Probe of felon voters not yet started

King County election officials have been saying for more than a month that they would give prosecutors details on felons who allegedly cast illegal votes in the November election. As recently as two weeks ago, the county released a report that said officials had, in fact, forwarded information on more than 100 suspect voters.

But as of yesterday, King County prosecutors said, all they had seen were a computer printout, a newspaper clipping and a spreadsheet produced by reporters — not enough information to launch an investigation. They would need more documentation including original signatures of the questionable voters, prosecutors said.

Last night, King County elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said her office was working with prosecutors "to provide additional information to help in their investigation."

But there is no investigation.

"We have nothing in the prosecutor's office or the sheriff's office that would constitute an official case that we could investigate," said Dan Satterberg, chief of staff in the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Satterberg said elections officials did meet with prosecutors and detectives, but the information they had on felon voters "was in no shape to constitute what the sheriff needed."

County Elections Director Dean Logan said in an e-mail that "our office has been and continues to work with the Prosecutor's office on the list of potential felon voters." He said his deputy is compiling additional information for prosecutors.

Prosecutors in other counties have begun investigations.

In Pierce County, election officials forwarded the names of 75 alleged felon voters to prosecutors. Of those, 73 were determined to have voted illegally, and their voter registrations were revoked. In one case, a felon who bragged about voting was sanctioned for violating probation and referred to prosecutors.

Whatcom County officials referred three cases for prosecutors.

Clark County referred four cases, though three of those votes were cast as provisional ballots and were rejected before being counted.

Douglas County revoked the registration of one felon who voted in November, and Thurston County is investigating a list of alleged felon voters.

Felons accused of voting in the election are a key part of the lawsuit by Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi asking that the November election be nullified and Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire be removed from office.

Last month, The Seattle Times reported it had identified 129 felons who voted illegally in King and Pierce counties. The newspaper named only those who were interviewed by reporters, but all the names were given to election officials to verify the people had voted.

King County officials said Jan. 23, the day the story ran, that they would forward information on felons to the prosecutor's office that week.

A post-election report released two weeks ago by Logan and County Executive Ron Sims said: "Based on reports and information resulting from an investigative report conducted by the media, King County Elections has forwarded information to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office of more than 100 voters who may be convicted felons who have not received a certificate of discharge or restoration of rights."

Republican attorneys wanted the same information. In a subpoena issued as part of the lawsuit in Chelan County Superior Court, they asked for all documents relating to felons given to prosecutors from the King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services Division, referred to as REALS.

In response to the subpoena, Don Porter, the senior deputy prosecutor, wrote to GOP attorneys: "King County REALS has not at this time provided such information to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Thus, there are not documents responsive to this request."

Egan, the elections spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that officials had met with prosecutors and the sheriff's office to "present and discuss the list of felons provided by the Seattle Times. We are continuing to work closely with them to provide additional information to help in their investigation."

Satterberg said, "Detectives gave a specific list of things they wanted in regard to the felon cases and they asked elections to produce those things before we would technically accept these or have them forwarded to us."

Mary Lane, a spokeswoman for Rossi, said, "They put out a taxpayer-funded report like this, with an accompanying press conference to toot their own horn, and now it turns out not everything in there is true.

"It's so frustrating working with King County because you're never able to get a straight answer out of them. It's always something."

In Pierce County, prosecutors said they were asked to confirm whether suspected felon voters had voted illegally, but not to prosecute them if they did.

"The information that was given to me was for the very, very narrow context for disqualifying them from the voter rolls," said Craig Adams, deputy prosecutor who advises the sheriff.

Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy said it appeared some of the people were not aware they weren't allowed to vote. At the hearing where the voters had their registrations revoked, five people showed up, she said.

"One young man said 'I thought my probation officer was taking care of this.' He was upset," McCarthy said.

McCarthy said she hopes a new statewide database, available beginning next year, will make it easier for her office and others to check felony records.

"This is not particular to Pierce County or King County or Washington state. This is an issue that is endemic across the country," McCarthy said. "This is part of the contextual discussion we need to have about elections."

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