WAGOP injects doubt into integrity of lands commissioner primary recount

WAGOP raises concerns about the integrity of the primary recount for public lands commissioner, questioning the process and results. — WAGOP Chairman Jim Walsh

On Wednesday the Office of the Secretary of State certified the results of a hand recount that sent Democrat Dave Upthegrove on to the general election to face former Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler

Carleen Johnson
The Center Square Washington

Washington state’s Republican leadership is raising questions about the final result in the primary election for commissioner of public lands.

On Wednesday the Office of the Secretary of State certified the results of a hand recount that sent Democratic King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove on to the general election to face former Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.

When the first count of ballots for the Aug. 9 primary election was completed last month, Upthegrove finished with 51 more votes than Republican Sue Keuhl Pederson for the second spot on the fall ballot.

The margin was close enough to automatically trigger a hand recount of ballots.

Following that recount in all 39 counties, Upthegrove still came out on top, with two fewer overall votes for a 49-vote margin of victory.

“There are two issues with this,” Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh told The Center Square on Wednesday. “The first is votes that were properly cured and should have been counted but weren’t. The other is ballots that were cured maybe not in a proper way and were counted.”

Walsh was referring to ballots that were not counted due to signature issues or other irregularities that party supporters on both sides attempted to rectify before the final vote for initial certification.

“We have a group of counties, maybe three or four, where we think ballots that were properly cured were still rejected,” Walsh explained. “The other question is a couple of places where ballots were cured in a manner that may not be compliant with the RCW describing how ballots are cured.”

A news release from the Washington State Republican Party also questions why some counties used online “apps” to cure ballots when state law says that’s not legal.

It’s possible that these issues could change the outcome of the race, and it’s also possible they would not,” Walsh noted. “We don’t want to make any bold statements until we’ve really got the data backing up what we’re saying.”

The party has a very narrow window to decide if it will mount a challenge.

“The secretary of state has said they need a final answer by Friday, so it’s a couple of days we’ve got to figure this out,” Walsh said.

“We’ve been speaking with county auditors and speaking with the candidate, Sue Kuehl Pederson,” he continued.

Kuehl Pederson declined to comment for this story, but did acknowledge she issued a statement Wednesday that some interpreted to be a concession, but she then withdrew that statement.

“Our questions remain, and we could pursue legal action through lawsuits, even if we don’t get an emergency injunction,” Walsh said.

The party may also file lawsuits challenging specific county recounts.

“We just want to clarify whether certain ballots should have been counted, and on the flip side other ballots shouldn’t have been counted,” he said. “It may be useful to clarify that in the court system for future elections.”

Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad emailed a statement to The Center Square in response to the potential recount challenge: “WA Dems thanks every Coordinated Campaign staffer and volunteer who aided the Upthegrove campaign’s successful curing efforts. They truly made the difference in the closest primary race in state history. The WA GOP’s last ditch embrace of election denialism and dog whistles to Q Anon conspiracy theorists is as sad as it is predictable. WA Dems will be working day and night through Election Day to ensure Washingtonians know that there is only one candidate in the race for Public Lands Commissioner who believes in tackling the sources of human caused climate change and building climate resilient communities through public lands policy and that person is Dave Upthegrove.”

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.