I don't know what to expect if this election is overturned, but I don't think it's going to be pretty. I'll be one of the first to protest through letters and phone calls.
I don't think there will be any recourse for republicans should the election be reversed.
M
Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance called the lawsuit "a nuclear bomb. It will blow up our election system in Washington state."
M
Saturday, December 04, 2004, 12:00 A.M. Pacific
Statewide recount next week; Dems sue over rejected ballots
By Andrew Garber And David Postman
Seattle Times staff reporters
OLYMPIA — Democrats yesterday plunged Washington into an unprecedented statewide hand recount of nearly 3 million ballots in the governor's race by delivering a $730,000 check to the Secretary of State's Office.
And in a simultaneous move that Republicans called a "nuclear bomb," Democrats filed suit in the state Supreme Court, seeking to compel counties to reconsider ballots that had previously been rejected.
Both moves have the potential to throw the state's elections system, and the race between Republican Dino Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire, into more weeks of turmoil.
Rossi won the first count of the Nov. 2 election by 261 votes. A mandatory statewide machine recount tightened his lead to 42 votes. He was certified as governor-elect on Tuesday. However, Gregoire has maintained the race is too close to concede. Her campaign and the Democratic Party said a second recount, this one by hand, was needed to determine the winner.
State law allows for candidates and the political parties to ask for a second recount if they pick up the tab. Yesterday's $730,000 deposit represents only an estimate of costs; under state law, the Democratic Party would be required to pay for the actual costs once the recount is complete. But if the recount changes the outcome of the election, the party gets its money back.
Secretary of State Sam Reed is expected to issue a recount order on Monday. The counting has to start by Thursday, and elections officials hope to have the last ballots counted by Dec. 23.
Rossi's campaign accused the Democrats of trying to steal the election. "As far as we're concerned, it's trying to overturn the legitimate result of this election by any means necessary, ethical or not," Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane said. "Christine Gregoire cares more about her own political ambition than what the voters actually think."
Gov. Gary Locke yesterday said he was happy the Democrats are going to recount the whole state. "The only way to ensure it is a fair and complete recount is to do the entire state," he said. "We need to be confident that all legitimate votes were counted."
Reed preached calm yesterday. "There's every reason to have confidence in our system," Reed said.
Although yesterday's events raise the prospect of election chaos, Reed doesn't see that happening. He said the recount will start on schedule and the Democrats' lawsuit is unlikely to make any headway.
As recently as Thursday, Gregoire said she was ready to concede the election if her party was able to raise only enough money for a hand recount in select counties. Now she finds herself in the midst of a battle.
Gregoire, a three-term attorney general, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday, but in a statement said, "We should be proud to live in a state where Democrats, Republicans and independents are so committed to protecting our sacred right to vote."
JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Republican Dino Rossi, left, holds a news conference yesterday at his campaign headquarters in Bellevue in response to Democrats' moves to implement a hand recount in the governor's race. At right is former Secretary of State Ralph Munro.
Rossi, a real-estate agent and former state senator, chastised Gregoire yesterday. "If the roles were reversed ... for the good of the state of Washington, I would not be turning to lawyers right now," he said.
Although the state Democratic Party all week indicated it was short of the money needed for a statewide recount, by the end of yesterday, the party said it had raised more than $1 million to pay for the recount.
John Kerry's campaign and the Democratic National Committee each contributed $250,000. Another $250,000 was raised in 24 hours after an appeal from a group associated with MoveOn.org, a liberal group that was active in this year's presidential campaign.
"I've never stopped believing Chris Gregoire was elected governor," Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt said at a news conference. "It would be easy to demand a recount in a few counties, but she wanted every vote or no vote. And that's what we're going to do."
Berendt said the lawsuit filed by the party is asking the state Supreme Court to rule on what he says are inconsistencies in the way ballots are handled from county to county.
The suit asks for a hearing as early as next week.
It was filed on behalf of four people who say their votes were not counted because of a variety of problems. Democrats want such ballots that had been rejected by county canvassing boards to be reconsidered during the hand recount.
Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance called the lawsuit "a nuclear bomb. It will blow up our election system in Washington state."
Staff reporters Susan Gilmore and Natalie Singer contributed
to this report.
seattletimes.nwsource.com |
