Nov. 4, 2005
Elections office flooded with calls from challenged voters
Hundreds of voters whose right to vote was challenged by Lori Sotelo, Senior Vice Chairman of the King County Republican Party, have contacted King County concerned their votes will not be counted for next Tuesday's General Election. Sotelo challenged the voter registration of 1,944 voters on Oct.26 on the basis that they have invalid residential addresses.
Hundreds of people have contacted King County elections after receiving notice that their right to vote had been challenged. Today, the King County Republican Party delivered a letter from Sotelo rescinding her challenge of 140 voters but has let stand the challenge to the others.
When someone files a challenge, the law requires King County to respond by sending notice to the voter. Our top priority is to make sure all legally registered voters can vote.
"Our message is simple," saids Dean Logan, director of King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services. "We want people to vote on Tuesday. If they need to update their residential address, we'll be open tomorrow to accommodate those changes. If the address that has been challenged is a valid residential address – cast your ballot and be sure you are heard at the challenge hearing.
"We have set up a hotline and will work through the weekend to answer questions resulting from these challenges," said Logan. "We have heard from people who live on houseboats, above storage facilities and in homes that were built 80 years ago. We realize this challenge has caused confusion and angered many voters who have told us they live at a valid residence."
In addition to notifying voters of the challenge, as required by law, King County Elections has put in place a number of processes to encourage legally registered voters to cast a ballot and to help people update their residence address information.
- Set up a special hotline to answer voters' questions and concerns;
- Extended office hours Saturday, November 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so people can come in and update their registration with a valid address; and
- outreach to voters everywhere that they should not be discouraged from voting.
By law, a voter's registration is presumptive evidence of his or her right to vote in any election. A challenge may be made only upon the belief or knowledge of the challenging party that the voter is unqualified and the burden of proof lies with the challenger. According to RCW 29A.08.810 a challenge must be supported by evidence or testimony and can not be based on unsupported allegations or allegations by an anonymous third party.
King County Elections has put special procedures in place to track the challenged votes so they can be counted if the challenge fails and rejected if it succeeds. All challenged voters are flagged in the database. If they vote an absentee ballot, their ballot is flagged upon return and set aside to be considered at a challenge hearing held before the Canvassing Board. If they vote at the polls, they will be issued a challenged ballot that is placed in a sealed envelope separate from other ballots and considered at a challenge hearing held before the Canvassing Board.
If a challenged voter does not vote in the election, the challenge will be processed in the same manner as challenges made more than 30 days prior to the election where the Director of Elections holds a hearing and makes a decision based on an evaluation of the evidence.
Challenged voters can update their address by calling 206-205-5686 or in person at the King County Administration Building located at 500 Fourth Avenue, Room 553 tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please enter through the King County Courthouse located on Third Avenue between James and Jefferson Street. |
