Breaking: Full hand recount for Washington governor's race

[stevedeshazer]

KOMO NEWS ALERT: Washington Democrats will finance a full hand recount of 2.9 million ballots cast for governor more than a month ago.

Up as a news alert on http://www.komotv.com/

Press comference scheduled for 2 pm, more when available...

ON EDIT: new link here:

http://www.kirotv.com/politics/3966185/detail.html

Democrats Have Funds For Recount

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington Democrats, hoping the third time's the charm, will pay for yet another recount in the state's ultra-close governor's race that remains unsettled after more than a month.

The party also is heading to the state Supreme Court to seek a ruling that all ballots be treated the same from county to county.

Top-ranking Democratic sources said the party has raised the necessary $700,000-plus to recount all 2.9 million votes cast for governor on Nov. 2 -- not just votes in selected counties. A flood of online contributions put the party over the top, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Party leaders, including the state chairman and the three most recent Democratic governors, scheduled a news conference to announce the development.
=====================================================================
Note the snarky comment by the KIRO staffer... :grr:

[baba]

1. Woohoo!!!!

They're gonna do it!!!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. WE DID IT!

[Leilani]

3. Congrats to all

who worked to make this happen!

[WebeBlue]

10. My sincere thanks to all who got it Done..a Washingtonian

I was following a thread last nite of DUers who were contributing actual $$. I added a reply with a plea and DUers kept contributing $$. I was so touched, tearful, with the outreach,as I have lived in this beautiful treasure of a state for 30 + years. No reason to expect people from other states to come to the rescue but DUers did...and you made it happen. You are a wonderful community. I'm newbie here, but glad to be a part of your community. Thank you for helping me to keep my state. I shudder to think of it being plundered by republican governor in alignment with B***co.

[ChicanoPwr]

4. Viva La Raza

I can see those rat bastards running for cover now.

[John Q. Citizen]

5. All Right!

Another shot at the prize and a whole state to count.

That sounds like a good media story.

[WebeBlue]

6. Great going Gregoire, needs help now with hand recount

I posted a thread related to help needed in hand recount in WA, and that thread didn't go anywhere, so I'll add it here. What I got in my email this morning (we live in WA):

Dear MoveOn member,

As you have probably heard, a hand recount of the Washington governor's race, where conservative Republican Dino Rossi leads Democrat Christine Gregoire by only 42 votes, is very likely. With such a tiny difference separating the candidates, the recount is an important step to make sure every vote is counted.

The recount will proceed separately in each of Washington's 39 counties, and in order to ensure the counting is fair, the state Democratic Party plans to have volunteers supervise the counting. That will require several volunteers in each county all day for a number of days, and Gregoire's campaign has asked MoveOn PAC for help.

Can you offer a couple hours, a full day, or even several days to help protect democracy in Washington and make sure the final count is fair and accurate? If so, click here to sign up for a training near you this weekend:

http://www.moveonpac.org/lnvb/recount/wa.html

Even if you can't attend a weekend training you can still sign up and the campaign will get in touch with you.

If you made a contribution to the recount effort, you deserve extra thanks. Your contribution yesterday not only helped us hit our goal of at least $250,000 to contribute to the Washington State recount but helped give the state Party resources that we hope will enable them to proceed with the recount. Christine Gregoire's campaign asked us to express their gratitude to you and other MoveOn members for doing our part to make it more likely that all the ballots will be counted fairly.

The recount process will be determined by the Secretary of State as well as county officials. If it proceeds it is likely to start this coming Wednesday, with counting beginning at 8 AM each day and lasting until 8 PM, though it may vary by county. Smaller counties will finish within a few days, while large counties will likely continue until the 20th.

The trainings this weekend will provide further details as well as instruction on how to monitor the counting, but it's not that difficult: you'll just watch as officials count the ballots to make sure the agreed-upon procedures are followed correctly.

If you can help organize other volunteers, for example, by making sure a whole day's worth of shifts are filled in one county, you can also indicate that when you sign up.

We'll pass your name and contact information to the Gregoire campaign and the Washington Democratic Party if you sign up, so they can give you more information on what to do next. Technically, you will act as their official representative when you observe the counting.

You may not know your schedule exactly, but if you think you may be able to help, sign up now:

http://www.moveonpac.org/lnvb/recount/wa.html

Thank you very much. Sincerely,

--Adam Ruben
MoveOn PAC
December 3, 2004

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC www.moveonpac.org
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

[Mike Niendorff]

7. Bravo.

Frankly, it's ridiculous to me that the manual recount isn't publically financed in this case, too. 42 votes in an election of this size is simply not to sufficient to make a reliable call without further verification. Both Republicans and Democrats should be supporting the manual recount on this one.


MDN

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. And the manufacturers of the machines

should be paying for it. They have plenty of money, they certainly gave enough of it to George Bush.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. The head of the Washington state Republican party said last week....

...if Dino Rossi was behind after the machine recount they would push for a manual recount. But now they're criticizing the Democrats and Christine Gregoire for doing to same thing.

[montanacowboy]

8. AND GOOD FOR GREGOIRE FOR DEMANDING

A FULL STATE RECOUNT OR NOTHING AT ALL! WOMEN DEMS ROCK! GET MEAN, GET MAD, BITCH SLAP THE REPUKES

[Mojambo]

11. She would have been destroyed had she tried it any other way

(And rightfully so, IMO)

[MissB]

9. Yippeee!!!!! The local news had Rossi on last night

And he was talking about how the state didn't need a full recount.

42 votes, moron, and they'll likely find them! Enjoy the title of "Governor-elect" while you can.

[flamingyouth]

14. I'll be SOOO happy if I don't have to ever see his face again

"Happy" is an understatement there, actually. :D

[flamingyouth]

12. This is great news

Thanks to everyone from around the country who contributed to the effort here in Washington. :hi:

[faithnotgreed]

13. right on! here we go...

[Mike Niendorff]

15. NWCN : taking live calls NOW.

"What do you think of the recount?"

1-800-305-NWCN
1-800-305-6926


MDN

[LisaM]

17. Remind me not to play poker with Chris Gregoire....

I would lose.

[uppityperson]

18. Yeah!!!!! Thank you everyone who contributed or called the DNC

42 vote difference should automatically qualify for a hand re-count. Now, to fix the voting mess in the next 4 yrs. Wild hope? Small changes are what I'm hoping for.

[Az_lefty]

19. Nice Work Everyone !!!!!

:toast:

[Ediacara]

20. Yet another recount....

Sorry, but it's only the SECOND recount. This recount was needed because the one and only so-far recount cut the "victor's" margin of victory by 73.9%! The total margin of victory is 0.0000145%, which as far as I know, is too close for comfort.....

Had the GOP lost by this margin, they'd be screaming bloody murder and would count and recount until they got their way....

[Rose Siding]

21. And it's the first hand recount.

First requested recount (the other was mandatory) and the first by hand (the other was a machine count)

We might win and if we are going to lose, it's almost worth the money to lose by more than 42 stinking votes.

The largest benefit would be if the hand count results are significantly different than machine counts- win or not, spotlighting that possibility would be of benefit to everyone.

[dobynsbc]

23. Paper Victory

The sad thing about the Gregoire/Rossi race is that both candidates were pretty undesirable. Unfortunately, progressive Democrat Ron Simms was eliminated in the primary, due primarily to Gregoire's name recognition factor. Had Gregoire stood for anything more substantial than "I got tobacco money for the state" she would have easily beaten Rossi.

I know this isn't a particularly popular opinion to have right now, but a couple years of a Republican in the governer's office may be just what Washington needs in order to remember why they almost always elect Democrats! And this is coming from a hardcore progressive who spent a year campaigning for Kucinich.

I would have much rather seen the recount money being funneled toward the states plagued by election fraud than into generally reliable Washington. (Although they've got to get Sam Reed, the Secretary of State, out of office.)

[KT2000]

32. Theoreticals are great

for discussion purposes, but the reality of a Rossi governorship are fightening. How many of us would loose healthcare under Rossi? What are the ramifications of that? Death for some.

Workers comp will be turned over to the insurance comapnies who will raise rates higher that we have ever seen. This, while they develop ways to deny claims. Ramifications? disability and death for some.

Salmon protection? Environmental safeguards? Not with * in the White House and developers being the ones who financed Rossi's election.

Yes - I wanted Simms as well but I am too close to the bottom (along with many others) to see the wisdom of a repub governorship just to show them how bad it would be. The media would never report the negative anyway.

[Stevepol]

43. But remember this is a test case for DREs too.

Regardless of the Dem candidate's bona fides, if WA is recounted and substantial anomalies are discovered in places using the ES&S optical scanners or the Diebold or whatever (what machines does the state use?), this will be another wedge to open this Pandora's box of fraudulent vote manipulation by the voting machine cartel. Bev Harris found some real hanky panky going on w/ the central tabulators in one of the counties there, didn't she? (Sonoma County?) This is great news regardless of the Dem being helped out. I'm hoping she wins with the hand recount by over 100,000 votes and the precincts that show the biggest tilt are the ones w/ the infernal circuitry.

[regnaD kciN]

44. Sonoma's in California...

Bev Harris found some real hanky panky going on w/ the central tabulators in one of the counties there, didn't she? (Sonoma County?)

I think you're talking about Snohomish County, just north of Seattle.

[lakelly]

25. third times a charm

You are so right. They'd be sending republican operatives from all over the country to bang on the election boards' doors and hurl angry epitaphs at those that got caught in the cross fires (ala Palm Beach 2000.) I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that recount.
Cheers to all!!

[bluestateguy]

22. Good deal

This race was closer than the Florida presidential race in 2000. A statewide hand recount is a must, and I'm glad it's going to be statewide. I believe it would be wrong to cherry pick in only Democratic counties.

[BareskinMatt]

24. If the Dem gets it this time would it end it?

Or could there be another challenge from the pubs?

[kurtyboy]

27. Two recounts is the max, by law

And no matter what the first two were, only the third one counts.

[w4rma]

38. It goes, normal count, then they go for more accuracy with a machine

count, then more accuracy and precision with a hand count.

3. Regular, machine, then manual.

[johnnyrocket]

40. Oh if this things flips, the GOP will no nuclear!!

Guaranteed! Probably go to the supreme court and say Democratic votes don't count because they're a pain in the ass and a nuisance, and the state shouldn't be bothered with such nonsense.

[regnaD kciN]

45. They're already going nuclear...

...denouncing Gregoire for "stooping to anything to win" (right -- like making sure the votes are actually counted?), claiming that the Democrats will try to "manufacture votes" (that weren't there in the first place? :eyes: ) during the hand recount, and, most amazingly, that it is "well-established" that machine recounts are more accurate than manual ones. :crazy:

And, of course, they're trotting ex-Gov. Dan Evans out as usual. Evans is sort of the John McCain of Washington -- he has a reputation for "independence," and actually acts that way, oh, once every decade or two, as a brief break from his usual slavish G.O.P. toadying. :evilgrin: He was on cable news today claiming that, even if Gregoire were to "find" enough votes in the upcoming recount, there's no way she could ever be considered anything other than "an election accident." Oh, and your boy winning by 42 votes out of nearly three million constitutes a legitimate, broad mandate?

:grr:

[kurtyboy]

26. Question: IN those counties that use paperless touchscreens

Like Yakima and Snohomish, Does the Gregoire campaign have to pay for a hand recount of the electrons? Just asking.....

[stevedeshazer]

28. LOL

Good one :)

[Jo March]

29. kicking

it, Washington style!

[GRLMGC]

30. No need to be snarky

It's 42, count em', 42 votes. There's no need to pretend that there's absolutely no chance that Gregoire can take it. What a maroon.

[OKNancy]

31. Wonderful news!!

[superconnected]

33. Really good news

I thought it was going to only be in some counties so this is GREAT!

35. BIG TROUBLE, LOOKIE!

Some of the WA counties have ELECTRONIC MACHINES and NO BALLOTS!!!!!

This could get interesting!

[stevedeshazer]

37. And one of the issues raised by the WA Dems

Is that all 39 counties be recounted the same way.

This will put more focus on the electronic voting issues.

[satya]

36. A Big Thank You to all of you...

who helped make this happen. This should be pretty interesting!
:toast:

[johnnyrocket]

39. These ultra-close elections are SUSPICIOUS!

Especially since it always seems to be the Repug who's on top, 2,900,000 votes? And a separation of 42!?!?!?! It just doesn't add up...by the way, I don't know how anyone else feels, but even if the Democrat were over the top, I STILL would support a recount!! It only seems fair to have as super accurate vote count.

I notice how the GOP never supports recounts, accurate counts, voter records, or paper trails....I just DOESN'T PASS THE SMELL TEST!!!!

[Quakerfriend]

41. terrific news for Washington state!

And, who knows, perhaps this could be the "New Hampshire" we were looking for!;)

[Up2Late]

42. CSPAN Replay Alert!

Cspan is just starting the re broadcast of Washington State recount Press Conf.