KING COUNTY, Wash. — Elections offices across Washington state are preparing to manually recount ballots in the primary race for Commissioner of Public Lands. The recount is required by law due to the small margin in current results; the Secretary of State's website shows just 51 votes separate the second and third place finishers.
In Washington state's primary system, the top two vote-getters proceed to the general election, regardless of political party. Five Democrats and two Republicans ran in the primary, with former Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler securing the largest share of the vote.
Democrat Dave Upthegrove leads Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson by the 51 votes, after the race was deemed "too close to call" for more than a week.
In 2004, Washington was home to a hotly contested recall in the gubernatorial election between Republican Dino Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire.
Sam Reed was Secretary of State at the time — a position he sought after growing up with a legislator grandfather.
"I remembered Sunday dinners him talking about the importance of democracy in elections, integrity of the candidates in the process and all ... I got very intrigued," Reed said. "And then as a kid, I started following and getting involved in the whole political process."
The tight 2004 race — one Reed calls "unbelievably close" — sparked multiple recounts and a legal battle. You can read more about it here.
He says there are some lessons to be learned from that process. Namely, that it takes a while and voters should expect results to ebb and flow.
"I think it's important for citizens watching this to realize that things are gonna switch back and forth depending on which counties are reported," Reed said. "They'll say wait a minute, what's going on? Is somebody playing games or is this fraud? No, just depends on if it's a Democrat or Republican county being counted."
Reed said he expects observers from both parties to be present as ballots are counted. He hopes they and voters will do so with respect and kindness for election workers, who are just doing their jobs.
"People get so fired up that they tend to take it out on the people doing the work rather than realizing they're working as hard as they can, they're conscientious, its long hours and most are temporaries hired for this particular job," Reed said.
He said this also shows people that, truly, every vote counts.
"They also need to understand the difference it makes," Reed said. "All the focus ends up being on the presidential race, for good reason, but in fact most of the differences in their lives are being made by the state or local races. They're the ones who decide on roads, schools, so many aspects of your life."