FLASHBACK! Irregularities Influence Outcome of Gubernatorial Race: Washington 2004
In the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election, Dino Rossi was certified the winner by 261 votes. After two recounts, the results were overturned, and Democrat candidate Christine Gregoire was declared the winner by 129 votes. In a contest that was not resolved until June of 2005, the court concluded that 1,678 illegal votes were cast and counted in the election. The court’s findings and conclusions were as follows:

• 1,392 felon voters;
• 19 deceased voters;
• 6 double voters;
• 96 provisional ballots in King County;
• 79 provisional ballots in Pierce County; and
• At least 77 additional votes in Pierce County for which there could not be found a registered voter through crediting.

The court held that “no matter the number of illegal votes . . . this election may not be set aside merely because the number of illegal or invalid votes exceed the margin of victory.” For the full transcript of the court’s order, click here.

FLASHBACK! Irregularities in Milwaukee: Wisconsin 2004
A 67-page “Report of the Investigation into the November 2, 2004 General Election in the City of Milwaukee,” prepared by the Milwaukee Police Department Special Investigations Unit, chronicles the Election Commission’s failure to adequately ensure the eligibility of “on-site” (election day) registrants, resulting in widespread irregularities, disenfranchisement and fraud, including:

• 4,600 more votes cast and counted than voters recorded as having cast ballots, with no record pointing to the origin or eligibility of these ballots;
• 1,305 votes by “on-site” registrants who provided registration forms lacking sufficient information to be entered into permanent database, including
  • 48 voters who provided no name; and
  • 854 voters who provided no address;
• Countless instances of ballots cast by ineligible “not in city” registrants;
• At least 16 cases of campaign workers from out-of-state who voted while employed by a group or campaign attempting to influence the election;
• Four deceased persons recorded as having voted; and
• At least three instances of votes cast by ineligible felons.

Investigators also pointed out that 18 felons had been sworn in as deputy registrars prior to the 2004 election, including eight who listed ACORN as their sponsoring organization. Investigators found that ineligible absentee ballots were counted, while the ballots of “numerous” eligible voters were not counted. The report also focuses on systemic irregularities arising from colleges and homeless shelters within the city, concluding “vote portability and the abject poverty that defines homelessness, makes these unfortunate individuals vulnerable to become the tools of voter fraud by those that would exploit the homeless.” Investigators, however, cited their inability to prosecute most offenses due to the “unreliability of the Milwaukee election records and the lack of confidence that both prosecutors and juries had in those records.”

The report concludes that the widespread voting irregularities, fraud and disenfranchisement in the 2004 election could be addressed by repealing election day registration and instituting a photo identification requirement. For the complete report, click here.