“We do not have a list of the names of all voters who participated in the 2008 General Election.”

This was the reply from the Secretary of State’s office when I requested the list after discovering that their voting records file was 217,700 votes short of the state’s official vote count of 3,071,587.

Now, Mr. Nick Handy claims in an Independent Guest Opinion (“Washington’s 2008 elections numbers actually did add up,” May 21) that the state’s numbers are correct — that their analysis shows that 3,055,940 votes were cast.

One would expect that no “analysis” would be required — that they would simply count the votes and that the number of votes cast would be at least as large as the number of votes counted.

Mr. Handy explains how more votes can be credited as cast then actually counted but cannot explain how more can be counted than cast.

The fact remains that the numbers don’t add up because his office does not have complete voting records.

One result has been that some double voting has gone undetected. Further, in the absence of statewide voting records the state cannot verify the accuracy of county records.

Mr. Handy disputes the need for his office to maintain accurate voting history by stating that,“It is the county election officials who run the HAVA and NVRA-required list maintenance.”

However, federal law has explicitly assigned this responsibility to the state’s chief elections officer, the secretary of state.

Without accurate and complete voting records this function cannot be properly performed nor can the secretary perform proper county oversight.

BOB EDELMAN

Black Diamond