And The Winner Is...?

If you've been going through post election withdrawal I invite you to get acquainted with the yet unfinished horse race for governor of Washington state. Pull up a seat and get comfortable, this might take a little while longer still.

Washington is second only to Oregon in the number of absentee ballots it counts. While all voting in Oregon is done by mail, Washington's laws offer the convenience of a mail-in ballot to anyone that wants to vote that way.

I used to prefer going to the polls in person to cast my votes. There is something very powerful about being in the voting booth, filling in my choices for the various positions, and for or against the handful of ballot measures or initiatives that might be on the ticket.

Yet a few years ago I decided to switch to a mail-in ballot because getting to the polls wasn't always convenient.

This year's race for governor is the closest statewide election in Washington history. After 2,882,435 ballots were counted Republican Dino Rossi had 1,371,414 to Democrat Christine Gregoire's 1,371,153, a mere 261 vote margin of victory. However, state law dictates that if the margin is less than 2,000 votes an automatic machine recount is mandated. Therefore, since last weekend, each county has been recounting the votes for governor, and a final recount tally isn't expected until Wednesday, a full 22 days after the November 2nd election. Yet given how close things are now, it is highly possible that either Republicans or Democrats will ask and pay for a second, manual recount, at which point we can expect the final results to take another week. Whatever happens, final results must be certified by December 2nd.

Washington state is an interesting mix of blue urban populations in the western half of the state, and red, mostly rural populations in the eastern half. The state went to Kerry (53%), has two Democratic senators, and since 1980 has seen only Democratic governors. Although Gregoire leads in only 8 of the 39 counties, she leads in King county 58% to 40%, where 31% of ballots are cast. Yet, a poor campaign by the Democrat and a strong showing by Rossi, has split the state as evenly as it possibly could.

The long delay in a final result and the closeness of the vote, of course, has become ripe fodder for a slew of complaints, lawsuits and calls for election reform, not to mention barbs between voters. First and foremost, many have complained that the original count totals are delayed because Washington state liberally allows voters to mail their ballots as late as election day.

How impatient we continue to be as a society. We want our food fast. We want our news in sound-bites. We want our elections determined the second the polls close. We are told that in Oregon, although all voting is done by mail, results are known sooner because ballots must be received by election day.

The mini brouhaha regarding the delay in knowing who will be our next governor is a false issue. The new term doesn't begin until January and a race this close should require a recount. Maybe two. No change in when mailed-in ballots should be received would change that reality. Were this race in Oregon we would surely need a recount there as well to verify the results, with all the delays that would entail in determining a final outcome. Historically, two recounts in Washington state have changed the final tally by amounts greater than the 261 vote margin in this year's race for governor, so even a tiny number of miscounted votes could realistically make a difference.

Then there is the implied backlash against absentee voting in a state where it is intended as a convenience, not a right. Yet, the real "absentees" of any election are the people who do not vote. As much as 70% of Washingtonians choose to mail in their votes, and many do so because it allows them to better study the issues and candidates, and to make more informed decisions. I personally have found that I spend far more time educating myself about candidates and issues than I ever did when I had to vote in person at a polling station.

Furthermore, I cannot control whether the postal service will deliver my ballot by a specific date. Even if I mailed my ballot one week early I may fall victim to slow mail delivery. While proponents of the Oregon system would argue that I could physically hand deliver my ballot to some official location myself, it kind of defeats the purpose having to do so. Early voting also takes away from the voter who might be swayed by late breaking news. Again, people might argue that if you can't decide who you are going to vote for with one week left then you are some kind of moron. The fact is there may be easy to make votes, but with many races and issues on one ballot, many choices are often difficult to make.

But the most important point of all, in my mind, is that 82% of registered voters in this state voted, far above the national average, and hardly a crisis in need of reform. How wonderful it would be if over 80% of all Americans who were registered to vote did so. It would be more wonderful if over 80% of the voting age population were even registered. In fact, rather than putting up additional barriers to our votes, we should be making it less restrictive, and allowing voters to register as late as election day, as they do in Wisconsin.

When it comes to elections, we should broaden the ability for everyone to vote, and we should let the vote counting that has to occur happen at whatever pace is necessary to ensure the vote totals are correct. There is no need to rush such things.

Meanwhile, speaking of ensuring the vote totals are correct, once again Republicans are looking for the courts to limit which votes are counted. What's going on is that as part of these recounts, votes that were not marked in a way the ballot reader could read them are corrected so that the votes can be counted. We're talking about ballots where voters circled names or checked the circles, for example, instead of filling the circles in fully with an official number 2 pencil.

I find it interesting that a Mr. William Maurer, who is named on the Republican lawsuit against King County (the most populous county in the state and home of the mostly liberal leaning Seattle communities - hence the biggest county for Republicans to be concerned about) as having spied various irregularities, declares he is not an official Republican Party observer. Assuming we believe him, and that it is unlikely he is representing the Democratic or Libertarian Party, then I have to infer that party affiliation is not a requirement to being an observer. If that is so, then I might want to run down to the recount offices and become an observer myself, if for no other reason that to make sure my vote is correctly counted, and safe from Republican tactics to stop votes from being counted.

The November election may be over in the rest of the USA, but here in Washington state it continues to fascinate those of us who are enthralled by such things, and unlike four years ago in Florida, this is clean and fair drama, the way it should always be when the voting is so close.

Stay tuned!