January 21, 2005 -- The recall effort comes after the debacle that ensued following the general election. The closest race on the ballot was between Gubernatorial candidates Dino Rossi
(R) and Christine Gregoire (D). Rossi won the initial count and the machine recount but by the third hand recount Gregoire found a 129-vote lead.
In part the statement and petition charges Sam Reed with:
"Failure to withhold certification of the November 2, 2004 election, an election he knew was wrought with violations of election laws and regulations; Failure to employ standards and
procedures to ensure the accurate tabulation and canvassing of ballots."
"Forget the hanging chad. Here in Washington we have dead people voting, felons voting. We have more votes than we have voters. We have ballots being found under tables, election workers
guessing how 55,000 voters really meant to vote if only they had been smart enough to fill in that bubble. The buck stops with the Secretary of State. He should never have certified such
a fraudulent election," said Martin Ringhofer.
When 665,000 valid signatures are gathered in Washington State, a special election will be held to vote on whether or not to recall Sam Reed from office.
The petition and statement can be viewed at: recallreedblog.blogspot.com.
People are encouraged to download, print and share the petition text with others but it should not be used for signature gathering until the Attorney General writes the ballot synopsis
and the sufficiency of the charges are upheld in Court.
Contact: e-mail protected from spam bots