I filed a formal challenge to the voter registration of Dr. Daniel Sosin, the Atlanta, GA resident who continues to vote absentee in Seattle 12 years after he left town.
A formal challenge hearing will be held before King County election director Dean Logan, this Friday, February 18 at 10am, in the Maynard Room (2nd floor) of the King County Administration Building, 500 4th Ave, Seattle.
When I first reported this case (in the blog post linked above), some readers opined that Dr. Sosin's status as a federal employee should permit him to maintain a voting residence in WA state. That provision may be used by some federal employees, but it is not without limits. In this particular case, I have found additional evidence that I believe demonstrates pretty convincingly that Dr. Sosin is not a bona fide resident of Seattle or Washington State. I'll present that information at the hearing. The decision whether to cancel Dr. Sosin's registration rests with Dean Logan.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 16, 2005 12:33 PM | Email ThisSince I know nothing firsthand about the Doctors situation, I will not comment on that.
Hoever, in general, I believe we will ultimately find quite a few nonresidents that use Washington as their State of Residence to avoid (or yes perhaps even Evade) taxes in the State they truly reside in.
I also think we will see lots of inconsistencies in what constitutes residency when we compare states requirements.
We will also see plenty of College Students that voted out of state where their parents live or where they previously resided AND in Washington. That said, if they are going to school here or living here full-time, the Washington residency may be legit.
This is a Rat's nest that has gotten pretty screwed up because of no National Voter Registration database OR use of SS #'s to help avoid duplicate registrations.
We will be talking about this stuff up to and beyond if their is a re-registration. We must be more vigiliant.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on February 16, 2005 01:24 PMDean Logan could also find out from the State of Georgia elections officials if he did vote in that state.
Let us know the results of the hearing and if Dean Logan considers this 'Washingtonian'? legal.
Posted by: Susu on February 16, 2005 01:31 PMhttps://dklbweb.dekalbga.org/voter/locator.asp
Posted by: Jason on February 16, 2005 01:48 PMSorry michele...I'm very frustrated that others aren't willing to actually follow thru. Please try a few and see what happens.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on February 16, 2005 02:14 PMI'm pretty sure he is not registered in that county. I checked that page for all birth dates between 1940 and 1980. He could be registered elsewhere...I could be wrong..etc.
Posted by: VaCSProf on February 16, 2005 02:17 PMMaybe the good Doctor feels in affinity to Seattle and still THINKS of the Pacific Northwest as home.
If you minded your own business you wouldn't be minding mine.
Posted by: Doc on February 16, 2005 02:37 PMI suppose with a name like that it isn't surprising that you were able to check over 14,600 possible dates. Of course I'm assuming you scripted it, rather than sat down with a big bag of popcorn one day and started clicking :-)
So if he isn't registered there, but he is registered here, I'm assuming there is some other twist to this that Stefan will reveal come Friday morning.
Best to let that process work it's way through without the rest of us trying to dig up dirt on Dr. Sosin, least this turn into a witch hunt.
Posted by: Jason on February 16, 2005 02:37 PMwww.governor.wa.gov/electionreform/form.htm
Posted by: chardonnay on February 16, 2005 02:41 PMI know a good troll when I read one!
I also 'left my heart in San Francisco' but I'm not a LEGAL resident of the state of CA, so I will not vote there.
Posted by: Susu on February 16, 2005 02:48 PMThere should be no doubt in anyone's mind, even that of a delusional Democrat, that this election result is unknown. Only a Democrat would try and spin this in a frantic attempt to keep Gregoire in office. If it had been the other way around, Rossi would have done the right thing and requested another election.
To a Democrat, the only thing that matters is power in the present. There will be no forward thinking as to what Gregoire's perceived illegitimacy holds for the future of WA Democrats. They operate like meth heads who have just robbed a house to score their next fix. No matter the future consequences, just get the drugs of power and statism into their Democrat veins, ASAP.
Posted by: Jeff B. on February 16, 2005 03:07 PMYou must not be a parent.
Anyway, what does that have to do with the Dr. in Atlanta and illegal voting?
Posted by: Susu on February 16, 2005 03:10 PMThere are a million great causes that could and should be blogged on. Just because your favorite issue isn't getting the attention you think it deserves on this blog doesn't mean that this topic is any less worthy. Start your own blog if you feel that strongly. It's simple to do, and generally free.
Posted by: Jason on February 16, 2005 03:11 PMWith host Dave Ammons talks with Election Reform Task Force Co-Chairs
Sam Reed, Betty Sheldon, Jim Kastama
This will air:
Thurs. 17th at 7 and 11pm
Saturday 19th at 10pm
Sunday at 20th at 10am and 7pm
You're wrong about a lot of things. I'm a Dem and I applaud Stefan's efforts on the registration front. I think the registration process statewide and nationwide can use revamping. I don't think this is the most important issue facing our state or our country, but it is one that deserves attention.
I don't think this is an attempt to keep Governor Gregoire in office. I think this has nothing to do with Governor Gregoire's status.
And lastly, I may be delusional, but I do know that the result of the election is known--Christine Gregoire won. Here's the proof--
http://governor.wa.gov/
And the sun keeps coming up...go figure.
Posted by: Steve on February 16, 2005 03:24 PMDo you have a mouse in your pocket?
Posted by: South County on February 16, 2005 03:26 PMAlan
Posted by: Alan on February 16, 2005 03:27 PMThanks for the link, I had no idea they were talking a poll. Interesting thing is, it looks like it was written with input from this site. My two addition suggestions where:
If after all recounts are complete, and the margin of victory for any contest is less than the margin of error for the voting method used, a revote for that contest should be ordered.
Electronic voting machines that provide paper reciepts should be used statewide, along with a SoS run website that allows any voter to check that their vote was counted correctly by entering a PIN/Password combination to see the results of their vote, which they can then compare with the paper reciept they recieved from the machine.
Posted by: Jason on February 16, 2005 03:29 PMLets just say I had a lot of popcorn, but got full before I checked any other county...no witch hunt here...but I can't wait for the twist. I think there's a hint in Stefan's statement "Dr. Sosin is NOT registered to vote in DeKalb County, GA, which is where his home is located."
Posted by: VaCSProf on February 16, 2005 04:45 PMchallange = challenge loose = lose
::snicker:::
challange = challenge loose = lose
::snicker:::
Easy words, lets see her cross the aisle and seek the solutions necessary to fix the problems we see discussed here on this blog. So far she has done everything necessary to not fix these issues and maintain the status quo. Lets see her do the right thing for once since she took a public office. Lets see her lead a non-partisan vote to restore the public faith in elections by seeking reform and vacating the office to force a new vote.
Posted by: Mark Beyer on February 16, 2005 06:25 PMSenators
Haugen --D
Berkey --D
Fairley --D
Sheldon --D
Representatives
Hunt --D
Nixon --R
McDermott --D
Haigh --D
And here are a few more fans of 5744/1754:
Sam Reed (Secretary of State), Shane Hamlin (publications manager Secretary of State's Office), Katie Blinn (office of Program Research), Kim Wyman (auditor of Thurston County), Pat McCarthy (auditor of Pierce County), Bob Terwilliger (auditor of Snohomish County), Chris Stegman (officer in the Green Party of Washington)
Are these people protecting the voters, or themselves?
This Bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Oh yeah, it will result in a "smoother election process", because "irregularities" will happen behind closed doors and officials will have more time to "correct" mistakes. Think about it!
Posted by: Splatter on February 16, 2005 08:19 PMThat's a valid point. I left Oregon in 1987 and continued to vote there through 1999, even though I lived in Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Georgia, and Germany. Thing is though, I voted in Oregon because I was from Oregon, I had ties to Oregon, when I was on leave I would go "home" to Oregon. There is no indication that the good doctor has any lasting ties to Washington other than he recieved his advanced degree here.
This could all have a very reasonable and perfectly legal explanation. However absent knowing what that is, are we to simply nod and say "Well ok, the Doctor must have a good reason for continuing to vote in this state, but we don't need to bother with specifics."
Seriously, if that's what we are going to do, why bother having any registration laws or reguirements at all. Lets invite all the good folks from Vancouver B.C. down here for our next election and let them have a go at it too.
It is absolutely hypocritical to claim to want clean elections and election reform, but then scoff at any attempts to actually clean up the voter roles, or as in this case, at least investigate what appears to be a very questionable voter.
No one is talking about turning this man's life upside down, no one is talking about stalking him. All of the information about him that has been discusssed thus far is freely available by simple Google search. He is a well respected man in his field, which is why his resume and details of his life are so plentiful on various websites. What isn't available is why he, as a homeowner in and apparent resident of Georgia for the last decade, has been continuing to vote in this state.
http://access.wa.gov/living/resources/residency.aspx
It says that to become a resident, you simply need to say that you want to be a resident, and then take some action to prove it. Among the listed actions is registering to vote. Never mind that you have to be a resident to register to vote.
So the logic goes like this:
If you want to vote, you need to be a resident
If you want to be a resident, just register to vote
Good grief, no wonder we're in such a mess.
Posted by: Jason on February 17, 2005 01:27 PMI have some good friends who have been doing so for nearly three years. They get their mail at a mail-box facility in their former community and have it forwarded to wherever they are at various times. They are back in WA in the summers, but hardly ever in November.
Posted by: Ann in Issaquah on February 17, 2005 03:14 PM