OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – Two voters have filed challenges to the governor’s election with the state Supreme Court – the first shots in an anticipated legal battle over the amazingly close contest.

Both challenges question the legitimacy of Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire, a Democrat who lost the first two counts but beat Republican Dino Rossi by 129 votes in a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots. Gregoire’s inauguration is scheduled for Wednesday.

Neither filing showed obvious links to the state Republican Party. State GOP Chairman Chris Vance said he had nothing to do with the filings, and that party officials are still working on a possible court challenge of their own.

The deadline for filing election challenges is Tuesday.

One challenger, Daniel P. Stevens, sent a one-page notice saying he was contesting the election because the margin of victory is within the election’s margin of error, “to the point that error must be assumed as a certainty.”

“The impact of who gets in office is minimal if we miss this opportunity to use this as a catalyst for reform,” said Stevens,.

Another, Arthur Coday Jr., filed a brief arguing the hand recount was flawed for several reasons and asking the high court to inaugurate Rossi as governor. He did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Coday paid a $250 filing fee; the court has not yet received Stevens’ filing fee so his notice has not officially been filed.

“This election is going to be contested – it’s inevitably going to happen,” said Vance, the GOP chairman. “The best thing for the state of Washington would be for Christine Gregoire to join with Dino Rossi, skip the long-drawn out court battle, and schedule a revote.”

Earlier this week, Gregoire called the idea of a new vote “absolutely ludicrous.”

State Republican Party officials have been steadily calling for a new election and gathering evidence for a possible court challenge, pointing out vote discrepancies in Democrat-leaning King County and elsewhere. A Republican radio ad running this week complains some military voters stationed overseas did not receive their ballots in time.

County auditors and Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed have downplayed most of the GOP’s complaints. They say most elections have similar discrepancies, which usually go unnoticed because most elections aren’t as unnervingly close as this one.

State law allows any registered voter to contest an election on a number of grounds, including illegal votes. Neither filing referred to specific parts of the law governing election contests.

Also Thursday, Reed unveiled an election reform package that includes moving the state’s primary from September to June.

Reed has said he has seen no evidence of wrongdoing, but has acknowledged the need for election reform. At a news conference in Seattle, Reed outlined several measures, including moving up the primary to give election workers more time to address close races and recounts, as well as get ballots to and from military and overseas voters.

AP-ES-01-06-05 1741EST