''Dead voted in governor's race'' (UPDATED)

That's the headline for this "exclusive" P-I story that provides one specific to answer the question, which candidate was the beneficiary of this group's political support? "Bob Holmgren said yesterday that he voted on behalf of his late wife, Charlette Holmgren, who died Sept. 29. The West Seattle man filled out his own ballot and hers, and signed both of them."Her vote was important to her," Holmgren said. "She was very strongly against Governor-elect Gregoire." 'I want you to vote for me,' dying wife said," is the headline to the sidebar story. She would have been happy, then, that all of her fifteen minutes of fame will celebrate that sentiment. The Seattle Times story Friday morning, "GOP expected to file suit over Gregoire's win," takes a less startling approach to headline-writing. The article says the suit will focus on "mishandled provisional ballots in King County and lingering questions about why the county shows more votes counted than people voting on Nov. 2." TIME/CNN has this quip about the race, reported by Sandeep Kaushik, whose work usually appears in The Stranger: "As Rossi called for a new election last week, a Democratic spokeswoman scoffed:"This isn't a video game where you can go and feed in more quarters." Update: KOMO News has, "Sec. Of State Presents Election Reform Package," that mentions "all absentees in hand at Auditor's offices by Election Day, rather than mailed on or before Election Day" and other proposals, but nothing about "paper trails" or state-wide procedures and standards. Update: An editorial from the Tri-City Herald says, "Prove election fraud or silence allegations: "Now, it's state Republican Chairman Chris Vance's turn to hint at voter fraud, splattering a lot of mud with talk of dead voters casting ballots and other misdeeds, but failing to reveal evidence for anything more sinister than human error." Update: Robert Jamieson, Jr.'s column in the P-I today slaps down both sides in the fracas: "Republicans are resorting to politics of distortion and half-truths that distract -- and unnecessarily so -- from their reasonable questions about the election process. The Democrats, meanwhile, have turned wimpy, fending off Republican fangs with the ferocity of Little Red Riding Hood." Nevertheless, if you believe the glass is half-full, the Gregoire Campaign is taking reservations for "The 2005 Governor's Inaugural Ball. Info: "Tickets are $75 per person. You may mail your payment to: PO Box 1086 Shelton WA 98584-Phone: (360) 427-6881-Email: IBC2005@hotmail.com. A Letter to the Editor in today's P-I takes Ralph Munro's VoteHere company spokesperson to task: "Jim Adler of VoteHere, claims that his product "provides for a voter-verified paper trail and independent audit -- just like a bank." This claim, opaque as voter-verification software, does nothing that allows voters to ensure that their vote has been counted as it was cast." Scroll down to the "GOVERNOR'S ELECTION" headline there.