Another Trip Down The Rabbithole?
The Alice in Wonderland world of the Washington state governor’s race is approaching its climax, and the rhetoric and legal maneuvering are intensifying. To recap, Republican Dino Rossi led Democrat Christine Gregoire by 261 votes after the initial tally. A machine recount lowered that lead to 42 votes. The Secretary of State certified the election at that time, but either party had the opportunity to request - and pay for - a “hand” recount, which the Democrats did. That “hand” recount is nearing completion.
Rossi has picked up a net of 32 votes in this latest recount, but King County, the largest county and Democratic stronghold, has yet to report. During the hand recount, King County found that about 550 ballots had been rejected in the initial canvassing because the signatures on them were missing from an electronically-scanned file of voter registration signatures. A King County councilman was shocked to see his name on the list of rejected ballots, and his complaint disclosed that the votes in question had valid signatures, and were rejected simply because the county elections board hadn’t scanned their registration signatures into the matching file.
If Gregoire’s 60-40 trend in King County holds for that batch of votes, she could become the winner. Predictably, the Republicans are suing today to block counting these votes for a whole panoply of reasons. No one knows, or has disclosed, at any rate, whom those votes favor.
Another interesting development is that some Republicans are now saying that this election is so tainted that we should vote again. It’s interesting because
Democrats scoffed at the proposal, saying Republicans were raising it only because Rossi’s whisker-thin lead appears in jeopardy.
“Last week the Republicans were saying we need to resolve this as quickly as possible,” Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said. “This week they’re saying we need another election.” (Seattle Times)
There’s real peril for Democrats in a new election. First, while Republicans will have no trouble mobilizing their base, Democrats will have to once again round up the students and other first-time voters, people who arguably are probably disillusioned with the results of the Presidential election that got them motivated in November. Second, the Democrats spent something like $750,000 to fund the recount, though I believe they’ll get it back if the recount reverses the election. Still, there can be little doubt that Republicans can much more quickly funnel money into a fast-track campaign than Democrats, with their comparatively ragtag sources, can. I just don’t like our chances in a rerun.
