"Voter fraud" in Seattle -- Sound familiar?

What's happening in Washington state, where last November's election for governor is still in dispute, gives an indication of where we could be headed in Wisconsin somewhere down the road.

This from the Seattle Times:

When the governor's-election lawsuit goes to trial next week in Wenatchee, Republicans will claim that someone stuffed ballot boxes or stole valid ballots.

They haven't shown specific evidence of either of those things. But at a news conference yesterday, state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said King County's inability to reconcile vote records is proof enough that last November's governor's election should be overturned.

"Nobody has confessed to vote fraud," Vance said, adding that he didn't expect that to happen.

But, he said, "If the books don't balance and you can't figure out why, you have to assume fraud took place."

Or you have to assume there were some innocent procedural mistakes made in the press of a huge election. That's what happened in Milwaukee, and probably happened in Seattle, too. But the Republicans don't say that, in Washington or in Wisconsin. The difference is that in Washington the margin of victory was miniscule.

The story.