Pullman residents ask for oversight of Aug. 1 election

Following the latest ballot error in Whitman County, some Pullman residents sent a letter to the Secretary of State office this week requesting state oversight of the Aug. 1 primary election next week.

The letter, written by Elizabeth Siler, notes the error that came to light when ballots were sent out to Pullman voters for city council races. The error involved 812 ballots. Some Pullman Ward 1 voters were incorrectly mailed to voters in Ward 3. The ballots went to voters in precinct 253, which had been split off from Ward 1 last year and are now in Ward 3.

Auditor Eunice Coker attributed the error to the redistricting split in Pullman that was logged into the elections office but apparently did not get transferred when the ballots were mailed out.

The Ward 1 council race includes incumbent Al Sorenson against challengers Eric Fejeran and Hannah Krauss. However, the primary vote was actually made moot after Krauss announced prior to the mailing of ballots that she intended to drop out of the race. She made the decision after the deadline to remove her name from the ballot, so the count for the Ward 1 race will still be for the three candidates listed.

To correct the error, the elections office plans to duplicate ballots. The incorrect ballots from Ward 3 will be sealed, and election staffers will conduct sessions to take out the sealed ballots and copy off the votes for Pullman’s three-way primary school race onto duplicate ballots before sending those ballots through the tabulating machine.

The letter notes concern about this process.

“The auditor’s answer to this problem? She will put those ballots aside when they are returned, ignore the votes for the wrong candidate, and copy the ‘correct’ information from these ballots onto new ballots and count those.

We wonder how she will manage this intricate process since she could not manage the much simpler process of just getting the right ballot to the right people,” the letter read.

“Arguably, the anonymity of these redone ballots is subject to compromise, simply by the amount of attention that will be paid to them.

This fix-it process the Auditor plans to use may also slow down getting accurate results (if indeed they are accurate) and stall candidates as they make decisions as to the next step in their campaign process.”

Erich Ebel, communications director with the Secretary of State office, said that he cannot comment if there is concern in the office about that process.

“I can’t speculate on that, on whether or not it’s concerning, but what I can tell you is that county election officers in general are very aware of what they’re doing,” he said. “They go to great lengths to do it by the books, and they do their due diligence.”

Coker said the process is the right one for this situation.

“We’re following exactly what we need to do,” she said.

Coker told the Gazette that she invites those who wrote and signed the letter to observe the duplication process.

“This is totally open for observation and for them to learn,” she said. “There was an error made, there’s no mistaking that. We’re doing everything right to make sure that the ballots count for the right race and not the wrong race.”

The auditor even gave the dates and times for the duplication process. She expects the ballots to be duplicated at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 31, and Tuesday, Aug. 8.

“Everything we do is open for observation,” she said.

The letter also called attention to previous errors in recent elections in Whitman County. There have been six errors in the last four years, including a ballot error in the same Pullman City Council ward four years ago. In 2015, there was another mistake in Ward 1 in Pullman. In 2016, a mistake was logged in the Colfax hospital board race; Oakesdale school levy ballots were erroneously mailed to Tekoa, and a fire department consolidation vote in Rosalia contained a mistake in the text of the description.

“This ad hoc approach to election management must end. We are delighted to hear the Auditor is stepping down in 2018, but there is still the 2017 election to get through,” the letter stated. “We are concerned about the ballot monitoring in this primary election, the November election, and next year’s (2018’s) elections,” Siler wrote

Ebel noted the office is aware of the previous errors and that it has made recommendations to correct those.

“We’ve specifically mentioned several things that could be done to improve this,” he said. “The Secretary of State office routinely provides reviews for all 39 counties in Washington and provides recommendations for best practices.”

Ebel said the Secretary of State office is aware of the letter and the concerns at this time, but he stressed that elections are the responsibility of counties.

“Elections are a local issue,” he said. “The Secretary of State office is here as a resource.”

Since elections are conducted by counties, the office does not assist unless specifically asked to do so, he commented.

“The Secretary of State office cannot get involved in an election process unless the county auditor asks for assistance,” said Ebel. “We are always willing to provide assistance to county auditors per request.”

Ebel said no request has been received from Auditor Coker for oversight on the ballot process next week. He also noted the office would be prepared to help by answering questions or sending someone to Whitman County, if requested.

“There’s all kinds of things we can do to help,” he said.

Coker said she will not be sending a request for oversight in this election, but she noted the office is planning to help with the training process for a new elections supervisor when that post is filled. Previous supervisor Debbie Hooper departed the position last month. Coker also said Spokane County has been helping with this election since the office here is short staffed.