Jonathan Bechtle and Bob Edelman aren’t finished yet with the controversy-stained 2004 election.

They’ve compiled information on 25 voters in eight counties who may have cast two ballots in that election, given it to prosecutors and implored them to act.

The duo struck out in Snohomish County, where they contended four acts of wrongdoing occurred. No charges have been filed in the other 21 cases either.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Bechtle, who insisted that without prosecutions, officials can claim there’s no fraud.

He and Edelman run the Voter Integrity Project of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and are serial critics of how elections are run and election laws enforced.

They pursue alleged scofflaws while others quietly wish they’d let the electoral dust settle. What seems clear to them is that double voting ranks somewhere around jaywalking in the hierarchy of American justice.

Convictions are difficult because, they’ve been told, it is hard to prove a person deliberately intended to vote twice, a crime punishable by up to five years in jail.

“If we had a chargeable case, we would have charged it,” Snohomish County Prosecutor Janice Ellis said.

In one case, a voter cast an absentee ballot in Snohomish County and later voted at the polls in Port Townsend.

In the other three, voters cast absentee ballots first in the county and later in King County. Authorities there are now investigating.

One of the questioned ballots was cast by a soldier who sent it in from Iraq.

Bechtle said he was not targeting the soldier, only trying to ensure nobody else voted his ballot.

“We are trying to protect the integrity of our elections,” he said.

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This week again showed that money is a key to getting an initiative on the ballot.

Two measures dealing with high profile subjects punishing sex offenders and denying benefits to illegal immigrants failed for lack of signatures. Supporters raised a combined $31,000.

Backers of four measures destined for a November vote amassed a combined $2,066,586 in cash with nearly half paid to signature gathering firms.

Here’s a look at what the money bought.

Initiative 917 is Tim Eyman’s call for repealing vehicle weight fees. He raised $345,660 and paid $324,800 to Citizen Solutions for petitioners. He turned in 300,353 signatures.

Initiative 920, fronted by Dennis Falk, would abolish the estate tax. He raised $805,885 and spent $90,000 with Citizen Solutions. He filed 300,000 signatures.

Initiative 933 from the Washington State Farm Bureau reforms land use processes. They collected $437,016, paid $240,000 to Citizen Solutions and gathered 315,000 signatures.

Initiative 937 from Washingtonians for Energy Security requires utilities use more renewable resources. They raised $478,025, paid $211,637 to PCI Consultants and handed in 335,000 signatures.

For more details on the money, go to the state Public Disclosure Commission Web site at www.pdc.wa.gov.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.