Auditor Kimsey addresses his record on ballot box cameras and ballot harvesting

Concerns remain over election integrity in Clark County following the damage of nearly 500 ballots in East Vancouver Monday

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey told Clark County Today that his view has not changed on the need for surveillance cameras on the county’s 22 ballot boxes in spite of this week’s incident that led to the damage of nearly 500 ballots in a drop box in Fisher’s Landing at the C-TRAN Transit Center.

In a phone interview with Clark County Today on Wednesday afternoon, Kimsey was asked to recall discussions that took place earlier this year with members of the Clark County Council about the topic. The discussions were in response to Kimsey’s request for more than $5 million in funds to update the Clark County Elections Department.

“My view has not changed,’’ Kimsey said. “We have always understood that cameras on ballot drop boxes might serve as a deterrence and can sometimes provide information to law enforcement. That’s why this last summer when I was asking for funding from the County Council, I said to them if the Clark County Council would provide the funding, we would be happy to install those, and also the ongoing funding required to manage the video and respond to public records requests and ongoing maintenance. I said that to the Council.’’

Kimsey said at that time it was determined that it would cost about $900,000 to install and maintain cameras at each of the county’s 22 ballot drop boxes.  He confirmed to Clark County Today that he never made a specific request for the funds to install and maintain the camera surveillance and that the $5.2 million eventually awarded to his department did not include a line item for that purpose.

“The money requested ended up being about $5.2 million dollars and was requested to expand the work area in the elections office,’’ Kimsey said. “It would have required a separate approval by the council to spend money on the video cameras for the drop boxes.

“I simply said in writing and in a public meeting that if the council would provide the funding for that we would be happy to do it,’’ Kimsey said. “Until this Monday morning, in over 20 years we have not had instances of severe vandalism at those ballot boxes.’’

Kimsey went on to list other needs that accounted for the request that resulted in the $5.2 million in funds directed to the elections department, including a $600,000 backup power generator that was recently installed to prevent an emergency power outage on election day.

“What would we do if we lose power in our elections office on election day?’’ said Kimsey, who reported that has actually happened before. “We have experienced that. Facilities had to bring out a generator and a 150-foot extension cord.’’

That was just one example. Most of the funds were used to expand the space available for the elections office.

Kimsey’s past comments on ballot box cameras

In an opinion column written by Kimsey and published by The Reflector Newspaper on May 20, 2024, the auditor appeared to be more emphatic in his opposition to the ballot box surveillance program.

“Installing cameras at ballot drop boxes and the system to store and retrieve recorded video is estimated to cost taxpayers almost $1 million and requires a significant amount of staff time to properly respond to requests for the video footage,’’ Kimsey wrote at that time. “Fifty percent of voted ballots are delivered by voters to the USPS and no video cameras record this. Controls are in place to ensure that only a single valid ballot from a properly registered voter will be accepted for processing. Cameras on ballot drop boxes do not prevent fraudulent ballots from being deposited. 

“The chain of custody protocol — security seals, two election employees often accompanied by Certified Election Observers — for retrieving ballots from ballot drop boxes would not be conducted differently if cameras were present,’’ Kimsey wrote. “People respect the elections process, and over the past 20 years, there has not been a single incident of significant vandalism to Clark County’s ballot drop boxes.’’

Ballot harvesting

Ballot harvesting, also known as “ballot collecting” or “ballot chasing,” is legal in Washington state. Ballot harvesting is the gathering and submitting of completed absentee or mail-in voter ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers or workers, rather than submission by voters themselves directly to ballot collection sites. It occurs in some areas of the U.S. where voting by mail is common, but some other states have laws restricting it.

Kimsey took to social media (Facebook) earlier this week to address a ballot harvesting effort at the Firmly Planted Family Homeschool Resource Center, located at 14001 SE First St. in east Vancouver.

“We are aware that the Firmly Planted Family Home School Resource Center has announced that they have set up a box and invited voters to place their ballots in that box (i.e. to “harvest”ballots). This is not an official ballot drop box and is not affiliated with the Clark County Elections Office,’’ Kimsey wrote in his Facebook post.

“Voters who want to deposit their ballots in a staffed official ballot drop box, are encouraged to use the official ballot drop box at the Elections Office (located at 1408 Franklin St, Vancouver, open M-F 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, this Saturday November 2nd open 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and Election Day November 5 from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm).

“We strongly encourage voters to not give their ballots to anyone they don’t know and trust,’’ Kimsey added. “Ballots received at the Elections Office are kept secure pursuant to comprehensive chain of custody procedures and security protocols. However, ballot harvesting is not illegal in Washington State, and therefore it is not illegal for a person or group to make available a box for voters to place their ballots in.

“Anyone with questions or concerns regarding any aspect of the elections administration process is encouraged to contact the Elections Office (phone 564-397-2345, email elections@clark.wa.gov) or me (phone 360-521-6685, email Greg.kimsey@clark.wa.gov).’’

When asked about his comments on Facebook, Kimsey reiterated his thoughts on ballot harvesting.

“Our consistent message for many years has been that voters should only give their ballots to someone they know and trust,’’ Kimsey said. “There’s nothing in the law that prevents a voter from giving their ballot to anyone and so it’s incumbent upon the voter to only entrust that ballot to someone they trust.’’

Kimsey believes “the way to have increased confidence’’ that the ballot will make its way safely to the elections office is by depositing it at a ballot drop box, putting it in USPS mail or taking it directly to the elections office.

Patriots United will also provide a ballot harvesting effort at its Monday Freedom and Liberty Will Prevail event in Washougal.