GOP: Felons, Dead People Voted in Wash.

REBECCA COOK

Associated Press   27 January 2005

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Republicans asking a judge to throw out the results of Washington's ultra-close gubernatorial election said Wednesday they have found that 300 ballots were cast illegally by felons and others.

The ballots included people who voted twice, or in the names of people who died before absentee ballots were mailed back, state GOP leaders said.

Those votes, combined with 437 provisional ballots that were illegally fed directly into voting machines, should call Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire's 129-vote victory over Republican Dino Rossi into question, the GOP said.

"Clearly we have more illegal votes than the margin of victory," state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said. "The law is on our side."

Rossi had narrow leads after the first count and a machine recount, but Gregoire won in a hand recount of the 2.9 million ballots cast Nov. 2. Republicans have filed a legal challenge in Chelan County Superior Court; Judge John E. Bridges has scheduled the next hearing for Feb. 4.

Republicans contend that mistakes such as the counting of 737 illegal ballots spoiled the election to the point that the real winner can never be known. They are pushing for a new election.

The state Democratic Party and several of the counties have filed motions to dismiss the case. Democrats say that while the election was close, the Republicans' evidence isn't enough to nullify the election and Gregoire is the legitimate governor.

"The GOP has regularly exaggerated problems in the election," state Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said Wednesday in a news release.

Republicans allege that 240 felons whose voting rights had not been restored cast ballots in the election, and that 16 ballots were from people who had voted twice, either casting two ballots in Washington state or ballots in Washington and another state. Vance said party officials found another 44 people who died before absentee ballots were mailed.

The King County prosecutor has asked the county sheriff to investigate four possible cases of voter fraud, prosecutor's spokesman Dan Donohoe said. Three involve people suspected of voting on behalf of dead relatives, and one is a person who may have voted twice.