The following editorial appeared Tuesday in the Tri-City Herald.

The closeness of Washington’s election for governor has spawned everything from calls for changes in primary dates to lawsuits.

But one of the sleaziest developments is the trick – well, lie, actually – perpetrated by the Building Industry Association of Washington.

The Seattle Times reports the association sent out what it claimed were market surveys on housing trends to more than 400 King County residents who signed post-election affidavits after their absentee ballots were questioned.

The builders’ group included $10 checks in each “survey” as compensation for the time and trouble. Even if they didn’t answer the questions, the association encouraged the recipients to cash the checks.

That was a bad idea. The association then compared the signatures on the checks to those on the affidavits. If they didn’t match, and some didn’t in the BIAW’s estimation, it was gotcha time.

Well, no. Turns out people sign different documents in different hands, and $10 checks floating in over the transom might get signed by a spouse, instead.

The BIAW tried to get law enforcement interested.

Nothing doing.

The association and voters should be reminded of something: Washington’s election was close, not crooked. The flaws in the system uncovered in the race need to be fixed, but don’t add up to fraud.

The Herald’s editorial board was among those who tried to discourage Christine Gregoire from the manual recount of the vote, but she pushed ahead and won.

Dino Rossi was a fine candidate and no one will be surprised to find him running for statewide office again. It seems a long shot, but perhaps he will even win in court and be declared governor instead of Gregoire.

But the incessant claims that the election was stolen by Gregoire say a lot more about her accusers than they do about Gregoire.

And BIAW playing at Law and Order just looks pathetic.