Chelan County's fix of ballot to be focal point of Dems' appeal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS   18 December 2004

WENATCHEE, Wash. A Leavenworth woman's vote for Dino Rossi - which almost didn't count - shows why King County should be allowed to tally several hundred mistakenly rejected ballots in the race for governor, a Wenatchee lawyer has argued.

Attorney Russ Speidel, in a brief opposing the Republicans' bid to keep King County from counting several hundred previously disqualified ballots, outlined the saga of Nancy Johnson's ballot.

Her ballot was initially rejected because Chelan County officials thought she had voted twice. It turns out there were two Nancy Johnsons with Leavenworth post office boxes who mailed in absentee ballots, causing a mix-up, The Wenatchee World reported Saturday.

Johnson's ballot was finally counted Wednesday after the county canvassing board ruled that the county's error led to the earlier rejection, the newspaper said.

Speidel says that illustrates why King County should be able to count 723 ballots that weren't originally tallied because of mistakes by election staff.

  
  
In his view, there cannot be different standards for counting ballots in each county, he told the newspaper. If Chelan County can correct a mistake and count a ballot that had once been disqualified, Speidel said, then it's unconstitutional to deny King County the same right, he contended.

"That is a denial of the equal protection clause under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," he said.

On Friday, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend ruled for the Republicans. She said it was simply too late for counties to reconsider ballots from the Nov. 2 election, even if such ballots were erroneously rejected by election workers.

However, Democrats have appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court. Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said Democrats support Chelan County's fix and will highlight the case in their appeal.

Rossi's spokeswoman Mary Lane said Johnson's ballot should not have been counted, and neither should the hundreds in question in King County.

Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander said the high court is prepared to take up the case next week.

Rossi, a Republican, holds an overall lead of 50 votes in the manual recount of his extremely tight contest with Democrat Christine Gregoire. With or without the hundreds of ballots at issue, the recount of King County's 900,000 ballots could tip results in Gregoire's favor.

King County is the only one in the state that's still counting. Barring any delays, the recount is expected to be complete by Wednesday, though county election spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said results will not be certified until the Supreme Court rules on Friday's decision in Pierce County.

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