Rossi given fresh hope as 'mystery voters' grow

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | Tuesday, January 4, 2005 | CHRIS McGANN

[nickcarraway]

GOP calls on counties to explain a discrepancy of nearly 8,500

Thousands of "mystery voters" in the counties of King, Pierce, Snohomish, Clark and Kitsap appear to be Republican Dino Rossi's best prospect for challenging the legitimacy of the closest and most contentious gubernatorial election in the state's history.

The state Republican Party yesterday called on county election officials to explain what the GOP says is a nearly 8,500-vote discrepancy between county vote tallies and the number of people credited with actually voting in the election.

"People ask me what would fraud look like? It would look like this," said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance.

County auditors and election officials say Republicans have based their conclusions on there being many more votes than voters on preliminary lists, and they say much of the deviation would be accounted for as voter lists are updated.

But they do not dispute that the numbers don't add up.

And most agree they never will.

"At the end of this, it's never going to match one to one given the volume," said Dean Logan, elections director of King County, which counted about 900,000 votes.

The current number is "larger than I'm comfortable with," Logan said. But based on historical data, he expects the reconciled lists to include 1,000 to 1,500 more votes than voters accounted for even after the lists are reconciled.

Logan said those unaccounted-for votes would likely be from military voters who cast federal write-in ballots and the 76 people in King County who participate in the Address Confidentiality Program.

"I think this is sort of the issue du jour," Logan said. "There has been no evidence of any voter fraud. The differences on the lists are not, in and of themselves, indication that there was."

Vance said that's outrageous.

"You simply can't have more votes counted than you have voters," Vance said. "The counties have to come up with a plausible explanation for this and if they don't this election is invalid on its face."

And Secretary of State Sam Reed again said that this issue could be used to contest the election.

Throughout the process, both parties have scrutinized even the smallest inconsistencies.

Democrat Christine Gregoire became governor-elect when a hand recount of nearly 2.9 million votes put her ahead of Rossi by 129 votes. Rossi had come out 261 votes ahead after the first machine count and 42 votes ahead after the mandatory mechanical recount.

Last week Republicans demanded that King County explain how its tally of votes counted exceeded the number of people listed as voting by 3,539. This week they found similar disparities in other populous counties.

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said he thinks that 553 of the 1,005 vote-to-voter discrepancy there will be accounted for when the list of inactive voters -- those who have not participated in recent elections -- is reconciled with those who did in fact turn out in November.

But he has no plans to try to account for 452 extra poll, absentee and provisional votes.

"It would be a huge task," Kimsey said. "You are looking through 121,679 absentee ballots, affidavit envelopes and through poll books where 50,598 voters cast their ballots.

"The controls that are in place in the election process ensure that only registered voters are going to receive a ballot. While I understand the concern that comes from seeing two different numbers, the controls are at the front end."

Republicans contend that serious questions arise when results are certified before the voter lists are reconciled with the number of votes counted.

The counties say they don't because law does not require it.

Reed said that in each election, counties have a statutory requirement to record the names of all voters who cast ballots. He said that reconciling that list with the list of votes cast is an important quality-control measure.

Significant discrepancies could be of grave concern, he said.

"This is an issue that could potentially be used to contest the election," Reed said. "You'd have to make the point to the judge that it actually made a difference."

Carolyn Diepenbrock, Snohomish County elections manager, said the deviation in her lists is 388, not the more than 1,700 as the Republican's contend.

"We believe that the majority of those 388 are poll voters who signed in the poll book but actually voted a provisional ballot," Diepenbrock said.

She said the county would likely be able to update records as early as tomorrow.

King County officials said they would release completed lists Friday.

Pat McCarthy, Pierce County auditor, said she couldn't say how much the two lists deviated but she knows it's by less than the 1,640 Republicans contend.

She said that if the number were that big "it would have been a problem."

Rossi's spokeswoman Mary Lane said there's no excuse for certifying the election before these lists are reconciled. Otherwise, "we can't be certain that the number they certified is valid," Lane said.

"If someone wanted to commit voter fraud, this is one of the ways they could do it. When you have a number this huge, in an election this close, we need to have the answers and the counties need to provide those answers -- and the onus is on them right now."

One high-profile Republican, former Gov. Dan Evans, joined the chorus calling for a new election with an online essay published Friday.

"Democracy may be messy, but its principles are why it still serves us best," Evans wrote for the Web site www.revotewa.com. "If we screw up the implementation, let's go back to the principles. The voters' will is paramount."

He proposed a special election next month. Yesterday, Evans said his appetite for a revote depends heavily on how King County answers questions about the 3,500-vote difference between voter rolls and certified ballots.

"If they can explain that and there are no other significant errors, in spite of the fact of a close election, it's time to say 'OK, we'll accept it,' " Evans said.

[FreedomPoster]

That election is pretty widely considered to have been stolen.

[dennisw]

This will be the story of the week. I'm greatly encouraged there will be a re-vote or comprehensive examination of this election.

[beckysueb]

I hope DU is paying attention to this. Now THATS vote fraud!

[GretchenM]

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey ... has no plans to try to account for 452 extra poll, absentee and provisional votes. "It would be a huge task," Kimsey said.

This man needs to be recalled for laziness, incompetence, and malfeasance.

[Mo1]

In Pittsburgh, our vacant lots vote...

Now that's creative *L*

[connectthedots]

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey ... has no plans to try to account for 452 extra poll, absentee and provisional votes. "It would be a huge task," Kimsey said.

I know Greg Kimsey. Although he is a Republican, he wants gregoire to win, because if Rossi wins, a lot of his buddies are going to prison, especially with McKenna as the new state AG. Kimsey is a slime ball, as is the GOP Clark County Sheriff, Garry Lucas.

[Timeout]

I've been following this story, but much of it still doesn't make sense to me.
Can someone help me make sense of this?

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"Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said he thinks that 553 of the 1,005 vote-to-voter discrepancy there will be accounted for when the list of inactive voters -- those who have not participated in recent elections -- is reconciled with those who did in fact turn out in November.

What the heck does that mean? The list of POTENTIAL voters has no bearing on the number of voters who actually participated. The dicrepancy is between voters who showed up vs. the number of ballots in the final count...more ballots than voters. Kimsey is comparing apples & oranges. Right?

------------

"We believe that the majority of those 388 are poll voters who signed in the poll book but actually voted a provisional ballot," Diepenbrock said.

-------------------

I have no idea what THIS means. It might make sense if she had said there are provisional voters whose ballot was eventually counted but they WERE NOT entered in the poll book. In that case ballots would exceed vote turnout.

But that's not what she said. They DID sign the book...and thus they are included in the vote turnout count. Her explanation seems upside down.

Am I misunderstanding what these people are saying?! Help!

[GretchenM]

It is galling to hear an elected official (especially one who works as closely to the people as Kimsey does) so arrogantly flick off his public duty.

If the job's too difficult, he needs to move down the hall into a lesser post, say, maybe, dog catcher. I do not believe, however, that reconciling the voter registration list with the votes cast is too difficult. I don't think old Greggers would think so, either, if forced to do this by a court.

[GretchenM]

Everything I've heard and seen these democrat-leaning county elections officials say about the discrepancies does not make any sense. They have a camera shoved in front of their faces and they have to say something, and what they're saying seems to be just that: something. Doesn't mean anything to the average voter because they seem to be making it up as they go along, hoping the Republicans aren't going to press the issue and will take their nasty questions and go away. IOW, they're stalling and obfuscating.

But the Republicans aren't going away, which is why this story gets more like Chutes and Ladders every day.

[Timeout]

Am I right though? Don't their statements say just the opposite of what would explain the discrepancy?

What's the "street" reaction out there?

[GretchenM]

Chutes and Ladders, the Exciting New Gubernatorial Game!

Description: Count off as you race your (blighted) character from square 1 to Square 100. Finished with your vote counting? Good job - move ahead 21 ballots. Got caught with your hand in the cookie jar? Then it's back 63 votes for you! Chutes and Ladders is simple and easy to play, even for those who can't read or fill out a ballot correctly. In going up the ladders and down the chutes, a child will learn by the pictures the rewards of good deeds and the consequences of naughty ones. For 2 to 4 players. Or 2.9 million players vs. 129 players.

[EQAndyBuzz]

They should just go back to the machine and hand recount.

Rossi won by 42 votes and leave it at that. Oh, and prosecute the DNC in Washington State for fraud.

[Fresh Wind]

I think I will alter my bank statement just enough to cover that new car I've been looking at, and then go to the bank and ask them to change their records to match it. Then, I can go buy the car.