King County absentees push Gregoire's lead to 8,700 votes

By Ralph Thomas and Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporters

Christine Gregoire

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OLYMPIA — The absentee-vote trend in King County bounced back in Democrat Christine Gregoire's favor yesterday, helping her extend her lead in the seesaw race for governor.

Gregoire, the state's three-term attorney general, now holds an 8,700-vote edge over Republican former state Sen. Dino Rossi.

But with an estimated 213,000 ballots left to count, the race remained much too close to call and headed for a possible recount.

The best news for Rossi is that less than a third of the remaining uncounted ballots are from King County and the other seven counties where Gregoire is ahead. The rest are from the 31 counties where Rossi is leading.

	Dino Rossi

Gregoire's lead after yesterday was about one-third of 1 percent of the more than 2.5 million ballots counted so far. A recount is required by law if the final difference is less than one-half of 1 percent and less than 2,000 votes.

With 16 counties tallying nearly 140,000 absentee ballots, yesterday was another up-and-down day for both candidates.

Gregoire's vote percentage in King County had been slipping since last Tuesday's election. But yesterday it surged back up, and she now leads Rossi by more than 140,000 votes in King County.

Meanwhile, however, Rossi extended his leads in Spokane and Pierce counties. And he cut into Gregoire's narrow leads in Whatcom and Cowlitz counties.

The race likely will come down to provisional ballots, which are given to voters when problems or questions arise on Election Day. Counties are now checking which provisional ballots are valid and can be counted.

One clear indication that the race is not over was a message that Gregoire's campaign sent out yesterday urging supporters to keep sending money.

Manager Tim Zenk said the cash is needed to help the campaign monitor the absentee and provisional-ballot counts in each county.

"We must be prepared for anything in the coming weeks," Zenk wrote in an e-mail. "We must leave nothing to chance. And we need your support to prepare."

Rossi's campaign likely will send out a similar letter this week.

A record 31,700 voters turned in provisional ballots to the King County election office last week, according to elections officials.

State officials estimate 80,000 to 90,000 provisional ballots were cast statewide, including more than 9,000 in Snohomish County and about 11,000 in Pierce County.

The King County total is almost double the number issued in the 2000 presidential election: 17,000. Of those ballots, 78 percent were counted.

Voters can use provisional ballots for several reasons:

• They didn't receive an absentee ballot; they voted in a precinct other than the one they were registered in.

• They were traveling and unable to go to their polling place.

• Elections officials couldn't find their names in the poll books.

• The voter moved and registration information was not updated.

Washington has allowed provisional voting for more than three decades, and its use is now national law under the Help America Vote Act.

In the primary election this year, King County issued 5,700 provisional ballots, and 90 percent were verified and counted, according to county elections director Dean Logan.

Provisional ballots will be researched during the 15-day canvassing period leading up to the election certification, scheduled to end Nov. 17. Once a voter's eligibility is determined, the ballot is counted but only for races the voter was eligible to vote on.

King County issued 646,537 absentee ballots this year, of which 554,000, or 86 percent, have been returned.

If a provisional-ballot voter wants to find out whether or not his or her vote is counted, the number on the ballot receipt needs to be matched with ballots that have been counted.

The information will be on the King County elections Web site, www.metrokc.gov/elections, or will be available by phone at 206-296-8683 (VOTE).

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com; Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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