The black series of marks are edge borders, guides for the machines. If you look closely you can see ovals beside the candidate names. None are darkened. This was not a real vote. Some worker, I suspect, added the stray mark to the edge of the ballot. If they didn't, if a voter actually made that mark, there's no fair way to determine intent, and the ballot should be discarded. It's too odd that there are no marked ovals anywhere on the page, and wouldn't someone so confused as to what to do end up circling the name? Further, should someone so confused be considered capable of voting?
Do you think the Rossi people are going to take their case to the Federal courts? Or maybe they already have?
Even if a voter's intention was clearly and unambiguously to vote for Gregoire, if the voter's intention was to do so in anything other than the legally authorized way, the vote is not valid.
In Rockford, IL there have been elections turned on the question of whether ballots should be accepted if the voter put a check mark in the box instead of an "X". The answer has consistently been that an "X" is a vote, but a check mark, circle, filled in square, or other such marking is not a vote. Not sure whether a script "x" would quality, but if I were a voter I wouldn't push it.
The idea that "there's no fair way to determine intent" is incorrect. It is CLEAR that they intended NOT to vote for ANYONE in that race. I agree that the ballot should be thrown out.
In a machine count that ballot would not count since the bubble is not filled in. But in a hand count the intention of the voter could be construed to be for Gregoire.
But maybe the person was just testing out the pen in the left column and decided to vote for other things on the ballot and leave the Governor vote blank???-- Tom