In the topsy-turvy Washington State Governor's Race, Republicans, who are wanting another shot at winning control, have been calling for a revote recently. They even have their own website (www.revotewa.org) where thousands have signed up calling for a revote.
The idea, which Dino Rossi publicly backed almost a week ago, has been gathering steam from many Republicans since then. Now the state party itself wholeheartedly supports the idea.
But Washington State's legislative leaders aren't playing along. The Democratic Party captured control of the state Senate in November and now controls both houses, making it extremely difficult for Rossi to get a revote. They say that the election's over, and it's time for the GOP to stop beating a dead horse and move on. The Republican Party has so far stubbornly refused to do so.
The Associated Press reports:
"We are following the rules and we need to live by those rules, and not just call for a do-over because we don't like the results," said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, at The Associated Press's Legislative Preview on Tuesday.
"We have a new governor," said House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.
Gregoire on Tuesday defended the legitimacy of her election, saying Republicans were unhappy with the process only because she won.
"The vote changed, I won, and now suddenly there's something wrong," Gregoire said. "I won by 129. It's time for us to put it behind us and move on."
While Gregoire said Rossi is free to contest the election, so far she believes "there is not a shred of evidence" to support a legal challenge.
She called the idea of a revote "absolutely ludicrous."
Republicans have leveled all sorts of allegations about the election. Fraud seems to be their main charge, but they never come up with specific evidence to back it up. It seems every loyal GOP partisan is highly suspicious of King County, (often compared to Ukraine) despite the fact that there were Republican observers present during all three counts.
The real hype right now is about what the GOP calls "mystery ballots", which actually aren't mysterious at all. The data shows 3,539 more ballots counted than people voting, "supposedly" proving King County is grossly incompetent. This, we are told over and over without respite, is the "smoking gun" that will force the courts to call for a new election.
But discrepancies after an election are common. Why don't we hear about them? Because ordinarily elections just aren't this close.
Here's a quote from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, with the Pierce County auditor speaking on behalf of auditors statewide:
The discrepancy is "definitely, absolutely normal," said Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy. She said the list of names may not include voters who have moved in the two months since the election and whose names have been "cleaned" from the rolls, and it may not include voters who were previously categorized as "inactive."
Republicans have also been jumping up and down and screaming about the disenfranchised military voters. They even have a radio ad complaining that some soldiers weren't able to vote in time. (You can listen to that here).
The Secretary of State, however, answered this charge. The AP:
Secretary of State Sam Reed, also a Republican, said there's no evidence of any systemic problems with the military vote. Every county in the state mailed absentee ballots to registered military voters by early October, Reed said, and the U.S. Department of Justice even watched over the process to make sure it was done right.
And oddly enough, according to our state's law, these returns are apparently unofficial. Counties have until March 31st, 2005, to make their final report on absentee ballots to the Secretary of State.
The law also says that elections can be certified even if errors are found (to a certain extent):
RCW 29A.60.130
Certificate not withheld for informality in returns.
No certificate shall be withheld on account of any defect or informality in the returns of any election, if it can with reasonable certainty be ascertained from such return what office is intended, and who is entitled to such certificate, nor shall any commission be withheld by the governor on account of any defect or informality of any return made to the office of the secretary of state.
The Republican Party's grasp of state law does not appear to be especially strong.
It's good that the Democratic Party has legislative leaders who are unwilling to buckle to pressure so that the GOP can have another chance at capturing the governor's seat.
Standing firm is one of the things Democrats have to do more often. If we refuse to play hardball, we lose. Luckily, we were willing to engage the GOP, and we came away with a victory. We may not be out of the woods quite yet, but we are on our way there.
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