Republican activists organizing 'surveillance' of ballot drop boxes in WA

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https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republican-activists-organizing-surveillance-of-ballot-drop-boxes-in-washington/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_inset_1.1

Republican activists organizing ‘surveillance’ of ballot drop boxes in WA

July 18, 2022 at 1:04 pm Updated July 18, 2022 at 6:45 pm

A sign posted outside the Seattle Public Library’s Broadview Branch on Sunday warns that a ballot box there is “under surveillance.” Republican activists in Washington are promoting “surveillance” of ballot drop boxes as midterm voting begins, echoing conspiracy theories about fraud in the 2020 election. (Jim Brunner / The Seattle Times)

As midterm voting kicks into high gear, Republican activists in Washington are organizing surveillance of ballot drop boxes, generating complaints and concern from some elections officials.

Over the weekend, signs were posted near ballot boxes in several Seattle-area locations, with red letters warning the boxes are “Under Surveillance” and stating that accepting money “for harvesting or depositing ballots” may violate federal law.

A scannable code on the signs pointed to a section of the King County Republican Party website with a form encouraging people to submit “election incident” reports, including photos and video.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself “WA Citizens United to Secure Ballot Boxes” is promoting drop-box surveillance statewide, encouraging people to sign up to watch ballot boxes and record video of people “dumping an in ordinate [sic] amount of ballots” and “taking pictures of themselves doing it,” according to the organization’s “Drop Box Watch” website.

The signs in King County were spotted near at least two ballot boxes in Seattle on Sunday, at the Lake City and Broadview branches of the Seattle Public Library.

King County Elections spokesperson Halei Watkins said the office received several reports about the signs popping up over the weekend near Eastside ballot boxes, including in Issaquah and Redmond.

While it is legal for people to observe the county’s 76 ballot boxes, which are located on public property, the message on the signs has raised concerns about possible intimidation. Watkins said King County Elections has notified the County Prosecutor’s Office “to check on the legality” of the effort.

“Certainly the signs out at the drop boxes are a little bit worrying,” Watkins said.

Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall, a Democrat, said she’d been alerted to the statewide surveillance effort and doesn’t understand what the people running it expect to prove. “I’d characterize it as voter intimidation,” she said.

Unlike some other states that limit the practice, Washington law allows people to drop off legal mail-in ballots for other voters with no restrictions.

Family members often drop off ballots for one another, Hall said, but it’s also legal for groups to hold “ballot parties” and collect a bunch of votes to turn in together. The ballot signatures are all checked before being counted to ensure the votes are legal, she noted.

Mathew Patrick Thomas, chair of the King County Republican Party, said in an interview Monday morning he had not been aware local GOP volunteers were placing the signs near ballot boxes until he got a call over the weekend from King County Elections Director Julie Wise.

Thomas said he called Amber Krabach, a GOP activist and candidate who has helped lead the King County Republicans’ election integrity committee, and said, “You guys have got to stop doing this.” Thomas said he wanted to ensure the signs were at least 25 feet away from drop boxes.

By Monday afternoon, Thomas entirely repudiated the effort, announcing he was dissolving the King County GOP’s election integrity committee.

Thomas said the “self-appointed committee” — created by Joshua Freed, his predecessor as chair — was acting “outside of its authority” and “without the express knowledge, permission or consent” of the King County GOP.

“As KCGOP Chairman, I was not consulted regarding this activity and was not made aware of it until I was contacted separately by the Director of King County Elections, Julie Wise and media,” Thomas said.

He also sent Krabach a “cease and desist” order demanding the signs be removed and ending any further actions linking the surveillance efforts to the King County GOP.

In a phone interview Monday, Krabach said the signs had been placed by volunteers “to act as a deterrent” to anyone getting paid to deliver ballots. “If they are legally dropping ballots into the box, then the sign shouldn’t bother them.”

Asked how the ballot boxes might get watched, Krabach pointed to volunteer observers, and said there also has been discussion of setting up video cameras to record activity at the boxes.

“I think in Washington we have zero ability to verify that our elections are secure and have integrity,” Krabach said.

Krabach is running for the state Legislature this year as an “Election Integrity Party” candidate. She previously ran unsuccessfully as a Republican. On social media, she has spread misinformation about the 2020 election and COVID-19 vaccines, and promoted QAnon, the conspiracy theory that a secret group of elite satanic pedophiles secretly runs the world. (Krabach in the interview said the media has misconstrued QAnon and that the movement has nothing to do with her election activism.)