Election Pros Are Cons

King County Council Member Constantine is not so sure. By itself, Elder's conviction does not bother him. "A drug conviction standing alone is not going to bar someone from working for a contractor with government," he says. Elder's apparent relationship with Dean, however, gives Constantine pause. "Someone who has a relationship with someone else who was convicted of theft using computer fraud—that involves the very type of crime about which we have concerns. It creates an appearance with the public that things could be potentially wrong. People need to have confidence that their elections are as perfect as people can make them."

Dean finds all this suspicion ridiculous. "John Elder and myself should be poster children in prisons around the state for how you can turn your life around. All the rest of the stuff is negative spin by Bev Harris."

Associated Press / Ron Wurzer

Watchdog Bev Harris fueled a national debate over election integrity.

Related Content

• Highs and Lows: USPS Plans to Close and Consolidate 'Dozens' of Mail-Processing Plants
  May 17, 2012
• Postal Workers and Small Post Offices Receive Potentially Good News from USPS
  May 15, 2012
• Kucinich Pumps Up Crowd of Mail Carriers During NALC Rally (PHOTOS)
  April 13, 2012
• Department of Labor Sues Postal Service Over Seattle Whistleblower
  February 28, 2012
• New Use for Snail Mail? Feds Say Seattle Dealers Ship Drugs and Cash Through Postal Service
  April 3, 2012

More About

• John Elder
• Jeff Dean
• Dean Logan
• Politics
• Elections and Voting

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

For her part, Harris wants to promote solutions to the credibility gap. "I'm trying to help with remedies," she says. "Election officials are not very sophisticated about how people can attack their systems."

ghowland@seattleweekly.com