King County Elections mailed ballots on Wednesday, May 4, to approximately 1.3 million registered voters for the May 24 Presidential Primary Election.
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Hall said one reason for her high-turnout prediction is that this is a presidential election year, which typically attracts more voting than in odd-numbered years in which ballots normally are dominated by municipal contests and issues, or in even-numbered years when the presidency isn’t on the same ballot alongside other federal, state and local offices.
“We have no evidence that anybody was trying to change results to change the outcome of any election”, Strach said.
Voters who want to vote by mail for this election can indicate their ballot choice on the Vote-by-Mail Application or application on the back cover of their Voter Information Pamphlet, which will be mailed in early May.
According to emails obtained from the State Board of Elections and interviews, it’s clear that, by April 8, Durham election officials had discovered they had a problem.
However, the internal investigation didn’t resolve the matter so it was kicked up to the state Board of Elections.
Documents provided by the state board show county board officials made determinations on whether 1,918 provisional ballots should count but had forms associated with 1,841 such ballots. We also have two school board races that will have primary elections.
County Commissioners were briefed on the situation last week during a closed session.
Despite some reports of voters in IN “crossing over” from the Democratic ticket to pull GOP ballots, which seemed obvious in historical heavy Democratic Martin County, Williams said it is hard to tell that at the local level without analyzing certain voters’ histories of voting in the past. “It is important to the Durham County Board of Elections that we preserve the integrity of the electoral process”.
Voter Registration part-time deputy clerk Don Dayton said, “One guy said, ‘I’ll have to ask my wife”, when he was deciding which ballot he should choose. “Another temporary staff member stated that they had heard the same instructions”. Perry wrote to a lawyer for the state board detailing problems Durham County elections officials were encountering.
In his email Perry said that particular staff member had “did not provide any useful information”.
Determining which of the 1,039 ballots should count can’t be determined in part because all of the provisional ballots cast were mixed up, the state board said. Tampering with election results is a felony. The state board seized the provisional ballots, applications and associated documents based on an April 22 subpoena. Strach said they have not been located.
While the investigation is ongoing, the Durham County Board of Elections is fully cooperating and “studying ways to insure that no such event ever can happen again”. Board officials have communicated with the Durham County district attorney’s office, Strach said.
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In 2012, Colorado law then required people to be registered 29 days before an election in order to vote in that election.
