EVERETT — After opening earlier this year, Snohomish County’s new $8.6 million, 17,000 square-foot elections center is in the midst of its first general election, and is expected to receive 400,000 ballots by 8 p.m. Tuesday.
However, a major focus for election officials this year is safety — not just of the ballots, but of the people collecting and counting them. Across the country, election officials have been working to prepare for potential violence and misinformation surrounding the election results.
The University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public warned on Tuesday that since 2020, an “increasingly well-oiled” movement of self-described election integrity organizations have collected misleading and false evidence of fraud to sow doubt over election results, and it anticipates these claims will ramp up even further this year.
The concerns over safety became more intense following a suspected arson attack on ballot boxes on Monday in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, where hundreds of ballots were destroyed.
Kate Bitz, a Momentum Program Senior Organizer with Western States Center, a voting rights watchdog, said incidents such as the fires are a form of voter intimidation.
“This kind of political violence is intended to create a chilling effect, to raise questions about whether it is safe to go vote,” Bitz said Wednesday.
To secure local ballots, Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell said two people are present at all times when collecting ballots from drop boxes, and they’re accompanied by security. The county’s 35 drop boxes have custom locks, tamper-evident seals and fire suppression systems.
Private security regularly patrols the boxes, including overnight. On the night of Nov. 5, additional security will also be present at every drop box location, Fell added. Once ballots arrive in the elections center, they are stored in a room that requires two-keycard access.
“It’s critical that we are able to administer safe and secure elections,” Snohomish County Council member Nate Nehring wrote in an email. “Efforts to undermine this process are harmful to all voters who want to participate in free and fair elections. I strongly condemn these threats to our election process and encourage all citizens to not allow this to distract us from participating in our civic duty of voting.”
The sheriff’s office said it had not responded to any calls concerning election interference, as of Wednesday.
“The Snohomish County Auditor’s Office has taken a variety of steps to ensure that Snohomish County experiences safe and secure elections,” Snohomish County sheriff’s Lt. Raulie Robertson said in an email. “The Sheriff’s Office is communicating regularly with the Auditor’s Office sharing pertinent information. We have also worked to provide relevant information to our patrol resources on reviews of the state laws surrounding the nuances of elections and activities that are permitted and not permitted around ballot drop boxes.”
Some groups have taken to collecting ballots themselves. Westgate Chapel, a non-denominational church in Edmonds, hosted a ballot collecting event at the church last Sunday.
“For those that live in King and Snohomish counties, bring your completed and signed ballots to church with you this Sunday,” a Facebook post from the church read. “We will pray over them in both services, and ask the Lord to turn this country back to Him!”
The practice, colloquially called “ballot harvesting,” is legal in Washington, though nationally has been the subject of debate. Third parties are allowed to drop off completed ballots, Fell wrote in an email.
“While we discourage organizations from offering ballot collection and delivery services and we caution voters in using a third party to return their ballot for them, this activity is not prohibited under State law,” Fell wrote. “Washington State allows voters to determine who they trust to return their ballot on time, be that a spouse, a neighbor, or an organization. Snohomish County does not ‘authorize’ third-party ballot collection boxes.”
In a survey, almost 40% of election workers said they were the target of threats or harassment this year, and one-third said they knew someone who had given up their job to avoid the hazards, The New York Times reported. Last year, Snohomish County election officials, along with officials in King and Spokane counties, received mail tainted with fentanyl in what Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called “acts of terrorism to threaten our elections.”
At Snohomish County’s new elections center, a security guard now sits at the entrance, something that historically was unnecessary, Fell said. The design of the new facility — which separates observers and workers via large windows — was not just to increase the transparency of the process and add space for election workers, but to keep those workers safe, as well.
“We’ve got this separation between the observers and the workers. In our old space, we just had stanchions, so there was less separation and you were able to hear the observers,” Fell said. “Here, they can be talking out in the hall all they want, and staff aren’t distracted by that conversation.”
Election fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare. Four years ago, 475 potential, not confirmed, cases of voter fraud were found across six battleground states out of 25.5 million ballots cast, the Associated Press found, a rate of 0.0017%.
“When it comes to attempts to try and disrupt or delegitimize elections, that is growing,” Bitz said. “There are a lot of reasons behind that we could talk about, but I think what’s important to keep in mind here too, is that although we’re seeing a variety of tactics being tried over time in an attempt to disrupt elections and invalidate the voters decision, we’re also really seeing a lot of resilience within our electoral system from the people who lead that really amazing work.”
Claims of election fraud and interference have risen in recent years after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged. The accusations have galvanized his base — in a poll last year, 57% of Republicans said President Joe Biden’s election in 2020 was illegitimate.
Snohomish County’s election results are validated through audits and reviews both before the election begins and throughout the voting process.
“Any voter that has questions or concerns should reach out, we’ll show you how the process works. They can also sign up to be a part of the process and be an elections worker,” Fell said. “The fact that the people we have working are people from our community, people form our neighborhoods, family, friends, people we know, gives me a lot of confidence that the work they’re doing is accurate and fair, with the best intentions.”
Election work is open for observation without a reservation. Any person who wishes to observe the election process can visit the auditor’s office, on the third floor of the Admin West building at 3000 Rockefeller Ave. in Everett. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Ballots are due at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Drop box locations can be found at https://tinyurl.com/mtrpcjd5.
Correction: A previous version of this article misattributed a comment from Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Raulie Robertson to a sheriff’s office spokesperson.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.
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