http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=511&ncid=696&e=4&u=/ap/20041217/ap_on_el_gu/washington_governorGOP to Sue Over 573 Found Wash. Ballots
Thu Dec 16,10:07 PM ET
By REBECCA COOK, Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE - Republicans prepared a lawsuit Thursday to try to prevent King County from including 573 newly discovered ballots in a hand recount that could erase their gubernatorial candidate's razor-thin margin of victory.
The GOP expected to file a motion Friday in Pierce County Superior Court seeking a temporary restraining order against King County officials. A judge was tentatively scheduled to hear the motion the same day.
Election officials in King County, a Democratic stronghold that includes Seattle, want to count the ballots, which they say are valid votes that election workers mistakenly rejected.
Republicans want those ballots to stay rejected — or at the very least, they want King County to investigate further before adding them to the mix.
"If King County moves forward we will never know the truth about those ballots," said Republican State Party Chairman Chris Vance. "We want to get some answers about these very suspicious ballots."
Republican Dino Rossi won the Nov. 2 election over Democrat Christine Gregoire by 261 votes in the first count and by 42 after a machine recount. On Thursday, with all but three of the state's 39 counties reporting, Rossi had gained 32 votes in the hand recount for a margin of 74.
The newly discovered ballots in King County, if counted, could make Gregoire the winner.