March 25, 2021 Ferry County View by Nancy Churchill
Restoring Voter Confidence in Election Integrity
All Washington State voters have a right to demand integrity in our elections and the voting process, with the confidence to know that only eligible people are granted the ability to vote in our elections.
On March 20th, the Executive Board of the Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) took a step towards restoring voter confidence in election integrity by passing a resolution supporting that goal which recommended some simple first steps.
After the 2020 elections, the WSRP formed an elections integrity committee which is actively working to address the issue of election integrity. Committee members are identifying areas and vulnerabilities in the election system which provide the opportunity for manipulation.
In addition, they are researching and developing recommendations for legislative changes that can improve future election integrity. Sadly, there are many different ways to cheat in the elections process. Some of those cheating methods you may be aware of, like illegally voting for another person, registration and voting by non-citizens, and poor signature check processes.
Other methods of cheating are more technical and difficult to detect, like possible hacking or weighted vote counting with election tabulation machines. The WSRP Elections Integrity Committee has identified a number of simple changes that can be immediately addressed by the legislature to improve election integrity.
This isn’t a complete list of problems and solutions, but just some basic first steps to improve the situation and begin to reduce fraud. As more evidence of potential fraud is documented, the committee will develop additional recommendations to address specific problems.
One basic problem is that County Auditors cannot guarantee that mailed ballots reach the intended eligible recipients, as voters move and ballots are forwarded – sometimes to different states. To address this issue, the WSRP supports legislation to stop the forwarding of ballots to registered voters that have moved.
Another issue is that the Department of Licensing (DOL) and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) register voters but do not verify their citizenship unless they have applied for an enhanced drivers license.
To address this problem, the WSRP supports legislation to require the DOL to limit voter registration to persons receiving enhanced drivers' licenses or enhanced ID cards, which require proof of citizenship. This legislation should also provide a funding mechanism to prevent cost from ever being a barrier to voting.
The volunteer members of the WSRP will continue to donate their time, energy and attention to address the accuracy of voting systems, train election observers, and work with the Secretary of State and local county auditors to develop better observation processes from drop-box to ballot storage to final validation of the vote.
We will continue to propose and support legislation that closes exceptions and loopholes to restore voter confidence in our election process. What can you do to support election integrity and free and fair elections?
Join your local Republican party and become part of this effort! We welcome your energy, attention, and focus on this problem. We can work together to make the needed strategic and permanent changes to our elections system. Don’t give up, get involved!
Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The colum editorial opinions are her own.
HERE IS THE WSRP RESOLUTION THAT WAS PASSED 3-20-2021
Restoring Voter Confidence in Election Integrity
Whereas, all Washington State voters have a right to demand integrity in our elections and the voting process, with the confidence to know that only eligible people are granted the ability to vote in our elections; and
Whereas, the county auditors overseeing our elections cannot guarantee that mailed out ballots reach the intended eligible recipients, as voters move and ballots are forwarded, sometimes to different states; and
Whereas, the Department of Licensing (DOL) and DSHS register voters but do not verify their citizenship unless they have applied for an enhanced drivers licenses; and
Whereas, Washington law does not sufficiently prevent the practice of ballot harvesting, which can only be cured by in person and strictly enforced absentee voting procedures; and
Whereas, witnessed and accountable ballot counting from drop-off to final count and transmission of each county’s data to the state by Election Observers gives voters the maximum confidence that every legal vote is counted;
Now therefore be it resolved that the WSRP supports legislation that closes exceptions and loopholes to restore voter confidence in our election process; and
Be it further resolved that the WSRP supports legislation to stop the forwarding of ballots to registered voters that have moved; and
Be it further resolved that the WSRP supports legislation to require enhanced drivers’ licenses or enhanced ID cards, obtained through the DOL, as the only valid identification allowed for voting, with funding mechanisms in place to prevent cost from ever being a barrier to voting; and
Be it finally resolved that the WSRP will allocate time and resources to coordinate with the leadership in Washington counties to ensure a transparent process by confirming that voting systems within each county may be relied upon to provide an accurate count of the votes, work towards training Republicans to become involved as qualified Election Observers, and assure that the ballot-counting process be observable from drop-box to ballot storage, all the way through to the final validation of the votes.
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