OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Republican Party is suing King County elections after over 2,000 challenged ballots were cured using a third-party website.
The lawsuit follows a hand recount of the closest primary race in Washington state history that saw a Republican candidate lose out on a spot running for Commissioner of Public Lands in the general election.
Democrat Dave Upthegrove and Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson were separated by just 51 votes at the certification of the primary race for Commissioner of Public Lands, which triggered an automatic hand recount. When that recount was certified on Wednesday, Upthegrove came out 49 votes ahead, securing his spot facing off against Republican Jamie Herrera-Butler in November.
One method that King County used for curing challenged ballots is at the heart of the lawsuit. Over 2,000 voters who were notified that their ballots were challenged because of signature issues went online to a website called omniballot.us, filled out and submitted signature resolution forms that were then returned to King County Elections to cure their ballots.
The lawsuit alleges that without this website, "there is less than a one in a billion chance that Dave Upthegrove would be in the top two candidates moving onto the general election."
The Washington State Republican Party is challenging the legality of a county auditor using a service like omniballot.us entirely, citing state law that stipulates an auditor must ensure that ballot verification information that is transmitted electronically is received by their offices directly. They argue that the use of a third-party service to transmit that information is therefore unlawful, and asked a judge to invalidate all the ballots that were cured using the website.
In a statement, King County Elections countered that they have partnered with Democracy Live, the organization behind omniballot.us, for years, saying the online ballot resolution option is part of their mission to provide "accurate, secure and accessible elections to King County voters."
"KCE is committed to ensuring every eligible vote is counted," a spokesperson for King County elections said in a statement. "Signature challenges must be resolved before a ballot can be counted, which means resolving these challenges is crucial to ensuring a voter's voice is heard!"
Elections said they have been partnering with Democracy Live for over a decade to allow military and overseas voters to access and return ballots, saying they are "extremely confident in the security of this system, and we're proud of the way it has increased access for all voters."
In response to the lawsuit, WA Dems thanked all coordinated campaign staffers and volunteers who helped Upthegrove reach out to voters and encourage them to cure their ballots.
"They truly made the difference in the closest primary race in state history," Chair Shasti Conrad said in a statement. Conrad called the state GOP's lawsuit "election denialism," saying the move was "sad" and "predictable." She went on to say, "WA Dems will be working day and night through Election Day to ensure Washingtonians know that there is only one candidate in the race for Public Lands Commissioner who believes in tackling the sources of human-caused climate change and building climate resilient communities through public lands policy and that person is Dave Upthegrove.”