Elections 2004: Revote and restore credibility

I am deeply disturbed by the current situation regarding the gubernatorial election. Dino Rossi won two out of the three counts, and now Christine Gregoire is being certified. This process goes against all logic. 

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this mess is the fact that the votes of many of our servicemen overseas did not count. Many ballots were mailed out late, and many were received after the election, so they were not returned, as a winner had already been declared. In fact, one serviceman stood with Dino Rossi yesterday and asked Christine Gregoire for a new election. I hope she was listening, but I’m not counting on it.

A statewide election system should run under clear and consistent rules and guidelines. In this race, the rules were changed over and over, at least in some counties. New ballots were found eight times after the original count in King County. If not fraud, it was certainly gross incompetence, and both are equally unacceptable. All votes were not treated equally. The governor is the governor of the entire state, not just King County. We deserve more than this result.

It’s time to speak out and let your state legislator know. It’s time for a revote. Without a revote, neither side will ever consider the other to be a legitimate winner, and with the tainted ballots in King County, there is no way to ever count honestly. The best course of action now is to revote. We need a new election.

Andy Valrosa

Oak Harbor

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