Washington State Election Scandal

[Superman]

C'mon folks. Lambaste Washington State. King County especially. Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, who vowed to "restructure" much of state government if elected (in other words, he's another one of you gubmint anarchists hoping to tear down our various governments) has filed suit. He may even get into the US supreme Court because of the equal protection aspect of the Florida US Supreme Court decision. Different counties in Washington State handled similarly-situated ballots differently. Lack of uniformity. Plus, the audit that is looking into differences between vote tallies, and "who voted" estimates, is not finished. I think perhaps eight dead people voted in King County. Okay, without outlining how eight votes out of more than a million might actually be caused by something other than deliberate racketeering on the part of gubmint workers, I'm still hopeful that you guys will cry foul. C'mon.

I remember Florida, and maybe you guys do too. And maybe that's why I'm hearing nothing. Heck, none of the election officials are even related to Gregoire.

Oh, and a democratic state Senate, and a democratic state House of Representatives will meet to discuss whether to bring gubmint crashing down into a fire of distrust and election tampering allegations in an attempt to discredit what a Republican Secretary of State has declared to be a legitimate and proper election of a Democrat to the position of Washington State Governor.

C'mon. I have little time for television these days, so I rely on the conservatives here for my entertainment. I'm baiting you. C'mon.

[Eric 951]

I always thought Washington was a Canadian territory.

[lendaddy]

I know very little of this. Was the recount statewide or in "select counties" like Gore wanted in Florida? I really don't know edumacate me.

[djmcmath]

The Soviet Socialist Republic of Washington is actually a territory of North Korea -- just don't tell W. We'll recount all the votes, as long as they're not absentee ballots from military people -- who are overwhelmingly republican. We'll count all the votes, in King County. We'll recount and recount and recount until we get the results we're looking for, then we'll swear in the governor that the courts have chosen and call it good.

In truth, Governor Gregoire intends to use the Washington State Patrol to invade Canada, then use her influence to ensure that Boeing gets the winning bid to take over air traffic in the newest Washington County, ex-Canada. You'll never guess who owns a significant chunk of Boeing stock!

Ok, well, I made up all of that. But wasn't it entertaining?


Dan

[Drago]

I'm pretty much just sick of it...so, no baiting here Sup...not that I ever get involved in political threads.

[Superman]

Len, one of our recounts was statewide, where each county recounted. I think Florida wanted to, and did, recount selected counties. It was the statewide recount that never happened, but should have. At least, that is my recollection.

My recollection also includes the impression that Florida's governor is Duybya relative, and that the ultimate decisions came down to the Florida Attorney General, who headed Dubya's Florida campaign. We've got none of that here, no Gregoire relatives, no folks running elections or interpreting policies who also ran Gregoire's campaign.

Indeed, the Secretary of State, who oversees elections, a Republican whose performance as Thurston County Auditor has been impeccable (I've voted for him several times), has taken heat because he is moderate and wishes his party would return to its more rational roots, and who has taken ENORMOUS heat for not screwing up the current election process in favor of Rossi.

There are a few questions about particular ballots. Questions I'd be surprized to NOT find when you administer an election where millions of ballots are considered. The military thing is interesting. Military folks get some substantial leeway when it comes to elections. Their ballots are certainly valid if they are posted on or before election day, and the post mark becomes meaningless if the certify that they voted on or before election day. They can vote by fax or email. And the current controversy involves some ballots from a few small counties being sent out, like October 18 or something. The rest were sent out before that.

If you listen to the most partisan of commenters, you might get the impression that, just like Florida got to make, and interpret, the rules to favor conservative votes, today Washington State (a socialist republic) is twisting the rules to favor their hopeful. If that were true, it'd be Quid Pro Quo. It isn't true, but there are some conservatives here who want to paint that picture, and also appear to be responsible civil-minded. Nobody here is fooled. Or at least, the proportion of fooled people here is smaller than the proportion of folks who are paying attention.

Well, I was hoping to hear more whining. Dan's remarks come the closest, but I happen to know he's an intelligent person making stuff up.

Still, we need to decide whether we want Canada or not. They don't know how to brew beer, that's for sure.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally posted by Eric 951
I always thought Washington was a Canadian territory.

I thought we annexed Canadia a few years ago?

[Craig 930 RS]

Bottom line:

Vote too close to accurately count. No matter what.
No right answer here. Perhaps a recount? Nope.

[Superman]

Right you are, Craig. We've noticed for some time that a recount is basically a coin-toss, statistically speaking. Out of a couple million votes, forty vote margins are well within the error margin.

And it partly comes down, like in some of Florida's decisions, as to what constitutes a "vote."

Interestingly, Rossi camp no longer asks for a recount. He wants a re-vote. And the "R"'s are complaining that the "D"'s are just pushing buttons until their candidate gets the majority. Hilarious.

[Craig 930 RS]

Apathy at work here:

Just suck it up and deal with the fact that perhaps "your party didn't win"
Works for me. I ain't getting worked up about it - either way.

BTW, the MOST interesting thing with this vote is that WA State is very democratic with regards to past voting records. Yet the vote was this close.....this clearly indicates a lot of Dems and those on the fence don't like Gregoire and her shady past.....

[Superman]

Yes, I still find the voting patterns nationwide to be nothing short of incredible. How do you get waitresses to vote for tax breaks for billionaires?

[Craig 930 RS]

"How do you get waitresses to vote for tax breaks for billionaires?"

Hm, let's take a stab at it:
By presenting a Democratic candidate who many don't like no matter what?

[Dantilla]

Maybe she plans on being a billionaire someday.

[lendaddy]

or maybe she's smart enough to know that you don't turn away a good thing to spite anothers better thing.

[Superman]

Or maybe she's still buying into the disproven "trickle down" economic theory nonsense.