COUNTING BALLOTS

	November 6, 2000
	Lee Hochburg of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports on possible election night cliffhangers in the Pacific Northwest, where most residents are mailing in their ballots.

JIM LEHRER: There is a possible election night wrinkle involving the Pacific Northwest. And Lee Hochberg of Public Broadcasting has the story. LEE HOCHBERG: For most states, tomorrow's the end of the road for this election. But for Washington state, where Vice President Al Gore and Governor George Bush are virtually tied, it may be days before it's known who won there. That's because Washington, like neighboring Oregon, has aggressively embraced voting by mail. Half of Washington voters are expected to mail their ballots, but they don't need to be postmarked until tomorrow. So election officials say it may be several days before 900,000 of them-- one-third of the state's expected vote total-- are even processed, and several days more before they're all counted. Bob Bruce manages elections for King County, which includes Seattle. BOB BRUCE: We won't have all of our ballots in-- that is 90% of them in-until probably this Friday, which means that in a very, very close race, we may not have the ballots counted to give you a significant outcome until next week. LEE HOCHBERG: Legally, the state has up to 15 days to count the ballots, so it could take that long to know which presidential candidate got the state's 11 electoral votes. In 1996, late counting caused a problem in a congressional race. SPOKESPERSON: They counted another 5,000 votes this morning. They'll count another bunch tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon. LEE HOCHBERG: A Democratic candidate for Washington's third district congressional seat seemed like a winner on election night, but when mail-in ballots were finally tabulated 15 days later, the Republican won. This year, there should be even more late votes because of a lengthy and complex ballot with six initiatives, a high-profile neck-and-neck Senate race, and Green Party nominee Ralph Nader. RALPH NADER: Its only the Nader/Laduke candidacy that's carrying that reform torch steadfastly all the way through November and beyond! ( Cheers and applause ) LEE HOCHBERG: Washington State, and especially Seattle, where Nader rallied supporters last week, is a Nader stronghold. With Gore and Bush in a near dead heat, liberal voters are still debating if votes for Nader will cripple Gore and aid in a Bush victory. SPOKESPERSON: You can argue and argue and argue, but the baseline is this: You vote for the person you believe in or you don't. SPOKESMAN: You vote to win an election... SPOKESMAN: That's a trap! LEE HOCHBERG: Many Nader supporters say they will mail their ballots at the last possible minute, waiting to see if voting for Gore instead might make a difference in defeating Bush. SPOKESPERSON: I'll be looking at the polls and be looking at what happened on the East Coast, and looking at how close they're reporting the polls to be here in Washington also. I guess I'll be looking at that. SPOKESMAN: Just volunteer here, looking to make sure you got your absentee ballot in the mail. LEE HOCHBERG: Because so many are voting by mail, the major parties have changed tactics to court votes. In recent state elections Democratic candidates lost 2 to 3 percentage points when late ballots were tallied. This year, the Democratic Party convinced 75,000 Washingtonians, who sometimes vote Democrat, to vote-by-mail. Volunteers are calling them now to make sure they return their ballots. SPOKESMAN: The election is very close, so we certainly encourage you to vote Democratic. LEE HOCHBERG: U.S. Senator Patty Murray co-chairs the state Gore campaign. SEN. PATTY MURRAY: We believe we're going to see the absentee ballots come in in favor of the Democratic candidates, and that will favor Al Gore. LEE HOCHBERG: State Republicans, who've targeted mail-in voters for years, say they've gotten ballots out to parts of their base: Gun rights and property rights groups. SPOKESMAN: It is still an advantage Republican, because we have not only pioneered the program, we've expanded it and increased it in the intervening last couple of years. LEE HOCHBERG: In neighboring Oregon, vote-by-mail is so popular that this election was done almost entirely that way, except for a few token polling places. But unlike Washington, Oregon expects no delays. That's because ballots must be in election offices by 8:00 P.M. tomorrow. The state suggested that ballots be mailed by last Thursday, but that early mailing meant the election results came in a little early. And developments after Thursday, like the report of Bush's 1976 DUI infraction, remained unknown to voters. The state maintains voters had sufficient time to size up the candidates. Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. BILL BRADBURY: I think anybody who's been paying attention can really understand the fundamental differences between Al Gore and George Bush, and there's not going to be anything significant revealed in the final two days that would change a lot of people's votes. LEE HOCHBERG: Election officials in both northwest states say despite the problems, the delays, and deadlines, the convenience vote-by-mail adds and the costs to the state it reduces will induce more states and voters to use it in future elections.