November 2004 Elections Do Not Represent a Full and Fair Vote Tally
Report from the Voter Integrity Project of the Evergreen Foundation, Washington State
By Bob Williams and Lynn Harsh, 3/21/2005 10:22:00 AM

Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything. Joseph Stalin, Communist dictator of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953

Free and fair elections are indispensable to political freedom. Unfortunately, the election process in our state has been badly compromised, beginning a number of years ago according to some reports.

The uncorrected problems grew exponentially, and a few more were added to the pile in 2004. By the time our November 2004 election came around, conditions for the perfect storm were at hand?and it occurred.

As a result of the significant abuses, ranging from fraud to incompetence, we must conclude that our November 2004 elections do not represent a full and fair vote tally of lawfully cast ballots.

Elections must be uniform and secure, and this is the primary job assigned to our state?s chief election officer, the Secretary of State, and to every county auditor.

But our elections this past November were neither uniform nor secure, because many election officials from the top down did not comply with state and federal election laws. The resulting abuses affect more than the gubernatorial contest, and they impact both the Republican and Democrat parties.

Virtually every problem we have identified had already been addressed in reform legislation passed by the federal government in 2002 and our state government in 2003.

Unfortunately, most of our state election officials did not implement these new laws, which went into effect July 2004.

It was so bad, that the attorney arguing the recanvassing issue for the Secretary of State before our Supreme Court did not use the current law to build his case and argue his points.

The attorney for the Democrats did the same thing, resulting in a "recanvassing" decision from our justices that actually violates existing law.

Most of our findings have been released over the past few weeks on several Seattle talk radio shows, but many citizens live beyond the reach of those stations. Also, several other individuals and organizations are conducting excellent research, and we are trying to compile the best of it into one document. Of course, new findings will surface daily, but our document will lay the foundation for whatever follows.

Some of the issues included in the investigative document released by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation found at http://www.effwa.org/pdfs/InterimElectionReport.pdf include:

Convicted felons have had access to King County?s election-related computer system.

Homeless people with no proof of residency were allowed to list county buildings as their place of residence.

Illegal aliens voted.

An undetermined number of soldiers didn?t get to vote because they received their ballots late.

King County had identified outstanding concerns about its vote-counting software and elections systems that were not addressed prior to this election. The Secretary of State?s report about King County?s problems warns officials that these problems could "significantly increase the possibility of a successful election contest." At least 8, 419 more votes were cast in five counties than the number of people who signed in to vote.

People who have died are not removed from eligible voter lists in a timely manner. Numerous examples exist of dead people casting votes that were counted.

Thousands of illegal ballots were counted and added to vote totals.

Provisional ballots were counted before determining if the individuals were even eligible to vote.

Ballots were later found unsecured in voting machines, but they were counted.

The legislature charged the Secretary of State with writing 52 new rules and canvassing board limitations to implement the new law. He did not do this.

As a result, no consistency in standards existed from one county to the next in regard to preparation of ballots, the operation of vote tallying systems, canvassing and recounts, absentee ballots and ballot security.

Hundreds of signatures on provisional ballots appear to be fraudulent.

Voters? privacy rights were violated when a King County judge ordered their names be released to the Democrat Party.

The Secretary of State certified the election on December 30, guaranteeing by doing so that it was "a full, true and correct representation of the votes cast for the issues and offices." He knew this was not the case. Our report concludes, at a minimum, gross incompetence and negligence occurred in the election process, and in some cases, fraud was committed.

There are numerous recommendations and action items that citizens should take.

The most timely for now is to contact elected officials and ask for a delay in certification until the most egregious concerns have been investigated and addressed.

Voter fraud is not just occurring in Washington state. Our democratic republic cannot survive if the integrity of the ballot is compromised.