the Gregoire winning tally recount.

Is Sam Reed a democrat?? If so, I agree with your Florida comparison.

ZanypherCocoapuffs wrote: As for the revote, that has been mostly spouted about by conservatives who don't like the idea of Christine Gregoire being governer. .

45% of democrats in Washington would vote for a recount. Must be a lot of conservative democrats in Washington State.

yutsano · Post by **yutsano** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:46 am

A) Sam Reed is a Republican.

B) Most voters would probably identify themselves as independent centrists in Washington, mainly because you don't have to name a party affiliation when you register to vote. Add to that the fact that people weren't necessarily voting against Gregoire (although I did) or for Rossi inasmuch as they were voting for change...we've had the same governor for twelve years and Democractic ones for the last twenty, so personally I didn't mind a Republican in that office. Of course, the last Republican governor of WA was a disaster; it's taken the party this long to bring up a serious challenger to a Democratic stronghold.

Burz · Post by **Burz** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:47 pm

Clearly King County material.

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 9:37 pm

Here it is in timeline form:

Nov. 2: Election Day. Three-term Democratic Attorney General Christine Gregoire finds herself in an unexpectedly tight race with Republican real estate agent Dino Rossi, a former state senator. Gregoire is up by 7,000 votes at the end of the night, with hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots yet to be counted.

Nov. 9: As absentee ballots are tallied, Rossi pulls ahead by 2,123 votes.

Nov. 12: The state Democratic Party successfully sues King County to get the names of voters whose provisional ballots are in danger of being disqualified. Over Republican protests, Democrats turn in more than 400 signed affidavits from voters to verify their ballots.

Nov. 17: With all counties reporting, Rossi wins by 261 votes. State law triggers a machine recount.

Nov. 30: The secretary of state certifies the result of the machine recount, making Rossi the winner by 42 votes.

Dec. 2: Democrats declare they will seek an unprecedented hand recount of the 2.9 million ballots cast in the governor's race.

Dec. 8: Counties begin recounting ballots by hand.

Dec. 13: King County announces it has discovered more than 500 ballots that were mistakenly rejected by election workers. By the end of the week the number tops 700.

Dec. 14: The state Supreme Court unanimously rejects the Democratic Party's petition to force counties to reconsider about 3,000 invalidated ballots in the hand recount.

Friday, Dec. 17: With every county reporting but King, the state's largest, Rossi holds a 49-vote lead in the hand recount. Republicans seek and get a temporary restraining order blocking King County from counting the 700-plus newly discovered ballots.

Wednesday, Dec. 22: The Supreme Court throws out the restraining order and rules that King County may reconsider the 700-plus ballots. Even without them, unofficial King County results show Gregoire winning the recount by 10 votes.

Thursday, Dec. 23: Gregoire wins the recount by 129 votes, after King County counts the newly discovered ballots and certifies its results.

Dec. 30: Secretary of State Sam Reed certifies the election.

Jan. 3: Two private citizens file election challenges with the Supreme Court.

Jan. 7: Rossi announces he will challenge the election in court

Jan. 11: The Democrat-controlled Legislature certifies the election, overriding GOP calls for a two-week delay.

Jan. 12: Gregoire is inaugurated.

Jan. 20: Chelan County Superior Court hearing scheduled on Rossi challenge to final recount.

Jan. 21: Deadline for any registered voter to file a lawsuit challenging the results of the election.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/apl ... pagefrom=2