Grays Harbor (WA) to Recount All of its Ballots (Good for Dems)

[kurtyboy]

<snip>
Election workers started from scratch this morning, recounting all the ballots cast in the Nov. 2 General Election after a problem was found with the counting system, Auditor Vern Spatz said. The problem could affect the totals in every race, but is likely to change the outcome in two, he said.

Spatz said he thinks businesswoman Diane Ellison will overtake Dave Timmons in the Grays Harbor PUD race. Ellison had already conceded.

And the numbers in the close gubernatorial race will add to Democrat Christine Gregoire's total, meaning she's likely to take this county, Spatz said.

The recount began at 9 a.m. with observers from the Grays Harbor Republicans, the Secretary of State's Office and someone from Gregoire's campaign.
<snip>
http://www.thedailyworld.com/archive/2004/11/16/LocalNews/308915.html

Apparently someone counted 6200 ballots twice (ooops), and they were all from the part of the county that heavily favored Republicans.

This will turn the Governor's race, where right now only a couple of hundred votes separate the candidates. KOMO TV, which is calling the error a "computer glitch" just reported the Grays Harbor alone will amount to a five-hundred vote swing for Gregoire! GHC uses ES&S optical scanners, btw.

When I was looking at voter turnout #s, I knew this was county fishy---a 93% turnout!, and the county voted for a GOP president for the first time in years--maybe the first time ever, my records only go back forty years, and GH County was one of the main battlegrounds for the Wobbly movement in the 30's.

Keep looking at the stats, people, we'll keep ferreting out the truth and forcing recounts wherever we can.


Edit: Add link---plus check out newer link (5 minutes ago) from KOMO TV:
http://www.komotv.com/stories/34000.htm

MORE good news for Gregoire!

[rodeodance]

1. thanks for the story

[RevolutionaryActs]

2. WeeeeHA! Does this mean Rossi will go away forever?!!! eom

[Liberal Veteran]

5. And hopefully take Tim Eyman with him...

Honest to god, I believe Eyman has done more to damage this state than anyone including my fellow morons of Spokane who voted out Tom Foley thinking Nethercutt would become "speaker of the house".

[Johnyawl]

6. Rossi won't go away

If he loses this nailbiter, he'll be back in two years to run against Sen. Cantwell.

He's the only viable candidate the republicans will have for that race.

After Cantwell kicks his ass, THEN he'll go away.

[RevolutionaryActs]

7. You make me sad..

... then REALLY HAPPY! LOL

Is it me or does Rossi seem like, no matter what he's doing, he just doesn't care... about anything, especially the issues?

Ew god I hate him!

[glitch]

3. Rock on Grays Harbor !! We all need to do this - every county in every

state. Just too damn coincidental.

[Generic Other]

4. Yes!!

Hurray for honest election officials!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. From Oregon

:mad:

Our votes here in Multnomah county were counted on the same damn machines!
I've been saying I did not believe Kerry did not carry more of the vote here, and several amendments passed that I DO NOT BELIEVE Oregon people voted for! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!

thanks guys, I feel better :D

[kurtyboy]

9. More from the KOMO TV story

I read this part and sort of got a chill:
http://www.komotv.com/stories/34000.htm
<snip>
Spatz believes had he not caught the errors Tuesday, they would have surfaced during certification on Wednesday. After all, with a double entering, the turnout in some precincts would have exceeded the number of voters.

He's confident the errors would be caught and if there are similar errors in other counties, he believes they too would be caught in Wednesday's certification process.

Spatz added the problems were definitely accidental.

"I guarantee you, we did not want to be in this situation," he said Tuesday. "We are re-counting 100 percent of all ballots. It's very important to us that the election be an open process and everybody is comfortable with those numbers."
<snip>

We would have caught them, he says! But what if they didn't? What if votes from precincts with less than 40% turnout got double counted? Who would know? Who would even look?

I lean more and more to old-fashioned count-the-paper-by-hand methods every day. Cripes....

[Moderator]

10. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=996079