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Here is Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire's victory speech, as delivered Thursday in the state Reception Room of the Capitol: Well, an election night without end has concluded. The votes have been counted, the count has been certified and I am honored to stand before you as governor-elect of the great state of Washington. Today could not have happened without the wonderful people who are with me today - the "First Mike" of the state of Washington, my husband Mike, and our two wonderful daughters, Courtney and Michelle, and we're joined by Speaker Frank Chopp today as well. I want to start...

Are numerous other counties counting previously rejected ballots? No. Case made by Secretary of State and Democrats is wrong Seattle, WA – Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed and Democratic leadership have proclaimed that King County is not alone in counting numerous ballots that were previously rejected by county canvassing boards. However the claims are untrue. In Chelan and Thurston counties, each reconsidered one previously rejected ballot. “Two counties, two ballots,” said Washington State Republican Party Chair Chris Vance. “That’s it.” While King County is revisiting hundreds upon hundreds of ballots that were previously rejected – not once but twice...

Republican emotions were inflamed by party chairman Chris Vance, who blamed King County elections officials, democrats, and even those 700 plus voters for this situation. Once again, he demanded their votes not be counted, and left the door open for calling for a whole new election if they are. "If there's another outcome or another decision and questionable or illegal ballots are brought into the process, we reserve all of our options," he said. . . . Democrat candidate Chris Gregoire said voter trust will be eroded more by disqualifying legitimate ballots than correcting mistakes by elections officials and counting...

Saturday, December 18, 2004 Another governor election may be in our best interest Given the fiasco going on up in King County with the second recount, we suspect more and more people are coming to the conclusion we should have another election for governor. That was suggested this week by former long-time Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a Republican who was highly respected for his job performance by people in both parties. ‘‘This thing could just degenerate and spiral downward,’’ Munro said Thursday of the second recount and all of the controversy and lawsuits it has generated, with more likely....

Ballot checks vary widely across state By Christine Willmsen and Susan Kelleher Seattle Times staff reporters It never mattered much — until this election. But the fact that one county in Washington verifies ballot signatures differently than another county has taken on more significance as the gubernatorial election hangs on a handful of votes. A Seattle Times survey of counties shows that procedures for evaluating signatures are highly subjective and vary widely from county to county. More than 3,400 ballots in Washington were rejected in the November election because the signatures didn't match those on file with elections officials. And...

Up to 162 ballots missing By Keith Ervin Seattle Times staff reporter King County election officials will enter a locked "cage" in a warehouse this morning to look for a plastic mail tray they believe contains up to 162 misplaced absentee ballots. Elections Director Dean Logan said the ballots, like 573 other ballots that were improperly rejected, were set aside because workers couldn't find voter signatures that corresponded to them. But unlike the other ballots, these apparently were left behind and forgotten. The original 573 votes were mistakenly identified as having mismatched signatures and then disqualified. If the ballots are...

Will Legislature pick governor? It could happen By David Postman Seattle Times chief political reporter OLYMPIA — The state Supreme Court's unanimous rejection of the Democratic Party's recount lawsuit yesterday settled — for the moment, at least — the legal issues in the contentious governor's election. But it also raised the prospect of the fight moving back into the political arena, with questions about whether the eventual loser will use a vaguely worded provision in the state constitution to try to force the Legislature to overturn the result. That, according to one attorney, "is the ultimate nuclear weapon in the...

Already imprisoned for seizing three of their daughters at gunpoint from state child welfare workers, Ruth and Brian Christine pleaded guilty today to charges that they starved two of the girls. Josephine County Circuit Judge Gerald Neufeld sentenced them to 14 and 13 months but ordered them to serve the time concurrently with an earlier sentence. Brian Christine pleaded guilty to criminal mistreatment for withholding food from his eldest daughter, Bethany, and refusing to stop for police. He was sentenced to 14 months. Ruth Christine pleaded guilty to criminal mistreatment for withholding food from her daughter, Lydia, and got 13...

BREAKING NEWS: Brian & Ruth Christine Sentenced to 71/2 Years (Brian +5) 05/28/2002 By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press Writer Ruth and Brian Christine each were sentenced Tuesday to 7 1/2 years in prison for taking their three daughters at gunpoint from child welfare workers while authorities investigated allegations the girls were starved and mistreated. The couple, both 29, were convicted May 10 for robbery, custodial interference and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Douglas County Circuit Judge William Lasswell also sentenced Brian Christine to an additional five years for being the one who actually pointed the .357-caliber Magnum pistol at...

Christines guilty of robbery, acquitted of kidnapping By LANDON HALL The Associated Press 5/10/02 10:54 PM ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- An Oregon couple accused of taking their children from state workers at gunpoint were found guilty Friday of robbery, custodial interference and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. The Douglas County jury found Brian and Ruth Christine innocent of kidnapping. The Christines, both 29, face minimum prison sentences of 7½ years on the robbery charges. Brian Christine will face an additional five years for pointing a gun at child welfare workers last August to take his three daughters -- Bethany,...

Judge denies "choice of evils" defense By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press 5/2/02 1:51 PM ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- A judge ruled Thursday that Ruth and Brian Christine cannot use a "choice of evils" defense against charges they took their three daughters at gunpoint from state child welfare workers. The ruling undermines defense attorney Edgar Steele's plan to argue the couple was rescuing their children from a rogue state agency. Judge William Lasswell said the threat to the Christines' three young daughters from being in foster care did not exceed the threat posed by the crimes the Christines are accused...

Kids told police dad hit daughter in head By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press 5/1/02 5:21 PM ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) -- Brian and Ruth Christine's daughters told police that their father hit one of them in the head, causing her to fall down steps in the converted city bus they called home and cut her forehead, spreading "blood all over," a detective testified Wednesday. Asked why he hadn't taken his daughter Lydia, then 3, to the hospital, Brian Christine "told me he was an Eagle Scout and he knew how to treat an injury," testified Grants Pass police detective Dan...

ADOPTION ATTEMPT TO PROTECT SISTERS LUCY GRIFFITHS 09:00 - 22 April 2002 A cornish couple, fearing for the safety of their grandchildren in America, have adopted them and brought them to Britain to protect them from an anarchist group.A CORNISH couple, fearing for the safety of their grandchildren in America, have adopted them and brought them to Britain to protect them from an anarchist group. Philip and Linda Medland, who run a dairy farm near Launceston, were warned by US officials that their three granddaughters could be at risk of being abducted by an anarchist group opposed to the federal...

The Associated Press 4/12/02 5:26 PM GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Ruth Christine, accused with her husband of kidnapping three of their daughters at gunpoint from state social workers, has been released from jail after her father posted bail. Christine was freed from the Douglas County Jail in Roseburg on Sunday after her father, Philip Medland, posted the minimum bail in the kidnapping case being tried there. He also posted the minimum in a child mistreatment case being tried in Grants Pass. Court papers listed Christine's address as a Jacksonville post office box. Christine and her husband, Brian Christine, have...