Dean Logan resigns as KingCo Elections Director
Thus ends an era of 24/7 Republican attacks against Logan's Elections Department, and thus begins a new era of 24/7 Republican attacks against {insert new Director}'s Elections Department. All hail the mighty Republican fighting machine. The Seattle Times article can be found here, in which Ron Sims sez:
"I have known for some time that, despite his calm and collected outward demeanor, Dean has been personally hurt by the constant barrage of harsh personal attacks on his character and professionalism leveled by some partisan extremists and elected officials."One thing Ron doesn't say, but I will, is that some of those partisan extremists ARE elected officials. This is actually a major loss to the Elections Department, which needs nothing so much as it needs stability, precisely the thing Republicans don't want it to have. (Congrats, morons, you'll keep our elections in turmoil for another few years!) Dean Logan is one of the most highly respected elections officials in the nation among his peers, Democratic or Republican, appointed or elected. Elections supervisors around Washington state leapt to his defense in 2004, regardless of their personal party affiliation. King County Elections has improved a great deal since he took over.
What people forget is that Dean Logan took over a deeply, deeply fucked up Elections Department. He had to fire the superintendent, not for performance (well, okay, for performance problems, too), but for dishonesty. She's the one who failed to mail absentee ballots in 2002, btw. She was finally arrested for fraud. This is the turmoil Logan inherited. He was asked to fix all this, while running elections every two months for xxxover 3 millionxxx{correction -} almost 2 million voters. Oh, and don't forget to computerize the entire registration process and scan all absentee registrations into a database.
Since then, he's built the Elections Department up and made it work much smoother than it had in years - who knew 2004 would be the year every spotlight in the world would shine on his Department's storage bins? Normal mistakes such as 95 lost ballots (out of millions cast) suddenly had historic importance and weight. The mistakes in the 2004 election occurred in every county - Snohomish County had ballots appear, not from storage bins but from a storage shelf - but only King County came under the spotlight, because Republicans decreed it so and the media followed. In 2004, for those who still maintain we can't prove who won, he presided over the most accurate counting of ballots probably in history. After the machines were done twice, we did it by hand. The system Logan designed and oversaw, despite all the Republican whining and complaining, was agreed to by them and included them in every step of the way. When mistakes were found (the 95 misplaced ballots, for instance), Logan wouldn't touch them until he had a Democrat and Republican observer in tow to see and verify everything that was discovered. The hand count had 40 Democrats and 40 Republicans counting each and every ballot. If their count disagreed, they did it again. Once done, they both watched a King County employee count the same box. The count had to match perfectly or it was given to another group to do it all again. The Republicans did everything in their power to manipulate those counts, sending every Gregoire vote to an "overvote" or "undervote" pile, bullying their Democratic partners, and otherwise refusing to follow the plan. Democrats who did this were summarily dismissed by the Party, Republican bullies and cheaters tended to be promoted. (yes, I've drifted into a partisan rant in mid-remembrance) Through it all, Logan worked with both parties to ensure fairness, total transparency and accuracy, and quality. Boxes of ballots affected by the Republican tricks were recounted, and in the end, ALL questionable ballots (undervote, overvote or unsure) were sent to the Canvas Board, with Dean Logan, Dwight Pelz and Dan Satterberg from Norm Maleng's office to make the final determination. It was unbelievably transparent and incredibly difficult for any mistake or dirty trick to slip through that net. Did you know the person who filed the actual lawsuit which decided the gubernatorial election (Borders, et al., vs King County et.al.) was on the Republican Party payroll? That's right, Tim Borders was also an observer at the recount, not just a regular ol' private citizen as was suggested. He was a nice young man who was very agreeable and fair until AFTER the recount was over. Not only that, but the spokesman for the R recount effort, Dan Brady, would spend all day agreeing to what we all had ready access to, then would hold a press conference the same evening disputing everything he'd just agreed to. You'll see more of Dan, he's Mike McGavick's campaign manager. These are not, apparently, trustworthy people. And now you know what kind of Republicans worked on the recount. How do I know the hand count was professional and accurate? I was there. If you didn't see it, there's almost no way to convince you. Don't believe me? Ask RonK, Particle Man, willisreed, N in Seattle. They saw. They watched the same thing I watched. Was it perfect? Absolutely not; point me in the direction of any endeavor that is perfect. Was it as good as such a thing can be? I have to say, it was damn close. Just for putting together those recounts, Dean Logan was worth every dollar the county ever paid him. Moving on, before Lori (Fibby) Sotelo's fraudulent voter registration challenges, which you should expect more of by late August/early September, Logan actually offered to work with her. She and her gang were told to bring the Elections Department any names they found questionable so they could be researched and contacted and, if necessary, removed from the rolls. Logan was more than willing to accept any help in scrubbing the rolls that anyone wanted to offer and made every effort to accomodate the Republican's scheming. But alas, they prefer PR to accuracy, so they simply held onto their list and submitted it two weeks before the election, thereby screwing thousands of (largely Democratic) voters. Still, Logan did everything he could to help folks get through the situation, keeping the Elections Department open later and on weekends and presiding over the farcical Canvas Board hearings where we all discovered the depth of Sotelo's incompetence and fraud. (and what a bad attorney Diane Tebelius is!) I'll say it again. Dean Logan made every effort before those challenges were filed to work with outside parties and clean the rolls. He tried to ensure voters were treated right. The Republican Party wanted to make sure they got their time in the newspapers and wanted another chance to pretend Dean Logan is the devil. Well, Dean, you're not the devil. This writer knows you and respects you. The Elections Department still has work to do to get better, but it's better than you found it, and in the environment of King County politics and under constant barrage from Republicans, I applaud the successes and your willingness to stay in there and keep working for the voters. Los Angeles is better for this hire, and we're worse off.
Dean Logan resigns as KingCo Elections Director | 23 comments (23 topical)
Dean Logan resigns as KingCo Elections Director | 23 comments (23 topical)
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By Lurleen (0 comments) Related Links+ article can be found here+ partisan extremists + elected officials + but for dishonesty + 2004 would be the year + decided the gubernatorial election + Mike McGavick's campaign manager + fraudulent voter registration challenges + depth of Sotelo's incompetence and fraud + More on Election Integrity + Also by switzerblog Washblog RSS FeedsPolitical ContactsLocal MediaCoastal/Grays HarborAberdeen Daily World Chinook Observer Montesano Vidette Pacific County Press Willapa Harbor Herald KXRO 1320 AM Olympic Peninsula Peninsula Daily News Bremerton Sun Bremerton Chronicle Gig Harbor Gateway Port Orchard Independent Port Townsend Leader North Kitsap Herald Squim Gazette Central Kitsap Reporter Business Examiner KONP 1450 AM Sound and Islands Anacortes American Bainbridge Review Voice Of Bainbridge San Juan Journal The Islands' Sounder Whidbey NewsTimes South Whidbey Record Stanwood/Camano News Vashon Beachcomber Voice Of Vashon KLKI 1340 AM North Puget Sound Bellingham Herald The Northern Light Everett Herald Skagit Valley Herald Lynden Tribune The Enterprise Snohomish County Tribune Snohomish County Business Journal The Monroe Monitor The Edmonds Beacon KGMI 790 AM KELA 1470 AM KRKO 1380 AM Central Puget Sound King County Journal Issaquah Press Mukilteo Beacon Voice of the Valley Federal Way Mirror Bothell/Kenmore Reporter Kirkland courier Mercer Island Reporter Woodinville Weekly Greater Seattle Seattle PI Seattle Times KOMO TV 4 KIRO TV 7 KING 5 TV KTBW TV 22 KCTS 9 UW Daily The Stranger Seattle Weekly Capitol Hill Times Madison Park Times Seattle Journal of Commerce NW Asian Weekly West Seattle Herald North Seattle Herald-Outlook South Seattle Star Magnolia News Beacon Hill News KIRO 710 AM KOMO AM 1000 KEXP 90.3 FM KUOW 94.9 FM KVI 570 AM South Puget Sound The Columbian Longview Daily News Nisqually Valley News Lewis County News The Reflector Eatonville Dispatch Tacoma News Tribune Tacoma Weekly Puyallup Herald Enumclaw Courier-Herald The Olympian KAOS 89.3 FM KCPQ 13 KOWA FM 106.5 UPN 11 Cascade/Okanogan Ellensburg Daily Record Levenworth Echo Cle Elum Tribune Snoqualmie Valley Record Methow Valley News Lake Chelan Mirror Omak chronicle The Newport Miner Spokane/Palouse The Spokesman-Review KREM 2 TV Spokane KXLY News 4 Spokane KHQ 6 Spokane KSPS Spokane Statesman-Examiner Othello Outlook Cheney Free Press Camas PostRecord The South County sun White Salmon Enterprise Palouse Boomerang Columbia Basin Herald Grand Coulee Star Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Yakima Herald-Republic KIMA 29 Yakima KAPP TV 35 Yakima KYVE Yakima Wenatchee World Tri-City Herald TVEW TV 42 Tri-cities KTNW Richland KEPR 19 Pasco Daily Sun News Prosser Record-Bulletin KTCR 1340 AM KWSU Pullman Moscow-Pullman Daily News |