The Washington State Republicans released a list yesterday of more than 1,100 people believed to be felons who voted illegally in November 2004. They also released the names of 45 deceased persons in whose names ballots were cast in November. Although it turns out that a few of the felons on the list may in fact have had their voting rights legally restored, the number of suspected illegal felon votes is still many times larger than Christine Gregoire’s apparent margin of victory.
Another of today’s news items reminds me of the scene in the movie Sea of Love where Al Pacino, playing a New York City detective, rounds up a bunch of warrant fugitives by inviting them to a bogus “Meet the Yankees” breakfast. Officials of the WA state homebuilders association (BIAW) suspected that certain voter affidavits collected by Democratic party activists in November had forged signatures. To entice the voters in question to reveal their signatures for comparison with the affidavits, the BIAW sent them surveys to fill out along with $10 checks as a courtesy payment. A number of the signatures that came back on the endorsed checks are indeed suspiciously dissimilar to the signatures on the affidavits. Naturally, the Democrats are up in arms over this. But where’s the outrage that election officials aren’t doing their jobs to safeguard the integrity of the voter rolls so that citizens don’t have to?
The Rossi campaign believes that the next hearing in the election contest suit will be held on or about March 17, when the judge is expected to schedule the actual trial. The first session of the state legislature could well be over even before the election contest is settled.. A whole raft of legislation could end up being signed into law by a governor who is eventually ruled to be an illegitimate occupier of that office.