Rossi might contest election results
Republicans concede that at this point it could be his only option

By CHRIS McGANN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT   25 December 2004

OLYMPIA Dino Rossi's current plan for keeping Washington's never-ending governor's race alive appears to be dying, and Republicans acknowledge his only option might be to formally contest the results.

Rossi lost the third and theoretically definitive count in the race against Democrat Christine Gregoire by just 130 votes out of about 2.8 million cast. Rossi won the original tally by 261 votes and the mandatory machine recount by 42.

Gregoire has said "the election is over" and Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed agrees with her. He'll certify the results Thursday.

Before he does that, Rossi and the Republicans want county canvassing boards to reconsider rejected votes they say will help their cause. Reed, however, says the counties can't do that because they've already signed off on the final results of the hand recount.

Republicans say Skamania, Kittitas and Jefferson counties will reconsider votes next week. But more and more it is looks like a formal election challenge either in the courts or the Democratic-controlled Legislature may be Rossi's only option.

Borrowing the rhetoric from the Democrats, Rossi says it's all about having every legitimate vote be counted.

"Whether your signature was mistakenly challenged or whether you're a member of the military who didn't receive your ballot on time, your vote should count," Rossi said in statement Thursday.

Republicans say they have roughly 300 signed affidavits from registered voters who said their votes were not counted.

It all comes down to the definition of legitimate.

  
 
Democrats and Reed contend that the 1,718 additional votes that turned up statewide during the manual recount were counted because they were discovered within the time period established by state law.

But now that all of Washington's 39 counties have certified the results of their manual recounts, Reed and the Democrats say it's too late for the Rossi votes in question.

Rossi has accused the state's Supreme Court justices of changing the rules in the middle of the election to the Democrats' benefit. Justices ruled this week that hundreds of mistakenly rejected ballots could be considered because their error was discovered before King County certified its count.

"That is wrong," Rossi said. "If the rules can be changed for a group of voters in King County, then the new rules should apply to everyone, equally."

But Reed, the state's top election officer, sent out a bulletin Thursday advising county auditors that they are not legally allowed to reopen their canvassing boards to review the ballots.

Although a few auditors have agreed to consider the ballots from the Republicans, "most county auditors are in agreement with (Reed)," said Trova Hutchins, Reed's spokeswoman.

Rossi's spokeswoman, Mary Lane, said auditors may have second thoughts when they realize how many disenfranchised voters there are.

That said, "it could very well come to contesting the election," Lane said. "There are just so many questions about what has happened in King County about the integrity of the election process that it might make sense."

Republican attorneys are fine-tuning their plan B, the details of which will be released early next week, Lane said.

If Republican appeals to have more votes counted are indeed thwarted, Lane said, there are enough systemic problems with the election process in Washington to merit contesting the governor's race.

King County Elections Director Dean Logan said that the county has addressed the problems that have come up in an honest, transparent way in accordance with state law.

Gregoire said Thursday that she has "every confidence" in Washington's election system.

"I think we have been a model to the rest of the nation and the world at large about how an election system, as close as this one is, can be done with the highest of quality ... This is the biggest display of democracy I have ever seen and I am proud of it and I think it's an inspiration."