Sunday Election News

This morning's Seattle Times says "Liberals hope Gregoire will repay support." "Why?" you ask: "Former presidential candidate Howard Dean sent an e-mail asking his supporters to donate through the state party's Web site. At least $200,000 was raised, though party officials say they can't say how much of that was due to Dean's solicitation. She stood and fought, and has been rewarded by progressives who were willing to help raise money," said Ray Minchew, executive director of Democracy for Washington. The group is a local offshoot of Dean's Democracy for America. "I think she needs to remember that progressives came through for her in her hour of need, and they will want to be acknowledged in her administration and policy guidance," Minchew said. They saw her drawn-out struggle with Republican Dino Rossi as a surrogate for the battles they had hoped to wage on behalf of first Al Gore, then John Kerry, in their close races with George W. Bush. Bill Moyer, founder of the Backbone Campaign said Gregoire should continue to talk about election reform. His group is promoting a Voters Bill of Rights it wants in the national Democratic Party Platform. He'd like to see Gregoire back their calls for a verified paper trail of electronic votes, for making Election Day a national holiday and for instant run-off voting. "If Washington state could lead in that regard that would be a wonderful way for Christine Gregoire to pay back a debt to the progressive movement," Moyer said. In San Francisco, a coalition of community leaders including the Executive Director, San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO) and DOLORES HUERTA, United Farm Workers co-founder and civil rights leader will be presenting thousands of voter petitions to urge U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer to Join House Leaders in Challenging the 2004 Election Results. From today's Baltimore Sun: "2004 recount highlights problems once again." The Boston Globe has, "Candidates want second Ohio recount." "Why?" you ask: "counties did not randomly select precincts for the manual recount and some workers altered votes to prevent a full hand count." The Columbus Free Press has several new articles on the Ohio vote.