...happens in exceedingly close elections. And the mistakes, which happen all the time all over the country, suddenly become larger than life when winners and losers rest on a handful of votes. Its the nature of the beast. The condition, election desperations, is not specific to any one political party under such circumstances. Mr. Chris Vance, Chair of the Washington State Republican Party has been accusing local elections officials of fraud, without offerring any measure of proof. Here is what a paper that endorsed the Republican candidate had to say about all of this:

Our amazing election finally has a winner

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: December 23rd, 2004 02:40 AM

After a loss in the final recount and a rebuff from the state Supreme Court, Dino Rossi should start preparing a gracious concession.
Seven weeks and one day after the last vote was cast for governor in this state, it looks as if we have a winner: Christine Gregoire.

That means we also have a loser: Dino Rossi.

On Wednesday, King County – the last county to finish hand-counting ballots – has left Gregoire with a stunningly narrow edge of 10 votes out of more than 2.8 million counted. That lead is likely to be padded a bit, however, now that the state Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that 573 disputed ballots must be added to the tally in King County.

Those 573 ballots, which largely come from heavily Democratic precincts, are bound to break for Gregoire. Another 150 King County ballots, under the logic of Wednesday’s ruling, will probably have to be tabulated as well.

Barring evidence of actual vote-tampering – and no such evidence has surfaced – Rossi should start writing his concession speech. We would have urged the same for Gregoire had their positions been reversed. It is simply the right thing to do, for the voters and for the state.

Rossi, a relative newcomer to state politics, astonished just about everyone in this election by battling his far more experienced and better-known opponent to a statistical draw. He ended the original count 261 votes ahead, the first recount 42 votes up.

Given the fallibility of election workers and the number of ballots cast in this race, it is not surprising to see swings of several hundred votes from one count to the next. It was particularly disturbing to see how many ballots were wrongly disqualified or misplaced in King County. Still, the Supreme Court ruled rightly – all politics aside – that Washingtonians who properly cast their ballots should not be disenfranchised by the sloppiness of their county elections department.

Rossi’s campaign has now suffered two fatal blows: a loss in the last recount provided for by state law, and a loss in the state’s court of last resort.

Some Republican officials are vowing to fight on with legal action. If Rossi and the GOP keep on turning to the courts, with increasing desperation and increasingly implausible claims, they will soon resemble the Democratic bitter-enders who cling to the illusion that John Kerry really carried Ohio on Nov. 2.

Rossi, like Kerry, fought a good fight. But after the last realistic chance of victory fades, there comes a time for a gracious concession. For Rossi, who has a bright future in this state’s public life, that time has just about arrived.