Legal Basis For WA Challenge At Issue

Hundred-Vote GOP Win?

One Seattle Paper's Strange Omission


Could the Seattle Times actually top extremist rival the Post-Intelligencer for slanted gubernatorial coverage?

I ask because, as of yet, I can't find where the Times has covered this story:



(Seattle Post-Intelligencer- 20 April 2005- Gregory Roberts)

Without ballots cast by felons, dead voters and non-citizens, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire would have lost the 2004 election to Republican Dino Rossi by about 100 votes, according to a statistical report cited by the GOP in its legal challenge to Gregoire's victory.

But it's uncertain if the courts will buy the statistical arguments, which are a key to the GOP effort to overturn Gregoire's 129-vote win. Democrats say state law doesn't allow such arguments.

The analysis was part of recent legal filings by the Republicans listing the votes they intend to attack as improper in the election trial, which starts May 23 in Chelan County Superior Court.

Gregoire squeaked out her victory after a hand recount of more than 2.8 million votes cast.

This is either of case of bias by omission, they're a day behind at the Times, or I've overlooked it.

Whether or not this proves to hold water legally, the fact remains it's a central argument in the GOP's case, that last November's Washington state gubernatorial election was indeed awarded to the wrong person.

Sounds like news to me. The P-I agrees.

On Monday, the Times went about it the other way, with a focus on Democrats embarking on a fishing expedition in search of errors in rural (GOP-dominated) counties:


(Seattle Times- 18 April 2005- David Postman)


Democratic Party attorneys are trekking through rural Washington this week in search of election errors and illegal votes that helped Republican Dino Rossi as much or more than foul-ups and felon voters in the Puget Sound region may have helped Gov. Christine Gregoire.

As both sides begin taking depositions in earnest this week, Republicans want to stop Democrats from being able to use in court what they find on their tour of Rossi country.

Democratic attorneys are set to be in Colville today to take a deposition from Stevens County election officials. Tomorrow they will move on to Whitman and then Walla Walla, Whatcom and Adams counties Wednesday. Rossi won all of those but Whatcom County.

King County has been the main focus of the legal fight over the November governor's election because it is the state's largest county, has been plagued with vote-counting errors and overwhelmingly backed Gregoire in the governor's race.

Which approach seems more important? I think it's wise to write about both partisan strategies, but to leave out the GOP's key contention, seems to hand Dems a PR victory. Stay tuned for more.