The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/13/07

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed lectured Nov. 1 in the Robinson Teaching Theatre on election reform in response to election scandals.

Reed spoke to an audience of approximately 100 people. Ben Ysursa, Idaho's secretary of State, was also in attendance.

In the lecture, which immediately followed a smaller question-and-answer session with students from political science classes, Sam Reed discussed election reform in response to the election scandals and complications of the 2004 Washington gubernatorial race and the 2000 presidential election, both of which he has had to deal with during his time in office.

According to the Washington Secretary of State’s Web Site, Reed’s political responsibilities include supervising state and local elections, as well as producing and distributing the state’s voters’ pamphlets and legal advertising.

“It’s not too often you get somebody in this position to speak at a smaller school,” said senior Andra Close, a political science major.

Students from political science professor Julia Stronks' Political Parties class were involved in bringing Reed to campus. Junior Amanda Plumb, a political science and sociology major who said she chaired a committee within the class, introduced Reed at the lecture. 

Plumb said she served on a College Civics Committee under Reed through Grays Harbor College when she was a student there. 

One of Reed’s interests as Washington secretary of state has been to increase voter turnout rate among students and younger voters, Plumb said.

“Washington state is now out in front and on the cutting edge of election reforms,” Reed said.

Reed said he found himself in a rough spot right at the beginning of his first term as Wash. Secretary of State in 2000. Directly following the messy 2000 presidential election race between Bush and Gore, issues of election standards and reform were pushed to the forefront, even at the state and local level, Reed said.

“I ended up immediately being thrown into the middle of it,” Reed said.

Reed also oversaw the 2004 state gubernatorial election, which caused more political uproar regarding voting standards, he said.

The governor’s race between Dino Rossi and Diana Gregoire was the closest gubernatorial election in the history of the United States, Reed said.

“It ended up being a very traumatic time,” Reed said. “If you try putting a magnifying glass on something, you’re bound to see the warts.”

Reed was involved in months of trials, two recounts of casted votes and the uncovering of evidence showing weaknesses in the state’s election system.

Going into the 2008 state elections, Reed said the election system will be under the magnifying glass again.

He said he has confidence in the reforms made during his time in office.

"I think we'll do well," Reed said.

 

Contact Katie Goodell at katie.goodell@whitworthian.com.

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