WA Governor's Race a Rollercoaster Ride

Latest returns have Democrat Christine Gregoire now in the lead by about 600 votes. Dino Rossi had held a 2000 vote lead for a number of days, but that was wiped out late Monday. Creepy parallels to four years ago, when Sen. Slade Gorton was defeated by Maria Cantwell after last minute provisional counting, are becoming visable.

What has party officials and activists in a tizzy now are the provisional ballots, many of which come from Seattle. Democrats want to make sure all of these are counted, whether from legitimate registered voters or not. They won a court ruling allowing them to contact those whose provisional ballots are in question due to signature irregularites. They can then turn around and swear up and down that they are bona fide voters.

The big question, the one faced previously, is this: why so voters in Seattle can't seem to figure out where to vote or whether they are registered on election day.

Not only will there be a recount in this race but there will also be court battles no matter who comes out ahead.