Group seeking election fraud not Skagit County government

Friday afternoon, Sept. 17, the Skagit County government posted notice that the County “does not have a rol(e) in recent door-to-door ‘Elections Integrity Audit.’” The government reported “multiple reports from community members that individuals have been going door to door throughout the community asking for personal information related to voting eligibility. Most of these individuals are believed to be affiliated with an ongoing Skagit Voter Integrity Project.”

The news release states that county election staff will never “come to your house” and the auditor’s office is not involved.

The Skagit County Republican Party does have a “Voter Integrity Project” with a 20 person committee and twice monthly meetings, a posting on its website states. It claims an “honest and thoughtful critique(e) of all aspects of our voting and election system” and advocates for “in-person voter verification” of ballots cast.

County Republican Party chair Bill Bruch also chairs the Washington State Republican Party Election Integrity Committee. He organized a “Skagit County Public Hearing on Election Integrity” in Burlington Aug. 29 that featured a panel of elected officials, all Republican, including Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen.

The Republican Party’s website does not provide evidence of “problems” or “irregularities” in specific Skagit County elections. In a video dated Aug. 31, Skagit County resident Nancy Oczowitz explains she and other volunteers have collected over 1,800 “anomalies” and 79 voter addresses that did not exist and “41 that were deceased” but voted.

Lauren Han, county spokesperson, told the Weekly News that “Most of the ‘voter does not live here’ are P.O. Boxes or PMBs.” She wrote: “It would be unethical for us to make changes to a voter’s registration information based on information that was reported by a non-governmental third party with no connection to the voter or address of concern.”

Han summarized the County’s elections office accuracy and security responsibilities, with procedures that include matching ballot return signatures with the state-wide voter registration record and accepting one ballot per registered voter.

Skagit County Auditor Sandy Perkins responded “We have no reason to believe that there is widespread fraud impacting our elections. And while we appreciate what the group is trying to do – we all agree keeping our elections free and fair is important – their methods are not effective for verifying voter information.”

The work of the Skagit County Republicans was “not an official government survey, and community members should not feel compelled to answer questions unless they want to,” Perkins stated in the news release.

Han invited residents to observe staff processing election ballots, writing “When they learn about all of the safeguards in place, we’re sure they will feel as secure as we do.”

County commissioners have a 1 p.m. Sept. 30 work session with Perkins to discuss election security. It will be televised on TV21.

The news release notes that trespassing can be reported to the Skagit Sheriff’s office by calling 911.