Republicans allege 1,108 felons voted illegally in election

OLYMPIA — Republicans alleged yesterday that 1,108 felons voted illegally in the 2004 election. They plan to present the information as evidence in the party's lawsuit challenging the election of Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Dino Rossi, the failed Republican candidate for governor, is challenging Gregoire's election in court. Rossi says illegal votes and election workers' errors irrevocably tainted the election results. Gregoire won the election by 129 votes, after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots. Rossi had led after two machine counts.

Democrats say Gregoire is the legitimate governor and say Republicans don't have enough evidence to warrant nullifying the election.

With help from the politically conservative Building Industry Association of Washington, Republicans have spent the past couple of months searching for felons who voted despite not having their voting rights restored.

Rossi spokeswoman Mary Lane announced the 1,108 number yesterday. She said the lion's share, 884, were found in Democratic-leaning King County.

Rossi filed the lawsuit against the state last month.

Democrats say if Republicans have identified felon voters, they should say who they are. So far, Rossi's campaign has not disclosed the names of alleged felon voters.

David McDonald, who's overseeing the election challenge for the state Democratic Party, said the Republicans missed a deadline yesterday to share evidence, including the names of suspected felons who voted, in response to the Democrats' discovery request.

McDonald said if Republicans have proof of possible illegal votes, they should produce it in court.

Lane said Democrats today will get access to all the information, including the names of felons.

Seattle Times staff reporter David Postman contributed to this report.