Posted on 12/16/2004 9:36:33 AM PST by Publius
King County's elections director conceded yesterday that major mistakes in the count of the governor's race have made voters suspicious and likely weakened some of what he's tried to do since coming in after the division's last poor showing.
"I do think that this situation has shaken voter confidence in King County," Dean Logan said in an interview. "And that's disheartening to me because I think that not just myself, but organizationally, we've just worked extremely hard to rebuild that level of trust.
"I just feel awful about that situation."
Logan has been at the center of controversy through the count in the race between Republican Gov. Elect Dino Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire.
It's the closest race in state history and counting problems, legal disputes and human errors in King County get special attention because it is the largest county and a Democratic stronghold that has consistently been a rich vein of votes for Gregoire.
Angry Rossi supporters have filled the airwaves of talk radio and e-mailed reporters with comparisons between Seattle and the corruption of the Richard J. Daley regime in Chicago in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, or the current problems in Ukraine.
Yesterday, the county canvassing board voted to allow signature verification on 573 ballots that officials said had been improperly rejected. The problem was discovered Sunday, when King County Council Chairman Larry Phillips saw his name on the list of disqualified ballots.
On the heels of that embarrassment, county election workers Tuesday found 22 ballots left sitting in counting machines. Because of the potential for those ballots to help Gregoire, Republicans were quick to pounce and escalate the rhetoric.
Monday, state party Chairman Chris Vance said of the 573 ballots: "It's either gross incompetence or vote fraud." Tuesday, he upped that to: "There is no way to tell if they are colossally incompetent or totally corrupt."
Vance has offered no evidence of corruption or made any specific allegations of fraud.
Logan said the rhetoric alone has an effect on public perceptions: "Those things contribute, just as making the error does, to breaking down people's trust and confidence in the process."
Logan, a Democrat overseeing elections in a predominantly Democratic county, has nevertheless been attacked and defended by both parties during the race.
In the days after the Nov. 2 election, Gregoire advisers complained that King County was too slow in counting, with media consultant Frank Greer saying there should be an investigation.
The Democratic Party sued Logan and the election division shortly after the election for refusing to release a list of names of people whose ballots were disqualified. The party won that suit and was able to find more votes for Gregoire.
Logan also was named in the Democrats' suit to the state Supreme Court, dismissed this week, where the party alleged he and other auditors chose "expediency over accuracy and equality" in counting votes in the governor's race.
Attorneys for Rossi and the Republican Party were on the same side as Logan's attorney in the Supreme Court case.
Republicans defended Logan, with Vance often citing Logan's position that a hand recount was not as accurate as the completed machine recount.
Now that an error in Logan's division might boost Gregoire, Republicans attacked him for incompetence and worse.
Gregoire spokesman Morton Brilliant counseled against shouting fraud at the discovery of errors, saying, "We're human beings. We make mistakes and what's important is that the mistakes be corrected."
King County Executive Ron Sims fully supports Logan, said Sims spokeswoman Carolyn Duncan.
Some enthusiastic backers of Logan share his worry, though, that recent problems are eroding public confidence in the county's system for counting votes.
"We've got egg all over our face here," said AJ Culver. He's the Republican former mayor of Issaquah who served as chairman of a bipartisan commission that reviewed problems in the county election division after problems in the 2002 election. King County hired Logan late last year to fix the problems and rebuild the department.
"The rest of the country laughed at Florida, we all saw pictures of people holding up punch cards in the air and they said, 'Well, what do you expect about Florida? They've got more flimflam men and bunco groups than other place in the United States.'
"Then you come to the Northwest, where everything is always good, and here we've got this screwed up election. It's just terrible."
Culver said he has not lost confidence in the county election system. "But," he said, "with dozens and dozens of people I talk to, confidence has dropped big time."
Secretary of State Sam Reed, Logan's former boss and still a fan, defended King County in recent weeks. But yesterday he said he was deeply concerned about what he termed serious problems.
"I think unfortunately it reflects the fact that this is a county that has had some real problems with its election operations for years," Reed said. "The problems in King County aren't problems of lack of good policy or lack of guidelines. It's a problem with execution."
Yesterday, Reed watched the King County Canvassing Board deal with hundreds of questioned ballots. He was joined by two members of the United States Election Assistance Commission, Paul DeGregorio and Ray Martinez.
The commission was created after the controversy of the 2000 presidential-election count in Florida and serves as a clearinghouse of information and guidance for elections.
DeGregorio, a former local election official in Missouri who has observed elections around the world, said some mistakes are inevitable, particularly in close elections.
"But even if it's an honest mistake, as people might call it, it does undermine the system," DeGregorio said. "It does call into question what is going on in this process."
The good news, he said, is that close elections make the public more aware of the system, and that can lead to improvements, as it did after 2000.
The embattled Logan hopes that admitting the errors and trying to fix the problem, even at this late date, will help calm voters' fears.
"It is more important that the errors get corrected than we save face," he said.
Chapter ping.
Ya THINK?
"In it’s ruling, the three-person County Canvassing Board instructed election staff to verify the signatures of 573 previously uncounted ballots."
Of which, Dean Logan WAS ONE OF THE 3 PEOPLE ON THE CANVASSING BOARD!!
Hmmm...
ELECTION DIRECTOR DEAN LOGAN: I'm so sorry, my department made a mistake. I submit to the board these 561...wait 573...hang on 595, yeah 595 ballots for consideration. Again, so sorry, my bad.
CANVAS BOARD MEMBER DEAN LOGAN: Thank you for your honesty and candor Mr Logan. The board understands and a majority of us agree with you Mr. Logan...they should be counted!
ELECTION DIRECTOR LOGAN: Thank You Mr Logan, it won't happen again.
CANVAS BOARD MEMBER LOGAN: Don't worry Mr Logan, if it does we'll take care of it (wink,wink nudge,nudge)
And we wonder why there is a lack of confidence???
So why didn't Reed make sure that King County recount using the same procedures that other counties use? I heard a caller on a Seattle talk show describe Kitsap County recount procedure, and it was entirely different from King. And of course, much more fair and accurate.
that said, the Dems are stealing the Gov.-ship from ya!
No it hasn't, not this one. A simple application of Occam's Razor says it's corrupt.
You should feel unemployed, a$$hole.
Note to election director: stuff ballot boxes BEFORE a close count so as not to draw too much attention.
Every voter in the state of Washington should be ashamed of themselves. Once the first recount was completed and certified, the story should have ended. The Democrat Party will regret the day they ever opened this can of worms. As each day passes and the rest of the country stands by and watches, the Democrat party looks worse!!! Same scenerio in Ohio. No election is ever perfect, nor will it ever be. As humans, we can only do the best we can to make sure that every vote is counted. Most, if not all of the states have done exactly that. The voters of Washinton should put an end to this nonsense right now and declare Dino Rossi the victor. End of story!!!
No screamin' eagle poop!!!
"It is more important that the errors get corrected than we save face," he said." Only if it means the Dims can steal another one.
We the voters are along for the ride at this point. We'd love to end it, believe me, but there's nothing we can do.
It doesn't work that way. Rossi won the initial count by 261 votes. This margin mandated a machine recount, which Rossi won by 42 votes. The Democrats used their right under Washington state law to ask for a manual recount which they will pay for should Rossi still win. (Counties and taxing districts pay for it if Gregoire wins.)
This recount decides it all. Then it's up to the losing side to go to court or go to the legislature.
As a voter in the state of Washington...I now decree Dino Rossi the Governor!!!
Who wants to break the news to Christine?
I'm sure that this is all the Republican's fault right? After all, we control the position of Dog Catcher in Spokane while the DNC controls the Governorship, the legislature, and every other office in the state.
It's over now,thanks JLAGRAYFOX.
what do we know about the precinct where these "missed" ballots are from? Not the county...but the precinct.
Most Republicans voters in Washington knew that it was only a matter of time until additional votes would surface in King County, the home of the most pink electorate in the Northwest. Even though the State Supreme Court has held that only a "retabulation" of previously identified votes can be considered, the King County Canvassing Board is going to try to force these votes to be counted. I hope that the Rep. party will then revisit this issue with the Supreme Court and put an end to this nonsense. Through all these events, I have a newly regained positive view of the Court and a continuing revulsive view of the Dems.
Most Republicans voters in Washington knew that it was only a matter of time until additional votes would surface in King County, the home of the most pink electorate in the Northwest. Even though the State Supreme Court has held that only a "retabulation" of previously identified votes can be considered, the King County Canvassing Board is going to try to force these votes to be counted. I hope that the Rep. party will then revisit this issue with the Supreme Court and put an end to this nonsense. Through all these events, I have a newly regained positive view of the Court and a continuing revulsive view of the Dems.
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