12-03-2004, 05:59 AM
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#17 (permalink)
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This vexes me. I am terribly vexed.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by sob
A machine count is at least impartial. A hand count opens the door for fraud.
Another dead giveaway is when the losing candidate only wants recounts of counties in which he or she should be heavily favored.
If you take a look at what Al Gore tried to pull in 2000, there was no way the Supreme Court could allow something that one-sided.
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Since you didn't bother providing us with a link to that claim. I got one for you.
Quote:
Democrat gubernatorial candidate in Washington state urges hand recount of entire state
The Democratic gubernatorial candidate -- trailing her GOP rival by just 42 votes -- on Thursday urged her party to order a statewide hand recount of all 2.8 million votes for governor, regardless of the cost.
"My request of the state Democratic Party is simple: Count the entire state or don't count at all," Christine Gregoire said in a statement released by her campaign office. "Counting every vote is the only right thing to do."
In an interview later with The Associated Press, she was even stronger: "I'm saying that at 5 o'clock (Friday), if they haven't called for a statewide recount, I'm done."
The recount costs at least 25 cents a ballot. The party said the cost of a full recount would exceed $1 million after legal bills and staff costs are added.
By late Thursday, the Democrats had about $650,000 of the approximately $750,000 deposit that would be required for a full recount by the 5 p.m. Friday state deadline, said Kirstin Brost, the state party spokeswoman.
Party leaders said they agree with Gregoire, but stopped short of offering any guarantees, saying they were looking for $100,000 in the final 24 hours.
"It is absolutely our goal to do a statewide count and if we have the money, we're going to do it," Brost said.
Gregoire, 57, the three-term attorney general, trailed Republican rival Dino Rossi, 45, a former state Senate power, by just 42 votes after a mandatory recount was certified this week.
Rossi and the Republican Party have urged Gregoire to concede.
The campaign and party have been under pressure to count the full state, rather than "cherry pick" selected counties to try to overturn the election. Outgoing Gov. Gary Locke and other elected officials have urged the party to count all 6,686 precincts. Gregoire also has previously said she preferred a statewide count.
"Right now, the governor-elect's office sits empty in Olympia. The only way to fill it will be to have a statewide hand recount," she said Thursday. "Once the race is over, the winner will be able to take office with confidence."
Barring legal complications, a recount could start next week and end by Dec. 23.
The Democrats' fund-raising drive got a big boost when the party's unsuccessful presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry, donated $250,000 of his leftover campaign funds to the effort. The Democratic National Committee and other groups are helping.
As of Thursday morning, the state party had received $135,000 in online contributions from more than 10,000 contributors, Brost said.
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