Voters had their eyes glued to the screen as they witnessed the local election results being reported by the Auditor’s Office at the Lewis County Courthouse.
I try to spend each election night at the county courthouse with other enthusiasts as the first results are displayed on a big screen in the main atrium.
This year there were fewer folks in the room than in the past (probably because of the pandemic, for one, and also because instantaneous access of results online means there’s no practical need to be on site for the first results, as in days of old.)
With fewer folks in the room, I was able to spend a little time talking with the county’s top elections administrators.
They had nothing to say about which way the results might go — who might win or lose, that sort of thing. I could tell that the question of who would win was far from their minds. Instead, every bit of their attention was focused on ensuring that every rule was followed to the letter, and every deadline was hit to the second.
County Auditor Larry Grove stood near the ballot drop-off box with his cellphone open to a countdown timer, clicking down the seconds to precisely 8 p.m. Shaking his head with “dodged-a-bullet” feeling, he told me about an election administrator in another county who purchased atomic clocks to ensure accurate timing, but found out the hard way that they were two minutes early.
Nearby, Chief Deputy Auditor Tom Stanton stood at the door to the office where same-day voter registrants could show up, sign up and cast their ballot, as per state law. At the moment that his boss locked the ballot box, Stanton shut and locked the door to the auditor’s office.
Grove clicked shut a padlock, then sealed the box with a unique sticker that ensured no one, not even he, could open the box without it being obvious that the seal had been broken.
I asked them about election observers. State law allows Democrats and Republicans to have observers watching ballot tallying.
They said that parties don’t send observers that frequently. They said that in Lewis County, Democrats are a bit more likely to send people to observe the ballot processing.
These elections professionals take their jobs very seriously. They know they are under a microscope (whether or not people are always actually watching) and that their actions are crucial to keeping our democracy valid and successful.
Like every ballot-counting official that I’ve known in 20 years of covering politics, for our elections processors, the fact that an election is handled fairly and accurately is more important than the outcome of any single election.
I haven’t worked in Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada, Arizona or Georgia, but I have faith that the election workers there generally see their jobs the same way.
They all watched with terror what happened in Florida during the 2000 presidential election and here in Washington during the 2004 gubernatorial election, when hair-thin margins led to a nightmare of scrutiny and second-guessing.
Just say “hanging chad” to any of these folks to ignite every fear they have for what could happen to them, but for the grace of God. It’s why they go by the book. That, and because they are flirting with serious crimes punishable by jail time if they try any monkey business.
Knowing local election officials personally, and seeing their nonpartisan commitment (despite the fact that county auditor is, bizarrely, a partisan office), I’ve been distressed to see accusations of voter fraud being tossed around easily and without substantiation in the last few days.
That’s the political equivalent of putting up a lighted billboard on your front lawn accusing your neighbor of being a rascal, liar, burglar and thief, plus a cheater on both his taxes and his wife, because you’re fighting over the property line.
I’ve seen videos and memes shared online claiming voter disenfranchisement or election irregularities. Some of them are easily debunked — either because they’re based on a simple misunderstanding, or because they are transparently disingenuous. There are a lot of people out there trying to sow division, and we need to keep our collective wits about us so we’re not needlessly inflamed by falsehoods.
Some of these claims, taken at face value, deserve closer scrutiny, and I fully trust that our legal system is equal to the task of chasing down any actual voter fraud or vote-counting shenanigans. Both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have plenty of lawyers ready to leap upon the slightest claims.
Real problems will get the attention of a judge, and will be dealt with seriously if proven.
In the meantime, let’s take online claims of fraud for what they’re worth — nothing, until and unless they’re substantiated.
There are many reasons to be divided in America, but one thing can and should unify us: that all of us eligible to vote can and should have our votes counted.
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Brian Mittge is proud of his “I Voted” sticker. Drop him a line at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
