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I demand a recount of the recounts!

Published Wednesday, December 22, 2004 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

If the Washington state gubernatorial contest offers us any lessons, 'tis this one: Shouldn't all of the politicians agree to the ground rules before the election?

The latest results this afternoon put Democrat Christine Gregoire up by 10 votes, after losing the initial vote count and the first two recounts. Of course, the Republicans aren't about to let that stand. Electoral reform is on the way. What gets me about all of this, though, is that Washington's voters have been through this before, as recently as, oh, 2000, when the U.S. Senate race came down to a statewide recount. So why didn't the Democrats and Republicans agree to recount ground rules before this go-around? Ugh. No, make that a double-ugh for the state that is home to the big U-Dub. I could also mention that I looked into the myriad of reasons that voters have their votes disqualified, both reasonably and unreasonably, in that aftermath. I can't find the story online anymore, but can find its third-place reward in that year's government reporting category among Northwest dailies (page 15 of the program). I demand a recount of that award! Third place?! What do they say about hindsight?