Rossi wins in recount of governor's race

By Ralph Thomas
Seattle Times staff reporter and The Associated Press

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Other links Democratic Party's letter to Sam Reed stating concerns

Rossi's campaign declared victory and urged Attorney General Christine Gregoire to concede. Gregoire refused to concede and said she wants a hand recount.

"As far as we're concerned, Dino has won. Dino has won twice," said a jubilant Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane. "It remains to be seen what Christine Gregoire will do after losing two counts, whether she wants to go ahead and drag the state through yet another count."

A recount carol In the spirit of the holidays, Seattle reader Emily Kuempel laments the lack of a clear winner in the governor's race, set to the tune of "O Tannenbaum": "Oh governor"

But Gregoire told reporters and supporters in Seattle, "Every vote should be counted. The race continues. A 42-vote margin, my friends, that is a tied race."

Gregoire wasn't formally asking for a manual recount, saying she has until next week after the election is certified to decide whether to seek a full statewide recount or just selected counties or precincts.

"The (Democratic) party has come forward and indicated that it is ready to ensure that this recount happens and to pay for it," she said.

She called on Secretary of State Sam Reed, the state's chief elections officer, to address what she called "anomalies" in the voting procedures. Reed dismissed the idea that he could fix any mistakes by any process other than a recount. And only the parties or candidates can order a second recount, he said.

Among the likely recount scenarios is that Democrats would call for a hand recount of King County, Gregoire's bastion.

Secretary of State Sam Reed, the state's chief elections officer, said he plans to certify the machine recount next Tuesday. The campaigns or their parties have three business days to request a full or partial manual recount at their own expense.

Reed said he'd probably direct that such a recount begin the following Monday, Dec. 6, and that the job could take as long as two weeks.

If a partial recount changes the outcome, state law requires a manual recount in the rest of the state. That would extend the uncertainty past Christmas.

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

Gregoire's only hope of pulling ahead was in King County, her main stronghold and one of only eight where she was beating Rossi.

At the start of the day, Rossi's was 321 votes ahead of Gregoire — after gaining more than 60 votes since the recount started on Saturday. But Gregoire sliced Rossi's lead to a mere 42 this afternoon when King County reported its recount. The county today tallied nearly 1,000 additional votes that didn't get counted the first time.

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. Read the party's letter to Secretary of State Sam Reed.

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

He 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 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.

Vance did not rule out requesting a recount if Rossi fell 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.

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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