One In A Million

That is the standard set by the Federal Election Commission and used by the State of Washington for error rates on voting machines(via Brian Crouch at Sound Politics). 

From Pamela Floyd at the Office of the Secretary of State for Washington:

The Federal Election Commission standard for error rates on voting machines is one mistake in 1,000,000 ballots read by the machine. This is the standard used in Washington State for certification of voting systems.

Yet this morning The DNC on behalf of Christine Gregoire sent this (via Stefan Sharkansky at Sound Politics):

I need your immediate help. You've probably heard about the extremely close race for governor here in Washington. Only 42 votes separate my opponent and me, and thousands of ballots across the state haven't been counted.

This is by far the closest race in the history of our state, and one of the closest the nation has ever seen. That means we must make sure that every single legitimate ballot has been counted -- and that means a statewide manual recount of every vote.

Washington state law requires the party requesting the recount to pay for it, and it will cost at least $750,000. The Democratic Party is committed to this recount, but they need your immediate donation today to make it happen. Please give today.

Let me put this race in a little more perspective. Out of nearly 3 million votes cast, only 42 votes separate my Republican opponent and me. That's a difference of 0.0014 percent. The error for voting machines is somewhere between 1 and 2 percent, or 1,000 times as great as the vote difference.

That means that this race is tied, and anything is possible with a manual recount. We must count every vote individually, and we can't do it without you.

Do not let this election slip through our fingers. We are only 42 votes away from victory in Washington, and we are confident that once all the votes are counted, we will win this race. Please help us reach this urgent goal by making a donation today!

As Stefan oh so correctly points out, there are SEVERAL problems with this "flash email".  Stefan graciously marked the most egregious items in bold.  Let's take them in order:

1. "thousands of ballots across the state haven't been counted."  Huh?  First we counted them and then they were recounted.  All legal and legitimate ballots have been counted (even the "found" ballots in Seattle and King County).  What ballots didn't get counted?  Are the DNC and/or Christine Gregoire accusing that there was fraud or other wrong doing that caused ballots not to be counted?  If that's the case, shouldn't the Washington State Attorney General be looking into the matter?  Oh wait, Christine Gregoire IS the Attorney General.  Never mind...

2. "The error for voting machines is somewhere between 1 and 2 percent"  Uh, no it's not.  See above.  It is one in a million or 0.00001%.  This is either a blatant lie or ignorance on the part of the DNC/Gregoire Campaign.  Either way they're either stupid or lying - not good.  This is the Party/Candidate that wants to be our state's cheif executive?

3. "That means that this race is tied" You'll have to forgive me, I only have a Master's Degree and apparently I didn't get to the appropriate level of math to work this one out.  Given my paltry education, I assume that when you have EITHER 261 OR 42 less votes than your opponent, that you have lost.  My Alma Mater lost five football games this season (3 by 3 points or less) the combined point differential for those losses was 39.  39 is less than 42.  So by using the DNC/Gregoire "new math"  those were at the very least ties, if not outright victories.  Stop the presses, we want a bowl bid.  Contact the BCS, we've been robbed!  Of course I'll have to get the DNC and/or the Gregoire Campaign to explain it to them, cause I still don't get the math...(I don't get the BCS either, but that's a whole nother post...)

4. "We are only 42 votes away from victory in Washington"  Must be that math thing again.  If you are behind by 42 votes, wouldn't it take 43 votes to achieve victory?  The IRS needs to audit these peoples taxes, if they are this looney with numbers, I'm willing to bet they screwed their taxes up completely.

The election is over.  According to a poll in the Seattle Post Intelligencer 66% of the people believe that Rossi won.  Two counts of the ballots say he's won.  The State certified Rossi as the winner. 

GIVE IT UP! 

The time to concede gracefully has passed.  Gregoire needs to call off the dogs of the Democrat Party and concede just to retain any shred of decency and dignity.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Josef and Sound Politics (although Stefan is still VERY skeptical) for the heads up:  Gregoire says All or Nothing.  The AG says count the WHOLE state or don't do it at all.  Good for her.  Standing up to her party and her own ambition has got to be tough.  If she stands her ground, she could yet retain some credibility and have a future in politics in Washington.

Comments

[Oscar]

"...and concede just to retain any shred of decency and dignity."

Guess she won't then.

[Josef]

Gregoire has said, "all or not" today. Good for her.

[Josef]

Well, as you probably heard Gregoire is getting her 39 county hand recount...

Make sure you visit http://josef-a-k.blogspot.com for more info...