OLYMPIA – An effort to recall Secretary of State Sam Reed was stopped Thursday by the state Supreme Court.
The high court upheld a lower court’s ruling that allegations that Reed mishandled the contested 2004 governor’s race did not meet the legal threshold to put a recall before state voters.
Boeing Co. employee Martin Ringhofer and Seattle resident Linda Jordan argued that mistakes made by Reed led to Democrat Christine Gregoire ultimately winning a third count and the election by a razor-thin margin.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham ruled in February that each of the nine allegations brought by Ringhofer and Jordan was legally or factually insufficient, or both. Wickham’s role was not to determine whether the evidence was true, just whether there was just cause for the recall to move forward to a signature-gathering stage.
In the unsigned order issued late Thursday, the high court wrote that the charges were “not legally and factually sufficient.”
“This court is bound by the constitution to ensure that legally and factually sufficient recall charges go to the voters,” the order read.
Reed said he was happy the case was over.
“I never felt there was any substance to the charges,” he said Thursday.
Ringhofer said he would file a motion of reconsideration with the court and was prepared to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ringhofer and Jordan contend that Reed, a Republican, was guilty of misfeasance and malfeasance for certifying the election Dec. 30 while questions still remained over the validity of votes, and while some counties were late in certifying their results.
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