King County holds key as tally nears end

By Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times Olympia bureau

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The closest gubernatorial race in state history will be decided — at least for a while — at 3 p.m. today when the state's largest county completes its recount of nearly 1 million ballots.

But yet another recount appears likely.

Yesterday, after all but two of the state's 39 counties had recounted their ballots and reported results, Republican Dino Rossi's lead over Democratic Attorney General Christine Gregoire stood at 321 votes.

Rossi, a former state senator from Sammamish, has gained 60 votes since the statewide recount was ordered last week.

Kitsap County, which had one disputed ballot to send to its canvassing board today, hasn't reported its recount. Whitman County did its recount but has three ballots to review today. But neither of those counties is likely to put much of a dent in Rossi's lead.

Gregoire's only hope of pulling ahead is in King County, her main stronghold and one of only eight where she is beating Rossi. And within the King County recount, Gregoire's best chance to make up ground is with the hundreds of ballots that didn't get counted the first time due to voter errors.

Whatever happens, however, it appears another statewide or partial recount — this time by hand — is inevitable.

The state Democratic Party — still reeling from the outcome of what was expected to be an easy victory for Gregoire on Nov. 2 — yesterday sent out a news release listing ballot-counting discrepancies, computer glitches and other problems that arose during the current recount. The party said a hand recount appears to be the "only way" to ensure an accurate count.

"We've seen so many anomalies all across the state," Party Chairman Paul Berendt said in an interview.

If Gregoire is trailing after today, he said, the party likely will request a hand recount, either statewide or in certain counties where the party thinks the vote tally is suspect.

Berendt, meanwhile, said he is trying to raise money to pay for a second recount. If either side wants another recount, it has to pay the costs. At 25 cents a ballot, the cost of a statewide recount would be about $700,000. Another machine recount would cost 15 cents a ballot, or about $420,000.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance blasted the Democrats for threatening to drag the election well into December.

"If Chris Gregoire is behind at the end of the day tomorrow, she should do the decent thing, the honorable thing, and concede the election," Vance said yesterday. "Clearly the Democrats are setting it up so she won't concede tomorrow."

Vance said no statewide election has been reversed by a recount and speculated no candidate has asked for a third count after losing the first two. "She'll be dragging the state into uncharted territory," he said.

But what happens if Gregoire is ahead after today? "Obviously, if we're ahead, we won't be asking for a recount," Berendt said. "The experts tell me that's a standard rule."

Vance did not rule out requesting a recount if Rossi falls behind. But he said Rossi is in a "fundamentally different position" than Gregoire because he won the initial count.

Berendt shrugged off the notion that state government will be harmed if another recount is ordered and the next governor is not known until December or later.

"There's nothing stopping Christine or Dino from laying the groundwork for their administration, so I don't see them being hampered in any way," Berendt said. "If there's no governor, the state would continue to function."

What's most important, he said, is to make sure the next governor "is elected legally and legitimately, and with a majority of the votes."

Either party or candidate also can request recounts only in targeted counties.

But if partial recounts reverse the result of the election, the state would refund the party's costs and order a hand recount across the rest of the state at taxpayer expense.

Any hand recount that involves King County, where about one-third of the state's voters reside, could take up to two weeks.

During the current recount, there have been only slight changes to the vote totals in most counties. But five counties so far wound up counting 100 additional votes or more compared with their initial tallies.

Snohomish County yesterday counted the 224 misplaced ballots discovered Monday.

Carolyn Diepenbrock, Snohomish County election supervisor, said election officials kept track of the 224 ballots in case they're the subject of litigation.

She said the new ballots didn't make a significant difference in the race. When all the ballots were counted, Gregoire gained one vote.

Rossi's biggest gains yesterday came in Pierce, Spokane, Skagit and Grant counties. Gregoire's only significant gain came in Walla Walla County.

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

Times reporter Susan Gilmore contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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