- The original tally, counted by machine, had Dino Rossi ahead by 261 votes. The slim margin was within the limit for which state law mandates a recount.
- After the first recount, Rossi's lead had been reduced to only 42 votes. He was certified as the governor-elect by the Washington Secretary of State, Sam Reed.
- State law allows a manual recount but the party who wants it has to put up the funds to pay for it. The Democrats did so and the manual recount took place.
- During the manual recount, some votes that were not counted for various reasons were included in the tally in some (but not all) counties. Some were due to errors, such as votes that were misplaced and not counted, or provisional ballots that had been rejected. Over 700 votes in King County were reevaluated and most were included in the new tally. They, more than anything else, elevated Gregoire over the top.
- Rossi has called for a second gubernatorial election, the results from which would replace the current results.
A more complete timeline can be found at the Seattle Times election timeline page. Also, if the results stand then the Democrats will be reimbursed by the state (i.e. taxpayers) for the cost of the recount (about 700,000 dollars). Their check would have been cashed only if the result did not change.
Regarding the "found" votes in King County and others, there is some question as to whether this was handled fairly. From the Seattle Times' Q&A page about the election:
Q. Since they "found" these ballots in King county, why aren't they looking for other "misplaced" ballots in the many other counties in Washington?
A. That's exactly what Republicans tried to do. But county elections officials have denied Republican requests to reconsider ballots that had been rejected during the earlier counts, because those county totals have already been certified.
The way I interpret this is that some counties included newly found votes while others, which had certified their results before the extra votes in King County came to light, did not. This could be grounds on which Rossi can contest the election:
Q.Do the current rules allow for us to reject the Governor's election results completely and do the election again?
A. Yes. State law has a provision to contest the election, which gives a judge the authority to "set aside'' an election if there is fraud or errors so great they put the true outcome of the election in doubt.
Q.Is a federal lawsuit possible?
A. Yes, it is possible. The U.S. Supreme Court decision that stopped the 2000 presidential recount in Florida is seen by attorneys on both sides as giving ammunition to the argument that disparity in how ballots were handled county-by-county creates a violation of the equal protection guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.
My prediction is that Gregoire will refuse to agree to a new election. She's the current winner and she will not voluntarily take the chance the result will be reversed again. To be honest, if the situation were reversed, I would expect Rossi to make the same decision. It's not being power-hungry, it's just playing to win. Whether or not Rossi will contest the election I can't really say. The difference in how the various counties included previously uncounted votes or didn't is certainly grounds for a contest but I'm not qualified to say whether it would have a good chance of succeeding or not.
I can't really blame Gregoire for how she handled it. Again, if the situation were reversed, I imagine Rossi and the Republicans would have called for and paid for the manual recount. Both candidates and both parties want to win and they will do whatever the law allows to do so. As of this evening, Gregoire is the winner. It's not over yet, though. Now we see whether or not Rossi contests the election. Unless, of course, Gregoire actually agrees to hold a new election in which case I'll be busy picking my jaw up off the floor.
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