Washington Democrats protest Yakima campaign texts
The Washington Democratic Party has filed a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission over a racially-tinged text sent last weekend to voters in the Yakima Valley.
The message was sent in Spanish from someone named “Matteo from the Washington State Republicans.” It claims three Democratic candidates from the Yakima area support the “chemical castration” of children, aim to confuse children about their gender and want to eliminate the Spanish language.
“They hate you, they hate your family, they hate God and they hate the truth. Don’t let them represent you!” the message says.
The three candidates targeted are Democrats running in the 14th District, Maria Beltran, Chelsea Dimas and Ana Ruiz Kennedy.
The letter from the Democratic Party attorney says the message is malicious and libelous and should be investigated. It encourages the commission chairman to refer the case to the state attorney general’s office.
Ballot return in Washington lags behind 2020, but there’s more to come
Fifty-seven percent of ballots sent to Washington voters were filled out and returned as of Monday evening, about 15 percentage points lower than at the same time in the 2020 election cycle. But one eastern Washington election official says it’s too early to tell what that signals for overall turnout.
Stevens County Auditor Lori Larsen said there are still a lot of ballots that haven’t yet been opened and counted. And more will be arriving today by drop box and in the coming days by mail.
“A lot of folks do choose to wait until election day to cast their ballot. You're not going to capture those [in Monday’s return figures],” Larsen told SPR News. “Definitely not going to capture anybody who's using the Postal Service postmarked by [Tuesday] to return their ballot. They really ought not be compared to the turnout rate from four years ago.”
Pend Oreille County Auditor Marianne Nichols echoed a similar statement, noting steady voter participation and said she has seen many first-time voters this election, including older people who hadn’t voted before.
As of Monday evening, 61 percent of ballots were submitted via drop boxes around the state. 38 percent came in by mail. The peak return date was October 28, when 306,000 ballots were sent in. Many are expected to arrive today and through the remainder of the week.
Election security top of mind for Secretary of State’s office
Washington election officials will be watching carefully today and in the coming days for anything that doesn’t look right.
“With our centralized state system, we're able to detect and prevent voter fraud in many cases, and identify it and take action with law enforcement as necessary,” said Stuart Holmes, Director of Elections for the Washington Secretary of State's office.
One of the many ways Washington prevents voter fraud is due to cooperation between the Department of Health, the Social Security Administration, and other states reporting people who have died.
There are also ways to track name and address changes when voters move. It is possible to receive two ballots in the mail, especially if you're moving during an election cycle. Holmes says after an election, though, another comparison takes place to see if voters actually participated or attempted to vote in more than one state.
As far as cyber threats, Holmes told Northwest Public Broadcasting there are ways to prevent and detect any nefarious activity. He says one of the great things is that Washington's tabulation system is not connected to the internet.
“With the combination of paper ballots, we're able to have a lot of evidence and chain of custody in controls to prevent unauthorized access to the tabulation equipment,” Holmes said.
And to ensure the tabulation equipment is working correctly, there will be a statewide risk limiting audit.
Voters can find more resources including archived audits, ballot return statistics, and voting security information on the Washington Secretary of State's website.
Former Idaho lawmaker appeals rape conviction
Aaron von Ehlinger is contesting his 2022 rape conviction. Boise State Public Radio reports the Idaho Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday.
Von Ehlinger, a Republican from Lewiston, was found guilty of raping a legislative intern. He’s currently serving a minimum eight-year prison sentence.
Von Ehlinger wasn’t able to cross-examine his victim because she fled the courtroom before finishing her testimony.
Instead, prosecutors relied on a sexual assault nurse who treated her to paraphrase her testimony. That’s something von Ehlinger’s public defender, Erik Lehtinen, said is inappropriate.
“The problem comes in when we try to circumvent people’s confrontation rights and start using this against the defendant at trial,” Lehtinen said during oral arguments.
Still, von Ehlinger’s defense attorney never called for a mistrial, something the state says was a tactical decision to get an acquittal and can’t be used as the basis for an appeal.
Justices have no timeline in which to issue their decision in the case.
Outage pauses some county clerk services
Certain services are currently unavailable at the Spokane County Clerk’s Office.
That’s the result of a technical issue with the Washington Courts network, according to a press release issued by the office yesterday.
Services such as in-person filing of paper documents, processing of emergency orders or access to physical court records maintained in the office are still available.
However, electronic court record searches, electronic filing, and electronic payment processing are out of commission temporarily, though the clerk's office said there are alternative procedures in place for emergency matters.
The office will remain open during regular business hours, and time-sensitive filings will continue to be processed, according to the release.
Officials have asked that people planning to make filings bring paper copies of all documents.
- - -
Reporting was contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Monica Carrillo-Casas, Phineas Pope, James Dawson and Owen Henderson.