Grays Harbor to Recount All of its Ballots (Good for Dems)

[kurtyboy]

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Election workers started from scratch this morning, recounting all the ballots cast in the Nov. 2 General Election after a problem was found with the counting system, Auditor Vern Spatz said. The problem could affect the totals in every race, but is likely to change the outcome in two, he said.

Spatz said he thinks businesswoman Diane Ellison will overtake Dave Timmons in the Grays Harbor PUD race. Ellison had already conceded.

And the numbers in the close gubernatorial race will add to Democrat Christine Gregoire's total, meaning she's likely to take this county, Spatz said.

The recount began at 9 a.m. with observers from the Grays Harbor Republicans, the Secretary of State's Office and someone from Gregoire's campaign.
<snip>

Apparently someone counted 6200 ballots twice (ooops), and they were all from the part of the county that heavily favored Republicans.

This will turn the Governor's race, where right now only a couple of hundred votes separate the candidates. KOMO TV, which is calling the error a "computer glitch" just reported the Grays Harbor alone will amount to a five-hundred vote swing for Gregoire! GHC uses ES&S optical scanners, btw.

When I was looking at voter turnout #s, I knew this was county fishy---a 93% turnout!, and the county voted for a GOP president for the first time in years--maybe the first time ever, my records only go back forty years, and GH County was one of the main battlegrounds for the Wobbly movement in the 30's.

Keep looking at the stats, people, we'll keep ferreting out the truth and forcing recounts wherever we can.