Expect the Liberal Punditocracy
Scores of convicted felons voted illegally in the state's 2004 general election, and officials never noticed because of serious flaws in the system for tracking them, The Seattle Times has found.
The Times, reviewing felony convictions as far back as 1997, identified 129 felons in King and Pierce counties who were recorded as having voted in the Nov. 2 election. Another 23 likely voted. Several methods were used to confirm the findings.
Either the counties failed to flag or purge felons on the voter rolls as required by state law, or they allowed them to register without checking their status. Some were even mailed absentee ballots and returned them unchallenged.--Scores of felons voted illegally
The findings are almost certain to add to an already contentious debate over whether Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire's victory was legitimate.
After three vote counts in the race for governor, Gregoire was declared the winner by a record-close 129 votes over Republican Dino Rossi, fueling more than two months of controversy about how well ?— or poorly ?— the election was managed.
State Republicans filed a court case Jan. 7 arguing that the election was illegitimate and should be nullified. They have cited illegal votes by felons, as well as votes credited to dead people, errors in the handling of provisional ballots and problems reconciling differences between the number of people credited with voting and the total number of ballots cast.
The Times examined records from the state's two largest counties and found a number of felon voters that coincidentally equals the 129-vote margin in the election. While their votes did not change the outcome ?— not all of them voted for Gregoire ?— the finding suggests that felons could have voted illegally throughout the state.
Republicans' use of felon voting as a factor in their lawsuit has been countered by state Democrats, who say Republicans must show not only that felons voted illegally, but that if their votes were subtracted from each candidate's total, Rossi would have won. The judge hearing the case will consider that issue next month.
Election officials in King and Pierce counties say voter-registration procedures are designed to make it easy for people to vote. Instead of employing a rigorous screening process, they rely on people to be honest when registering or voting. Still, state officials say they are working to improve the system. -----------HOW ABOUT THE DEAD DEMOCRATS, DO THEIR VOTES STILL COUNT????
By IF ITS NOT CLOSE THEYCAN'T CHEAT
Scores of convicted felons voted illegally in the state's 2004 general election, and officials never noticed because of serious flaws in the system for tracking them, The Seattle Times has found.
The Times, reviewing felony convictions as far back as 1997, identified 129 felons in King and Pierce counties who were recorded as having voted in the Nov. 2 election. Another 23 likely voted. Several methods were used to confirm the findings.
Either the counties failed to flag or purge felons on the voter rolls as required by state law, or they allowed them to register without checking their status. Some were even mailed absentee ballots and returned them unchallenged.--Scores of felons voted illegally
The findings are almost certain to add to an already contentious debate over whether Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire's victory was legitimate.
After three vote counts in the race for governor, Gregoire was declared the winner by a record-close 129 votes over Republican Dino Rossi, fueling more than two months of controversy about how well ?— or poorly ?— the election was managed.
State Republicans filed a court case Jan. 7 arguing that the election was illegitimate and should be nullified. They have cited illegal votes by felons, as well as votes credited to dead people, errors in the handling of provisional ballots and problems reconciling differences between the number of people credited with voting and the total number of ballots cast.
The Times examined records from the state's two largest counties and found a number of felon voters that coincidentally equals the 129-vote margin in the election. While their votes did not change the outcome ?— not all of them voted for Gregoire ?— the finding suggests that felons could have voted illegally throughout the state.
Republicans' use of felon voting as a factor in their lawsuit has been countered by state Democrats, who say Republicans must show not only that felons voted illegally, but that if their votes were subtracted from each candidate's total, Rossi would have won. The judge hearing the case will consider that issue next month.
Election officials in King and Pierce counties say voter-registration procedures are designed to make it easy for people to vote. Instead of employing a rigorous screening process, they rely on people to be honest when registering or voting. Still, state officials say they are working to improve the system. -----------HOW ABOUT THE DEAD DEMOCRATS, DO THEIR VOTES STILL COUNT????
By IF ITS NOT CLOSE THEYCAN'T CHEAT
