In the razor-thin race for Washington State governor, Republicans want a copy of the state’s criminal-records database to compare it with the names of the nearly 3 million people who voted in the governor’s race, as party attorneys search for felons who cast illegal ballots, reports the Seattle Times. Felons are not allowed to vote unless their voting rights have been restored. The move is part of Dino Rossi’s legal challenge to the election of Democrat Christine Gregoire, who was sworn in as governor Wednesday. Rossi, who lost the final recount by 129 votes, filed suit last week asking that the election be thrown out and a new one held.
There is evidence that dozens of felons cast votes in two counties. Democratic Party attorney Jenny Durkan said searching for felons who voted is the sort of work Republicans should have completed before the lawsuit was filed. “I find it beyond offensive that exercising your right to vote would trigger any kind of criminal-background check,” Durkan said. “If the state did this it’d be a huge violation of civil rights.”
Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002150778_recount14m.html