Election Observers
If you are interested in becoming an election observer, or to fill out the observer survey, please visit the Election Observers page HERE
Voter Registration Challenges
To help clean the voter rolls in your area, visit THIS PAGE.
How to Audit an Election Through Public Records Requests Videos
The following four videos explain how you can audit an eleciton using public records.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Lookout for Election Related Legislation
During the legislative session you can monitor, track, and testify on bills to support or oppose changes to legislation or new legislation. There is a great class available which will teach you how to maneuver through the legilature’s website and how to “successfully influence Olympia.”
Click HERE to sign up for the free class!
Make Your Vote Count
By becoming a Precinct Committee Officer you will be involved in important decisions, meeting candidates who are running for office, and vote on important issues. As a PCO, you would be the first line of defense for your local neighbors within your precinct boundaries.
Duties include attending meetings within the legislative district, voting on important policy and other issues, representing the neighborhood you live in, and other overlooked tasks which are extremely important, and easy to do. Contact your county political party to inquire about the position. Applications are typically offered online or through email. You can also just show up to their monthly meeting and introduce yourself and get information in person.
In Washington, if there is not a PCO already elected to the position, one can be appointed. If appointed, the PCO should go through the process of filing during the next election, because elected PCO’s may have more rights than an appointed PCO. This is the number one way to have an impact in your own backyard. No experience is required. Lots of volunteer opportunities and events to participate in, if you so choose. Check out the Precinct Strategy for more details.
Eyes on the Prize
We need eyes on the election process and vote counting procedures at all times. The more, the better. They may encourage or require a short training lesson once a year, prior to participating, depending on your county’s rules. Some training may be available online.
Once you complete the training or other steps outlined by the Auditor, you are welcome to show up any day there is activity going on with the ballots and counting process. There are many things to watch. There will be a schedule of events you can find online or via email.
Because of our elections by mail, this is not a one-day opportunity. The county is opening and scanning ballots for days or even weeks before the election. We need people to always be watching. This means we need you there observing the scanning and counting of the votes as early in the process as possible. If there is a period where there are no observers, we really don’t know what is going on.
If you are new to the observer duties, go to a primary or smaller election to get the hang of the way things work. That way if something happens out of the ordinary, you will notice it.
Check your address for ghost voters
We are offering a free service that can be used to search your address and see the people who were registered there for the 2020 election, and whether or not they voted. You can also search for people using first and last name. Click the button below for more details.
Exercise your right to vote in person
Due to the vulnerabilities of the vote by mail system, we do not recommend returning your ballot through the postal service. Drop boxes should be available near you. Better yet, go vote in person. You can still vote in person at the county auditor’s office, which is the county election office. You can walk in and tell them you need a new ballot, or you can fill out the one you were mailed, and just turn it in there. All you need is your name and birthday, no ID. Matter of fact, they will not even ask for your ID.
Typically, even if you go vote in person, you will still use a mail in ballot with the envelope and security sleeve. There should be a drop box location at the office, unless they will accept it at the counter. If enough of us stop participating in election by mail, they will have to give us more in person voting options. Elections are supposed to be accessible, but they don’t even have a polling place. How is that accessible for those who want to vote in person due to loss of confidence with the current process?
Don’t vote early
Voting early leaves your ballot subject to unsupervised processing. If you don’t want to go vote in person, or if you are unable to, drop off your ballot as close to or on election day as possible. There aren’t election observers at all times during the weeks leading up to the election. The odds of an election observer, or several, are much better on election day. We don’t know what really goes on when nobody is watching. Protect your vote and turn it in before 8pm on election day.
Read more about what the early votes look like in THIS NEWS POST.