Auditor replies

As your Whitman County Auditor, I feel compelled to respond to the letter published in the Dec. 3 edition of the Whitman County Gazette.

She claims that “fraud was very apparent here” in our county and that I had “just broke election law and the count was fraudulent.” These claims are unfounded.

I have never met Ms. Culbertson, nor would I recognize her if she walked down the street. Her visit to the Elections Office, as an official Republican Party observer, occurred on Nov. 6. She spoke with my Elections Supervisor, not me. I wasn’t even in the building.

Ms. Culbertson was courteously received by my staff, and they attempted to answer her questions. It was explained that the “back room” is where the ballots are kept while they are not being processed, and that only elections staff are allowed to enter the room so as to prevent ballot tampering. The ballots must be contained in a separate locked cage for security.

Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, the observation station was moved to a window outside the processing room, which provides a wide view of all of the processing stations.

My staff and I conduct a transparent elections process, and are continuously available to answer questions from the election observers.

Whitman County was not “robbed of a fair, legal election.”

I would like to assure our patrons that the processing and counting of the General Election ballots was run fairly. I was elected to this position based on my ethics and integrity, and I stand behind our ballot processing 100%.

Sandy Jamison,

Whitman County Auditor