King County prepares found ballots

SEATTLE – The King County Canvassing Board voted Wednesday to prepare 573 newly discovered absentee ballots for inclusion in the hand recount in the closest governor’s race in Washington state history.

Democrats applauded and Republicans decried the board’s decision to move forward with assessing the 573 previously rejected ballots. King County is a Democratic stronghold and the newly discovered ballots have the potential to change the outcome of the election.

Election workers will verify signatures on the ballots, and the canvassing board will meet Monday to decide whether to count the ballots that have been verified. The three-member board postponed a decision on what to do with 22 other newly discovered ballots but will consider that Monday as well, said Bobbie Egan, county elections spokeswoman.

Republican Dino Rossi won the Nov. 2 election over Democrat Christine Gregoire by 261 votes in the first count and by 42 after a machine recount. As of Wednesday he had gained 79 votes in the hand recount for a margin of 121.

On Wednesday, the canvassing board voted 2-1 to move forward with recanvassing the 573 ballots.

State law allows counties to recanvass ballots and correct errors during a recount if there is “an apparent discrepancy or an inconsistency in the returns.”