All eyes on state recount

By Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times Olympia bureau

HARLEY SOLTES / THE SEATTLE TIMES During yesterday's recount, King County election observers Aviva Palmer, center, a Democrat; Greg Clark, a Libertarian; Ruth Bennett, second from right, Libertarian candidate for governor; and Fred Bills, right, a Democrat, discuss a ballot that was filled out incorrectly.

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Republican Dino Rossi yesterday inched further ahead of Democratic Attorney General Christine Gregoire after 24 of the state's 39 counties finished recounting ballots in Washington's closest-ever race for governor.

The statewide recount continues today and is expected to wrap up tomorrow. But both sides have hinted they might ask for another recount, possibly a hand count that could take up to two weeks to complete.

The recount is likely to hinge on the outcome of 710 so-called enhanced ballots in Democratic-leaning King County, where election workers are trying to determine the intent of voters who mismarked their ballots.

Meanwhile, the state Republican Party yesterday was dealt a setback in its effort to halt the recount in King County. The party has accused county election workers of showing a pro-Gregoire bias in their handling of contested ballots.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez yesterday told the Republicans they would have to wait until after the recount is complete for a hearing on their case.

In another development, Snohomish County officials said they had discovered 242 uncounted absentee ballots that had been accidentally overlooked.

Rossi, a former state senator from Sammamish, is trying to become the first Republican elected governor since 1980.

He was leading by 261 votes last week after all 39 counties finished tallying more than 2.8 million ballots.

Rossi's minuscule lead — less than 0.0093 percent — triggered an automatic machine recount, which started Saturday.

As of last night, after 24 counties had reported their recounts, Rossi's lead had grown by 25 votes.

But the ballots recounted so far represent only about one-quarter of the total ballots cast. Some of the state's biggest counties, including Pierce and Snohomish, are not expected to report their recounts until today.

And King County officials said they don't expect to report their recount until tomorrow.

King County has been the center of attention for weeks. Rossi is beating Gregoire in 31 of 39 counties. But that fact is largely offset by Gregoire's 60-40 percent advantage in King County.

The state Republican Party on Saturday sued King County over how it was handling ballots that had been rejected by the counting machines. The Republicans argued those ballots should be excluded from the recount because they have to be checked by hand and inspectors have to surmise the intent of the voter, a process they say isn't being followed in 14 counties that use punch-card ballots.

"Applying counting standards in selected counties different from those in others violates the equal-protection and due-process protections of the U.S. and Washington constitutions and ultimately will deny Washington voters of their fundamental right to vote," the lawsuit stated.

Republicans singled out King County in the lawsuit. But the party hoped the judge would rule hand counting in all counties with optical-scan machines unconstitutional, state GOP Party Chairman Chris Vance said.

The state election director, Nick Handy, said yesterday he hasn't seen anything wrong with how King County or other counties are handling ballots.

"We are very comfortable with the duplication and enhancement process," Handy said. "We're comfortable that the counties are doing this consistently."

If the voter's intent is clear — say, an oval was circled instead of filled in or punched out — the election worker fixes the ballot and sends it back through the machine. If it isn't clear, a canvassing board takes an even closer look to make a final determination about the vote.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman on Sunday denied the Republicans' request for a temporary restraining order to halt the recount, saying that no "irreparable harm" would come if King County continued counting.

Yesterday, the Republicans took another shot, filing additional arguments in U.S. District Court and unsuccessfully asking Judge Martinez for a preliminary injunction that would stop the recount.

King County election spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said last night the county had more than 700 enhanced ballots that would be added during the recount.

Those ballots are key to the outcome because Gregoire is winning about 60 percent of the vote in King County.

To the Democrats, not counting those ballots is tantamount to saying some votes shouldn't count.

At a Democratic rally in front of the South Seattle building where ballots are being counted, a group of about 20 people held handmade signs saying "Count Every Vote" and "I believe in Chris."

Meanwhile, the recount continued.

"We remain above the political pingponging of the parties," Egan said. "I would think the voters expect that of us."

When asked what King County should be doing with ballots that cannot be machine-read, Diane Tebelius, a Republican Party lawyer, said they should be referred to the canvassing board.

King County Prosecutor Janine Joly, who is arguing the case on the county's behalf, however, said the county is simply following rules laid out by the secretary of state and the Washington Administrative Code.

Judge Martinez scheduled a hearing for Nov. 30, two days before the recount results are scheduled to be certified by the state.

County election officials said the ballots in question are being tracked and could be subtracted if the judge rules in Republicans' favor.

In all yesterday, Rossi gained 85 votes, compared with 60 for Gregoire.

Most of the counties that completed recounts yesterday reported only minor changes in the vote totals for both candidates.

Snohomish County Auditor Bob Terwilliger said the extra ballots found yesterday were overlooked after an election employee apparently stacked an empty tray on top of the tray containing the votes.

The county's canvassing board will meet tomorrow at 1 p.m. to decide what to do.

Rossi's biggest bumps came in Adams and Kittitas counties, where both candidates picked up more votes but Rossi gained a net 22 votes on Gregoire.

Adams County Auditor Nancy Broom said election officials are trying to figure out why so many votes were missed on the first count.

"I will admit we're a little concerned about that," she said. But she feels confident in the latest count.

"We have all kinds of observers here," she said.

Material from Times reporters Susan Gilmore and Maureen O'Hagan and The Associated Press was used in this report.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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