Delaying Resolution Serves No One Well Step It Up A Long Count Only Frustrates Voters.

Should Washington move up the deadline for absentee ballots?

The state of Washington can look at Florida and say, “There but for the grace of God goes this state.”

If Washington’s electoral votes, rather than Florida’s, were deciding this tight presidential race, the circus in Florida would have its three rings set up in the Evergreen State. And Washington would have itself to blame for allowing a mail-in ballot system to produce Pony Express results in an Internet era. As it is, there’s still no winner in the crucial U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Slade Gorton and Democrat Maria Cantwell - almost two weeks after Election Day.

At best, able-bodied citizens who plan to be in town election day should be required to vote at polling places. The ballot filled out alone at the kitchen table and then mailed in torpedoes the wholesome Norman Rockwell setting of neighbors of all political stripes coming together to perform their civic duty. Since Washington is committed to absentee ballots, however, it should seek ways to speed the vote count. At the least, the state should require, as Oregon does, that absentee ballots be returned by election day.

Now, Washington accepts ballots as long as they’re postmarked on or before election day. That has created such a delay that 70,000 votes were left to count in the U.S. Senate race as of Thursday morning. All that’s at stake in the race is clear control of the Senate. If Gorton retains his seat, Republicans have at least a 51-49 edge. If Cantwell wins, the Senate is split 50-50 until the winner of the presidential election is decided.

And if the margin of victory is less than about 12,000 votes? Then, the state will be required to conduct a recount, stalling the process further.

Even with Oregon’s election day deadline for absentee ballots, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was unhappy with the snail’s pace of the 2000 ballot count. He’s calling for a complete review of the balloting process. Oregon, which conducted its election entirely by mail, also was still counting ballots Thursday.

By allowing an even more liberal deadline for absentee ballots, Washington denies closure for voters - and candidates. After a political bombing run that lasts all fall, people want closure from partisan mud-slinging and politics. They should be looking forward to Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holidays - not unofficial final results that are subject to recount and demagoguery.