Write-In Totals Muddy Results  (WA DC)

Nikita Stewart, Hamil R. Harris and Elissa Silverman   Washington Post   10 September 2008

Political newcomer Patrick Mara claimed victory over longtime incumbent Republican council member Carol Schwartz in yesterday's District primary, but a definitive result was unavailable late last night as election officials could not explain reports of unusually high numbers of write-in ballots in some wards.
There were no immediate signs that the write-ins affected the outcome of the Schwartz-Mara contest or other races in which most incumbents cruised to easy victories as expected.

The confusion left a cloud over the process, however, and Ward 2 council member Jack Evans (D) asked for clarification of the results even though they showed him beating challenger Cary Silverman.

Daniel Murphy, a Board of Elections spokesman, said late last night that officials were examining precinct tallies vote by vote because the numbers were not matching up. "We are looking at all the results right now," he said.

Schwartz appeared to lose her reelection bid to a fifth term to Mara, a young, aggressive newcomer backed by the business community. Unofficial results called the race in favor of Mara with 60 percent of the vote to Schwartz's 40 percent with all precincts reporting.

"I am very excited. I think it's certainly important to rectify this situation to ensure smooth voting in November. This is part of what I am campaigning on, establishing a leaner, meaner, more efficient D.C. government," Mara said in an early morning interview.

Evans appeared to have scored a solid win but complained because of the irregularities in Ward 2.

With 13 of 14 precincts reporting, Evans bested Silverman 64 to 35 percent. But that didn't stop his lawyers from demanding a precinct-by-precinct recount.

About 16 percent of registered voters came out to vote, a from the 20 percent that went to the polls in 2004, according to the preliminary results.

Confusion ensued as people took notice of a dramatic increase in write-in votes and other irregularities in the races. For example, there were 1,560 write-in votes cast in the Schwartz-Mara race. For perspective, 68 write-in ballots were counted in that at-large race in 2004.

In Ward 2, there were 1,554 write-ins with 13 of 14 precincts reporting, compared with 179 in 2004.

Murphy said that it appears that one precinct "gave us a reading on our summary report that made our results way off."

Precinct 141 had an erroneous number of write-in votes. He would not say how many. "This is why we call them unofficial results," he said.
Just after midnight, new numbers showed 18 write-ins in the Republican at-large race and 14 in the Ward 2 Democratic contest.

Evans said he saw an even larger problem. After the polls closed at 8 p.m., Evans said, precinct workers told him that ballot machines indicated that about 5,000 Democrats had voted. However, Evans said, there appeared to be a 4,000-vote discrepancy because the board of elections reported that 9,030 Democrats voted in the ward.

Silverman said he is not conceding until "we understand what is going on. One minute we got 9,000 votes and the next minute 4,000. we have to know where those mystery thousands of votes came and went from."

There was no write-in campaign, like the massive one forged in 2002 when Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) failed to get on the ballot for his reelection after discrepancies with his nominating petitions. And yesterday, there was no sign of an organized write-in effort.

Candidates and supporters piled into a room at the Board of Elections and Ethics.

Evans demanded to speak with acting Executive Director Sylvia Goldsberry-Adams. Goldsberry-Adams took over in May after election officials botched the presidential primary in February when the board failed to anticipate the high voter turnout and did not provide precincts with enough paper ballots to meet the demand.

Schwartz, chairman of the Committee on Workforce Development and Government Operations, immediately called a hearing after the debacle.

Last night, council members were again calling for a hearing.

Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward (6) questioned whether the board of elections can handle an election. "I am very concerned, " said Wells. " You've got to be able to ensure a fair election. This does not look right at all. Something is badly awry. We need to reassure the candidates that the process will be fair. I called the mayor and I wanted him to identify someone to come down here. He said he would get back to me."

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said, "This is a huge surprise and we want to get to the bottom of what these write-ins mean because this has an impact on two elections. . . . I'm anxious to know the details here. This was totally unexpected."

He said the significant in the number of people voting and the write-ins after midnight this morning was unacceptable.

Evans said he talked with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who said that he would look into the situation. Fenty was unavailable for comment.
Schwartz's pending loss was an anomaly in an otherwise unsurprising primary that saw four Democratic incumbents stay put for now. Yvette M. Alexander (Ward 7), Marion Barry (Ward 8), Muriel Bowser (Ward 4) and Kwame R. Brown (At Large) will face Republican, Statehood Green and independent candidates in November. But in a largely Democratic city, the primary generally predicts the outcome of that race.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was unopposed in seeking a 10th term. Shadow Rep. Mike Panetta (D-D.C.) was also unchallenged. In November, they will face Statehood Green candidates Maude Louise Hills and Joyce Robinson-Paul, respectively. Hills and Robinson-Paul were unopposed in their primary races.

Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss (D-D.C.) appeared to have won a third term in office with 61 percent of the vote against longtime activist Philip Pannell, who got 33 percent of the vote with 134 of 143 precincts reporting. The winner will face Republican Nelson F. Rimensnyder and Statehood Green candidate Keith Ware, who had no challengers in their contests.

Other races were much quieter. Alexander and Bowser, who won special elections last year to fill the unexpired terms of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), appeared to become more popular over the past year when it came to voters.

With all precincts reporting, Bowser appeared to have won about 75 percent of the vote. With 22 of 24 precincts reporting in Ward 7, Alexander was holding on to her seat with about 66 percent of the vote.

In Ward 8, iconic political figure Marion Barry, 72, appeared to have won a resounding 78 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting, despite calls from the four community activists opposing him that it was time for new leadership.

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Sandra Seegars and Charles Wilson, co-founder of the Historic Anacostia Block Association, were particularly aggressive. They appeared to have won 9 percent and 11 percent of the vote, respectively.

Most challengers in all the races waged door-knocking operations. Even Council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, said he visited almost 2,000 homes. Candidates in congressional races for delegate, shadow representative and shadow senator, as well as Democratic national and state committee slots, also campaigned vigorously.

Mara, who grew up in Rhode Island and paid little attention to local politics until recently, has given Schwartz her toughest match since she unseated longtime incumbent Jerry Moore in 1984.

Schwartz, 64, made a reputation as the anti-Barry during her unsuccessful yet formidable runs for mayor in a Democratic-dominated city. Republicans make up 7 percent of the electorate. Republicans and Democrats were attracted to her fiscal conservatism during a time when the city was grappling with its finances.
Mara, however, turned her popularity against her, saying she abandoned Republican tenets when casting recent votes on city finances, education and labor issues.

Schwartz faced another opponent, too. The D.C. Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Washington Board of Trade had grown frustrated with her and especially agitated this year when the council approved a bill that mandates paid sick leave for most workers. Schwartz shepherded the bill through her committee.

They poured money into Mara's campaign, giving a big boost to the government relations manager.

Schwartz, however, tried to fight back, traveling to polling sites in her trademark yellow convertible.

"I always vote for you," one woman said. "Every chance I get."

"Go Carol," another shouted, as Schwartz got out of her Firebird in front of a polling place. But they were Democrats.

"They're great. But right now, I need the Republicans," said Schwartz, after shaking hands with a fan.

At around 9:15 p.m., Schwartz conceded her at large seat, informing several dozen supporters at her campaign headquarters that she trailed 62 to 38 percent with 27 out of 142 precincts counted.

"We've just got to deal with reality here," she said.

She attributed her defeat mainly to the hard-hitting campaign launched by 33-year-old Patrick Mara, one that included mass mailings, including those that focused on her support for sick pay legislation.

"I've made some enemies with these issues," she said. "But if I had to do it over, I'd do it the same way."

But 30 minutes later, she reneged her concession. She said she would not telephone Mara to concede the election because of what she described as a "lowbrow, negative campaign."

"Anybody who does that is not someone I want to call," she said.