Thursday, January 06, 2005

"Squeaky-clean and totally transparent..."

That's what Karyn Quinlan has to say about the hand recount in the Washington Governor's race, and she should know. She was there, all day, every day, and writes about the experience in the Seattle Weekly. It's a nifty read, full of juicy bits like this...
While waiting for my training session the first day, I went looking for a comfy chair somewhere in the almost-vacant office building at Boeing Field, which was leased from King County International Airport by the elections division for this historic hand recount. A sign indicating the GOP Lounge looked at least partially promising. Sadly, I was shown the door moments after stepping inside. But I did manage to glimpse the big empty room with offices around the perimeter. It wasn't much of a lounge, but it was theirs, bought and paid for, as it happened, and they vigorously asserted exclusive rights to their domain. The GOP Lounge was essentially a war room, and it was strictly off-limits to Democrats.
Of course, Democrats, having just put down a $750,000 deposit for recount expenses, didn't have a lounge, so we couldn't hold their own private strategy meetings and prayer sessions on the premises. We just had to rely on counting all the votes and accepting the results.

We took our best shot, and non-stop whining from the other side notwithstanding, we won. Of course, it's not over, even though this one should be. As Quinlan points out...
If Republicans are complaining about the outcome, they do so with knowledge that they did everything they possibly could to game the system. On one point, at least, there should be no argument: Election reform, at the state and national level, is sorely needed. We simply must find a way to ensure that no legally entitled citizen is disenfranchised, that every vote is counted.



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