Inside the Recount (Gregoire-Rossi insider: Guess who tried to cheat?)

[Barrett808]

Democrat Christine Gregoire was elected governor by 129 votes last month in the third tabulation of one of the closest elections in U.S. history. While many are skeptical about the outcome, I am not among them. I was there at the historic moment the last ballots were tallied. In fact, I personally counted those and more than 10,000 of the 900,000 other ballots cast in King County. Over two weeks, as a temporary county employee and Democratic Party designee, I also learned a thing or two about partisan holy war—and human nature. The Re-Recount of 2004 wasn't pretty, but the system worked as designed. The hand recount gave us the true winner: the voters.

My involvement began with an e-mail. "Help with the King County recount for governor's race and get paid!" said a message on Dec. 4 from the Backbone Campaign. The Backbone Campaign is a group of local artists and activists whose mission is to encourage citizens and elected officials to stand up for progressive values. I called the King County Democratic Party and enlisted as one of 80 party designees in the hand recount of ballots. The Republicans provided their own 80 designees. It would be the third and presumably final tally of 2.8 million ballots statewide. Republican Dino Rossi won the first machine count by 261 votes and a recount by machine by 42 votes. As a computer professional, I understand the fallibility of automated systems better than most. It was clear to me that the only way to accurately determine the winner in such a tight election was by a hand recount.

So I became a Democratic partisan, despite the fact that I have never been a true believer in the Democrats or in their candidate for governor. Among Democrats, my pick would have been retired Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, who dropped out of the race early last year for health reasons. In the 2000 presidential election, I voted for Ralph Nader, and had it not been for the candidacy of Dennis Kucinich, I might have voted for Nader again in 2004. I voted the Democratic ballot in September's primary, but I am hardly a party faithful. For 12 days last month, however, I was a warm-and-fuzzy, dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. In the account that follows, I speak what for me is a surprisingly partisan truth.

It certainly wasn't the money that motivated me. At $12.70 per hour, the 10-hour days for less than two weeks would pay a few bills, but not many. I was there to distract myself from the holidays and to participate in a small piece of history—in that order. The training sessions, mandatory for all ballot counters, took place on Monday, Dec. 6, and Tuesday, Dec. 7. Work began on Wednesday, Dec. 8, and was expected to continue six days a week through Wednesday, Dec. 22. We worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For the duration, ballot counters, though representing the two parties, were considered temporary employees of King County. The respective parties also designated unpaid observers to serve as monitors.

(more)

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0501/050105_news_recount.php

[dweller]

1. GRREAT READ!

now i want to re-count some ballots :)



dp

[UndergroundLight4]

4. Well thing is for certain

It doesn't matter what you think of Rossi or Gregoire because the way things are going, there is a charge with his boning his babysitter anyway that may or may not come.

[dweller]

5. You have such a way with words

and an incredible lack of specific facts to back up your claim.


dp

[clayton72]

7. Rossi and the babysitter?!?

Where did you come by this info? How realiable is it? Is the babysitter female? Underage?

Thanks!
Clayton

[newyawker99]

21. Hi clayton72!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Renew Deal]

14. It really is.

But I am not sure if I can sit with a rabid puke for 10 hours.

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Thanks for posting this -- these paragraphs are significant

The author of this article and vote counter asked her GOP ballot counter partner what was happening in the GOP lounge his reply:

It was for prayer time, he said barely above a whisper. I had to ask the other people standing with us—one other Democratic ballot counter and two Republican ballot counters—to confirm what he said. This was something I had never considered. That a political party interested in the results of an election would conduct daily prayers, formally or informally, inside an office building in which the express purpose is to conduct civic business left me speechless. Apparently, because they had paid for the space, they felt entitled to do whatever they wanted—or, more precisely, whatever they could get away with. The revelation that prayers were being conducted in the GOP Lounge, together with the fact that the Republican candidate for governor once said he thought creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools, gave me a chilling new understanding of the phrase "party faithful." What I had thought was a contest for governor turned out to be more like a religious war.

The separation of church and state is one of the most cherished tenets of our democracy. Many would argue, myself among them, that those who seek to blur or erase the line are the real enemies of the American way of life. While I started out not caring much about who among the disappointing choices would be our next governor, suddenly I found that I care a great deal.

Our ballot-counting effort changed the outcome of the governor's race. Gregoire won by 129 votes out of more than 2.8 million. The likely ensuing legal wrangling aside, the Hand Recount of 2004 was probably the fairest and most accurate election tabulation ever. If Republicans are complaining about the outcome, they do so with knowledge that they did everything they possibly could to game the system. On one point, at least, there should be no argument: Election reform, at the state and national level, is sorely needed. We simply must find a way to ensure that no legally entitled citizen is disenfranchised, that every vote is counted.

[mimitabby]

3. fascinating

this was going on across the street from my office and i didn't know it!

[MissB]

6. The Republican badges were lavendar

Okay, that one got me laughing. :evilgrin:

[alfredo]

8. How can a person pray one minute, then try to deny their

fellow citizens the right to vote the next minute?

[FreakinDJ]

11. Solid Christian values

Can't let those "Brown Skinned Peoples" who can't govern themselve decide an election you know

[daleo]

12. Sinning for the greater glory of Jesus

It is an old theological dodge.

[alfredo]

13. I've heard people defend bush using that

argument.

Wasn't it Falwell that said that God sometime sends a tyrant to do his work?

[daleo]

15. I didn't hear that example, but I wouldn't doubt it - sounds like him.

The Catholic Church even has a name for this heresy, although I can't recall it right now.

In "Under the Banner of Heaven", John Krakhauher mentions the phrase "bleeding the beast", which is what some fundamentalists call taking advantage of secular government (i.e. cheating) to advance their own goals and weaken the secular authorities at the same time.

[alfredo]

18. I think it was in reference to Clinton.

I am having doubts that it was Falwell, it may have Robertson.

[genieroze]

9. good article. eom

[Lugnut]

10. Excellent piece

It is well worth the read for a lot of reasons.

[Moderator]

16. Interesting but not breaking news

This is a feature/editorial

[diddlysquat]

17. Very Interesting

Thank You

[Demeter]

19. What I Found Most Distressing

beyond the cult behavior of the GOP side, their hive mentality and their innocent belief that the rules somehow simply don't apply to them, was their attempts to game the system, distort and break the rules, and suborn their fellow citizen volunteers.

This isn't the workings of democracy, folks, and it is done to hurt every single one of us.

[salin]

20. This account needs to be pulled up and linked to each

news story that is pushed by the GOP (esp out of King County) about alleged fraud in the recount in Washington. In this account, the daily GOP briefings and talking points... followed by specific efforts is very telling.