Locke says statewide hand recount needed

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Governor-elect Dino Rossi speaks to the media today at his campaign headquarters in Bellevue.

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He said questions about the closest governor's election in state history will remain if Democrat Christine Gregoire calls for a recount in only counties that lean her way.

And once that count is done, he said, all sides should agree the race is over.

The results of a machine count of the election were certified today by Secretary of State Sam Reed.

The recount was completed last week and showed Republican Dino Rossi the winner by 42 votes. The initial count had him winning by 261.

Locke, a Democrat finishing his second term, said the first two counts in the race has left him concerned about the accuracy of the process.

"What's amazing is that in all the counties, every time there is a count the tally changes," Locke said.

He said that problems discovered in the two counts "perhaps suggests machines cannot count every single vote out of 3 million. Maybe a ballot slips by or is not read by the machine."

That recount was done automatically because of the close finish and was paid for by taxpayers. Any recount now has to be paid for by the candidate making the demand. Gregoire's campaign and the state Democratic Party say they do not have the money to pay for a statewide recount, estimated to be about $700,000.

If a partial recount - say if Gregoire requests a recount in only Democratic-rich King County - changes the results, then the state would pay for a statewide recount.

Locke said all 39 counties should be counted now. He suggested that Democrats could pay for the counties where Gregoire is expected to do well and Republicans in counties where Rossi could be expected to pick up votes. He said he'd consider donating his own money to the Democrat's recount fund.

"I think a hand recount is the only way you're going to be able to resolve these issues of how accurate are the machines," he said.

Locke said he would consider donating his own money to the Democrats' recount fund. But he stressed several times in a news conference that the race should end when the next count is done.

"We need to resolve this one way or the other," he said. "Even if a person wins by one vote - if all the votes have been tallied and have been counted and someone wins - that is it. The voters have spoken."

There has never been a hand recount in a statewide race in Washington.

After today's certification of the first recount, Gregoire will have three days to call for another. The counting could begin as soon as Saturday, Reed has said.

The ballots would be counted by teams of two people, either county election workers or representatives of the two campaigns.

Whoever requests the recount will have to pay 25 cents for every ballot counted, with a deposit based on an estimate due at before counting begins.

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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