Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Elections roll on
Two races from the 2004 elections roll on: the Washington gubernatorial race, which the Republican Rossi now leads by 42 votes out of 2.8 million cast, and a Texas State House race that in which a Democratic challenger appears to have beaten the chair of the Appropriations committee by a mere 32 votes.
In Washington, the Democrat Gregoire is requesting a third count, this time by hand, after the initial count found Rossi ahead by 261, and the automatic machine recount cut that lead to 42. Rossi's people are starting to complain; as in Florida in 2000, the refrain is that it's taking too long to count all the votes. (A recommendation to Gregoire: hold the recount state-wide, not just in your strongest counties. It may be more expensive, but it's the principled thing to do. And if AL Gore had done it in 2000, he would be president today).
In Texas, Republican Heflin isn't waiting for a recount. He just wants the State Legislature to seat him, or hold a new election, alleging election fraud.
I tend to think the point of elections is to make sure the person preferred by a majority wins. Sometimes, that means counting careful, when the results are really close---whether your side is ahead or behind. And when it comes to other countries, Republicans still seem to agree. Colin Powell today condemned the Ukrainian elections for failing to meet international standards, and said the US would refuse to accept the outcome until the counting was made more transparent.
One wishes the Bush administration held itself to the same standards.
In Washington, the Democrat Gregoire is requesting a third count, this time by hand, after the initial count found Rossi ahead by 261, and the automatic machine recount cut that lead to 42. Rossi's people are starting to complain; as in Florida in 2000, the refrain is that it's taking too long to count all the votes. (A recommendation to Gregoire: hold the recount state-wide, not just in your strongest counties. It may be more expensive, but it's the principled thing to do. And if AL Gore had done it in 2000, he would be president today).
In Texas, Republican Heflin isn't waiting for a recount. He just wants the State Legislature to seat him, or hold a new election, alleging election fraud.
I tend to think the point of elections is to make sure the person preferred by a majority wins. Sometimes, that means counting careful, when the results are really close---whether your side is ahead or behind. And when it comes to other countries, Republicans still seem to agree. Colin Powell today condemned the Ukrainian elections for failing to meet international standards, and said the US would refuse to accept the outcome until the counting was made more transparent.
One wishes the Bush administration held itself to the same standards.
