Clallam, Jefferson auditors poised for ballot recount in close governor’s race

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Clallam County Auditor Cathleen McKeown is poised to recount the general election ballots on Monday, given the nip-and-tuck race for governor between Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire.

So is Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge.

Both counties’ Nov. 2 election tallies will be certified today, and the Secretary of State’s Office has already notified McKeown, Eldridge and other county auditors across the state to at least think about a recount.

McKeown said Elections Supervisor Patty Rosand already has reprogrammed vote-tallying software so it will count only the Gregoire-Rossi race, not the entire punchcard ballot, if a recall is ordered.

Equipment will first be submitted to an accuracy test.

Then the recount will begin, she said.

In Jefferson County, where larger optic-scan paper ballots are used, Eldridge said she dreads the possibility that the ballots will have to be hand-counted if the final tally falls within a 150-vote margin.

If the margin is between 150 and 2,000 votes, only a machine count would be required.

“We figure we’re gong to have a machine count, and if its less than 150 votes between Rossi and Gregoire, then it will be a mandatory hand count,” Eldridge said Tuesday.

“We’ll know by (tonight).”

As of 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, Rossi was leading Gregoire by a scant 19 votes. About 6,000 ballots are to be counted statewide today.