Thursday Hearing Could Decide Fate of Freeholder Election

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Candidates, voters, county officials and activists will be watching with bated breath Thursday as a judge considers arguments on a suit to invalidate the freeholder election that’s already taking place.

My understanding of tomorrow's hearings is it's going to get to the merits ... and whether the election results that are coming in should be counted,” said Trevor Zandell, an attorney representing One Lewis County, the political action committee that has filed to challenge the election.

One Lewis County initiated the home rule charter process earlier this year, which will give voters the chance to re-draft the county’s system of government. If they opt to do so, 15 freeholders will be simultaneously elected to create a new county charter, which would then be brought back to voters.

Following the successful petition to put the home rule charter on the ballot, Lewis County officials were tasked with determining the method for electing the freeholders, which by state law must use either commission or legislative districts. The county opted to divide its three commission districts into 15 sub-districts, rather than letting voters select the top five candidates in each district.

Though One Lewis County is behind the home rule charter process, its backers felt the sub-districts were unconstitutional, putting the result of the election in jeopardy. The group filed suit in September when the county refused to change the election process. On Sept. 20, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy ruled that it was too late to make a ruling that would change election ballots, instead scheduling another hearing for Nov. 1 — after ballots have been distributed — to examine the constitutional question.

“I don’t really know if a final ruling will be issued tomorrow, but I assume there should be one at least within the next few days,” said Lewis County civil deputy prosecutor Cullen Gatten, who is arguing the county’s case that the sub-districts are legal. “I really have no read on what (Murphy) plans to do.”

One Lewis County was formed by the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, and executive director Alicia Bull said earlier this month that the group will not appeal regardless of the result, hoping only to settle the constitutional question. Bull could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Gatten said he had received no direction on whether the county would appeal if Murphy rules the election unconstitutional.

Both sides expressed conviction that the ruling would go in their favor.

“We're confident in the legal argument that we've made,” Gatten said.



Gerry Alexander, a former Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court, is serving as an associated counsel for One Lewis County.

“I think our case is very strong,” he said. “I think there's absolutely no authority for what the county commissioners did here.”

If Murphy rules the current election is unconstitutional, the what-comes-next question will need to be settled. One Lewis County is hopeful she will order the county to conduct a new election without the subdistricts in 2019, noting the work activists put into the effort to get it on the ballot.

“We made the point in our briefing that it was an unbelievable amount of labor and expense to do this process,” Zandell said.

Meanwhile, many freeholder candidates have said the legal cloud hanging over the election is likely to cause the home rule charter to fail, whether or not it’s ruled constitutional. One Lewis County wants Murphy to take that into account and order a new election.

“We think the specter of the election challenge is potentially going to hamper the home rule charter itself,” Zandell said. “There's some people in Lewis County who probably would have voted yes on this who now are going to vote no ... or choose not to vote. …. We're saying since this has gone to the voters in an unconstitutional manner, we need to do this whole thing over again in 2019.”

Gatten said speculating on the outcome of the election was a political matter, not a legal argument that should be part of the case.

“I don't think the judge is going to take that into account,” he said. “Her position is to rule on what is correct under the law. … I really think people should vote for what they think is right and best for the county. Everyone should act as if it is lawful.”