Voters irked their ballots didn't count

Ken Stansbury, a Marine stationed in California between tours of duty in Iraq, flew home in October to cast his absentee ballot.

But he and his parents, Bellevue residents Todd and Wendy Stansbury, now know that their votes weren't counted in the election that put Christine Gregoire into the governor's mansion with a 129-vote margin.

King County election officials yesterday released the names of 94 voters whose valid absentee ballots were mistakenly left in their original envelopes. There was a total of 96 uncounted ballots, but the names of two voters are unknown because their ballots were removed from the envelopes with identifying information.

The uncounted ballots were discovered between March and May in boxes of what were believed to be empty envelopes.

Wendy Stansbury, a Republican precinct committee officer, said the county's failure to count her family's three votes for Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi "stinks more than three-day-old fish."

More than half the uncounted votes were from the 41st Legislative District, which tilted in Rossi's favor.

"Somebody with sticky fingers, who had some way of knowing, did cherry-picking," Stansbury said. "We're never going to be able to prove it."

A Seattle Times analysis in April showed that two-thirds of 91 uncounted ballots came from precincts in which Rossi outpolled Gregoire. If the uncounted ballots went to the candidates in the same proportion as did other votes in those precincts, Rossi would have reduced Gregoire's victory by four votes.

The Stansburys weren't the only voters upset to learn they were disenfranchised.

"I just think it's a disgrace, really," said Frances Staub, of Bellevue. "I think the only thing that would be fair would be to have another election."

But that won't happen. Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges this month rejected Rossi's attempt to set aside Gregoire's victory on the basis of illegal voting and procedural errors, particularly in King County.

County officials say they have seen no signs of fraud but are investigating the absentee-ballot operation.

Supervisor Nicole Way has been placed on paid leave pending completion of the probe. The County Council and County Executive Ron Sims have launched outside reviews of the election office.

"We are analyzing every nook and cranny of the processes in King County," elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said yesterday.

Magdalena Bachmeier, an 80-year-old Renton resident whose vote for Gregoire wasn't counted, seemed unimpressed. "We vote, but I don't think our votes are counted anyway, no matter who you're voting for."

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105