GOP Cries “Foul” over Washington Governor’s Race

The Washington State race for governor just ended amid the usual whining and moaning that has become part of American politics whenever the race is close. Democrat Christine Gregoire won the final count by 129 votes after losing the first count by 241 and a second machine recount by 42. The GOP contender Dino Rossi took the usual GOP approach when he was ahead (“I won, race is over, time for a transition team), and the Al Gore approach after he came up short (“There are more votes to count in my counties”). If nothing else, this proves that the US can’t run a 21st century election using 19th century methods. And until this gets fixed, very few in America have any right to believe their votes were really counted.

During the miserable 2000 election, it became clear that there was something wrong in the way the state of Florida added everything up. Then, the presidential race in Ohio, while not close, was challenged not only in the courts but in the Congress (more symbolic than anything, it changed nothing in the final outcome). Now, in Washington, the GOP won the first count, and the machine recount, but then, 700 odd ballots turned up that election authorities said were valid but were never counted because they had been mislaid. Those put Ms. Gregoire over the top.

There is something appalling and simultaneously funny about the “greatest democracy in the world” being unable to get its vote count correct. And it isn’t all that hard if the country could learn to be patient – which is perhaps the biggest failing of the national character. If a million votes are cast, it may take a while to count them correctly. That isn’t the same as counting them quickly. That isn’t to say that every vote must be formally examined before a winner is announced. If one candidate has 600,000 votes out of the million cast before the counting is done, there is a winner. The final margin of victory is unknown, but that is a minor detail.

It is in a close race that uncertainty must be met with deliberate care. And it must be acknowledged that machine counts cannot be as meticulous as hand counts. Moreover, if there are definite rules in place before the event, there is much less opportunity for electoral shenanigans than otherwise. Now that both sides can complain that they were robbed, the time has come for national standards in balloting. The constitution leaves the matter of elections to the states, but at very least Congress can enact legislation that sets minimum levels of transparency that must be met. Failure to do so can result in refusal to accept the result. And if Florida or Washington are faced with losing a seat in the Senate, one can be fairly certain such standards will be met.

At a minimum, Americans must have an electoral system in which every citizen is permitted to vote, that they are registered easily and without intimidation, that votes cast outside the appropriate jurisdiction are dealt with consistently, and there must be a paper trail to allow examination of the results. The only reason democracy is tolerable is its ability to bestow legitimacy on the elected. When an election is suspect, the legitimacy of the winner is doubtful. Even in Stalin’s Soviet Union there was voting – but that didn’t make it democratic nor legitimate. America can do better.

© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.

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