02:28 PM PST on Monday, February 14, 2005

KING5.com

OLYMPIA, Wash. - A judge on Monday ruled against recalling Secretary of State Sam Reed. The judge ruled that allegations that Reed mishandled the contested governor's race were not sufficient.

Martin Ringhofer, a Boeing Co. employee, 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 129 votes over her opponent Dino Rossi.

Ringhofer claimed that Reed broke the law by accepting incomplete election forms from some counties and that he knew about felons and dead people voting.

Reed disputed the recall allegations and says he followed the state constitution.

"The law obviously does not allow for an elected official to be recalled based on an action that he was compelled by law to take," assistant attorney general Jeffrey Even told the judge in Reed's defense.

KING

Secretary of State Sam Reed

If Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham had allowed the recall to proceed, Ringhofer would still have needed more than 600,000 signatures to force a vote.