Wash. Court: New Ballots Can Be Counted
14 minutes ago
Top Stories - AP
By REBECCA COOK, Associated Press Writer
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Washington state's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that more than 700 belatedly discovered ballots from Seattle's King County should be counted in the extraordinarily close governor's race — potentially enough to tip the balance in favor of Democrat Christine Gregoire.
King County is a Democratic stronghold, the biggest county in the state and the last to report results from the statewide hand recount that began Dec. 8.
The ruling was a boost to the Democrats, who even before the decision were claiming victory, saying their own analysis showed that even without the belated ballots, Gregoire had erased Republican Dino Rossi's slim lead and won the race by just eight votes out of 2.9 million cast.
"We are absolutely thrilled," said Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost. "All along this has been about those voters who have been disenfranchised, and this is a tremendous victory for them today."
King County planned to release its official results Wednesday afternoon.
Up to now, the 723 King County ballots had not been included in the hand recount, because a lower-court judge granted a Republican request to temporarily block the counting of those votes.
Wednesday's ruling was the latest twist in the roller-coaster race, which was supposed to have been settled seven weeks ago, on Election Day.
Gregoire, 57, a three-term attorney general, was the favorite going into the election against Rossi, 45, a real estate agent and former state senator. |
