King County Elections Redacted...
King County Elections Redacted...
Educate. Advocate. Mitigate. Activate!
This is a follow-up to my Sept. 20 article King County Elections Under Fire...
Summary: During the Aug 1, 2023, primary election the main tabulation server failed. Per KC Elections Officials, this was due to a “database overload” - which forced the primary tabulation server to "slow down" and a new “back-up” secondary tabulation server to be installed.
KC Elections Director Julie Wise confirmed this in a Sept. 25, 2023, letter to KCGOP Chair Mathew Patrick Thomas, admitting that King County Elections never did an Emergency Logic & Accuracy (L & A) test, but did say a “Mid-Election” Logic and Accuracy test was conducted July 31, 2023, when the second server was in use.
Public Records Request (PRR) logs appear to show that this Mid-Election L & A test was done before normal business hours (about 7:30 am), with no notice to the SoS or political parties, no elections observers, no proper signed documentation / certification of the test, evidence of sealed ‘test deck’ of paper ballots, witnesses, etc.
Also, suspiciously, PRR records say the two main security cameras covering the tabulation area were not functioning to show video proof of the test. Hmm…
In the letter Director Wise said that an emergency L & A test was not required as no changes were made to the ballot counting programming.
The KC Elections argument is absolutely ridiculous, and they know it.
FACT: KC Elections replaced the entire tabulation server and ALL programming that goes along with it. That is a 100% change to the ballot counting programming!
A full, properly conducted emergency L & A test (which they neglected to do) may have shown the replacement server was working correctly, or not.
We are being told by many data analysts and cyber security specialists that the tabulation server is one of the most critical components of the entire operating system, as it is the mechanism that tabulates the results of the election.
With all the mistrust of elections happening in society, it is mind-boggling that KC Elections would not properly test this equipment per state statue, which is clear:
WAC 434-335-330 (4) If, for any reason, changes are made to the ballot counting programming after the official logic and accuracy test, an emergency logic and accuracy test must be conducted pursuant to WAC 434-335-310.
KC GOP Chair, Mathew Patrick Thomas, issued a press release Sept 12 and has done several media interviews exposing the issues. He also asked former WA SoS Sam Reed about the situation, who said the Emergency L & A Test should have been done. Reed served as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State and received several national honors for programs run by his office.
Sept. 29, 2023, WSRP State Chair Jim Walsh sent a letter to SoS Steve Hobbs saying PRR show that sometime between July 20 and July 28, 2023, King County Elections replaced the tested computer system hardware, specifically the “tabulation server,” with a second server that had not undergone proper testing for the August 2023 primary election, as mandated by state law RCW 29A.12.130 and WAC 434-335-330.
Adding to the complexity, it appears the replacement server’s hardware and software were actively used for the August primary election in King County for at least three days, beginning on or about July 28, 2023—before the “Mid-Election” L&A Test was conducted, further violating state law.
It is imperative to emphasize that the “Mid-Election” L&A Test conducted by King County Elections in late July was an abbreviated test, falling short of the requirements outlined in WAC Section 434-335-330 for testing a secondary tabulation server for the 2023 primary election. This, coupled with the absence of election observers and/or functioning video cameras, casts doubt on the integrity of the election process in Washington and risks eroding voter confidence.
To prevent a crisis in voter confidence, I urge you to carefully review the documents and public statements provided by King County Elections regarding the non-compliant server replacement during the August primary. Recognizing the implications of these records, I ask you to take all necessary actions to formally reprimand King County Elections about its actions, which have set a dangerous precedent for future elections in Washington State. Preserving the confidence of Washington voters in our state’s electoral processes is of utmost importance. I trust that you will take the necessary steps to uphold this confidence.
Regarding King County Provided PRR Primary and Secondary Server Election and Web Activity Logs:
Below is analysis from highly respected data analyst, election cybersecurity and forensics expert, IT specialist and software developer, Mark Cook.
There is no way to verify the integrity of these log files; they could be easily changed/modified (as evidenced by the fact that they (King County Elections) DID make changes to them putting the word 'Redacted' in place of other text.
The KC Election provided log files are highly unusual, were tampered with and included many ‘file modifications.’
There is no legitimate reason to redact anything in the log files unless something is being purposely hidden.
It is quite strange that the KC Elections PRR log files would be emailed out using Excel spreadsheet formats. The redactions are concerning, because virtually everything is redacted.
The redactions make it impossible to effectively audit the system.
These are some of the worst log files I have ever seen in many years in cybersecurity and forensics.
L&A Test Comparison.pdf - Look at all the 'ERROR: Access Denied' entries at 2023-08-01. An error is a failure of some sort, and 'access denied' can mean that something was attempting to access something it wasn't supposed to access. An absence of 'access denied' can mean that access granted, but not showing where access was granted could keep that hidden. There should be no errors like this in a properly working secure system.
The error messages are particularly troubling because there are so many on August 1st, the day after KC Elections say they had a successful Mid-Election L & A test, and at least four days after the secondary tabulation server was put to use in the election.
Election integrity investigator and data analyst, David Cross, GAballots.com from Georgia, concurs with Mark Cook and says many of the KC Election system log files are innocuous and should in no way have ever been redacted in the first place. David reported that in Los Angeles County and San Francisco County CA similar types of log files (including Cast Vote Records) are all available online to the public.
But in Democrat Controlled WA State they are redacted and forbidden. Hmm…
Another very experienced data analyst who is on the WSPR Election Integrity committee, who has worked with computers since the 1970s and has spent many years in cybersecurity, with a master’s degree in software engineering says:
Certification basically certifies the server hardware and resident software.
Logic and Accuracy tests the specific programming to make sure the tabulator accurately deciphers the data scanned from the ballot images. This is different for every precinct in every election.
Once the ballots are finalized, the software must be validated to assure it properly responds to a voter's selections on each of the ballot forms for every precinct in the election. This is not something that carries over from election to election. Thus, the need for full L&A testing prior to each election.
In my opinion, anything done during those three days (July 28 - July 31) before a new L&A would be invalid, regardless of the type of test. At the very least, ALL ballots would need to be re-tabulated AFTER a proper “Emergency” L&A. This says nothing about the lack of notification or lack of observers.
Additionally, with no observers or video evidence, it is not conclusive that a Mid-Election L & A test was even actually performed as it would be possible for anyone to upload test results from the July 6 L & A test from a thumb drive to a new server, change the date and say there was a Mid-Election L & A test July 31. That is what graphic software does, it would easily allow someone to just go in and change the date…
Many other consulted election integrity data analysts, including several at Who Counts the Votes, are all saying based on the information provided, the King County "Mid-election" L & A test was NOT sufficient to test a secondary tabulation server for the 2023 primary election. And all the many redacted PRR logs are very concerning.
In other words: WAC 434-335-330 (4) If, for any reason, changes are made to the ballot counting programming after the official logic and accuracy test, an emergency logic and accuracy test MUST be conducted, is written in such a way to make it very clear that the emergency L & A test needs to be done. Confirming what experienced data analysts are saying: The complete "Emergency" L & A test is very important and necessary to test all the parts and components of the new tabulation server so an election can be accurate and validated.
More concerns: According to data analysts at WhoCountsTheVotes.com, who have studied many of the recent PRR provided by King County Elections:
King County Elections administrators consistently worked outside of office hours, and did NOT inform the political parties as required by RCW 29A.40.100 and WAC 434-261-020. Their office hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, yet they started processing ballots sometimes as early as 7 am and as late as 8 pm, 10 pm, even past midnight in 2022.
PRR log files shows in 2022, over 21% of the activity was outside of normal business hours, again with no notice to observers or observers present, adjudicating, deleting ballots and re-s canning ballots up until the day before certification, Nov. 28, 2022, where 4,440 ballots were being adjudicated up until midnight.
Logs show they are adjudicating alarming numbers of ballots, all the way up until the day of certification. On 11/28/2022, system logs show there were, 4490 resolved ballots. They went all the way up to midnight that day, adjudicating ballots. That close to certification, we would expect them to have adjudicated these ballots much earlier.
Obviously, this could have a significant impact on the many King County races!
OF SERIOUS CONCERN: 2022 PRR logs show that 49% of deleted batches were outside of normal business hours, apparently much of the time with no observers notified or present. Some of the batches were being deleted / scanned / re-scanned and then adjudicated over a three-week period. Issues include: 4,280 batches scanned, 638 outside of business hours (15%).
TIMELINE OF EVENTS: According to testimony of Republican Election Observers and the PRR logs:
July 6, 2023: Normal required by-law L & A test done with the primary (original) server.
July 17, 2023: Republican election observer sees two people looking at server / server issues in the ballot processing room and asks what are they doing? Observer was told there are “problems with the server.” Election observer requests logs via PRR.
July 19, 2023: PRR logs show unusual and strange activity.
July 20 - July 28, 2023: New secondary (back-up) server installed - Aug. 2023 Primary Election continues - ballots scanned, adjudicated, etc.
July 31, 2023: Possible “partial” L & A test (no scanning of ballots - error messages).
Aug 1, 2023: PRR logs show unusual and strange activity with many error messages.
Aug 4, 2023, 9 AM: Republican Election Observer sees 6 or 7 Clear Ballot employees at King County Elections looking at server.
Aug 11, 2023: KCGOP sends letter to Julie Wise expressing concerns and asking for resolution
Aug 15, 2023: Director Wise sends response letter to KC GOP
Sept. 12, 2023: KC GOP issues press release
IMPORTANT: If it was not for the Republican election observer who saw the people working on the primary tabulation server July 17, and the many ensuing PRR we most probably would have never known the extent of the KC Elections isues. Makes one wonder how often other similar issues in violation of state law have happened and are happening that go unnoticed?
After much research, this is all a very clear breach and without a doubt when installing a different tabulation server in the middle of an election, it needs to be fully and properly tested per state statute.
King County Elections has absolutely no respect for the process.
King County Elections has a fiduciary obligation to the public trust, and they have failed miserably by not doing an obviously needed, proper and required by law, Emergency L & A test for this situation.
At a minimum, King County Elections are simply denying the facts and making up excuses. By doing a substandard abbreviated test before normal business hours (7:30 am), not having any election observers present, and not providing video evidence of the test, it dramatically compounds the situation and makes it look like it was deliberate and even a cover-up.
Also, if there is nothing to hide, then why are they hiding basic log records of events by heavily redacting them?
If not deliberate, it was incompetence at a minimum and a cover-up of their mistake to not properly test the secondary tabulation server.
The SOS needs to make sure that all the counties are in full compliance with the election laws. It is very interesting that the S0S and mainstream media are crickets on this. But we should not be surprised, incompetent Julie Wise is up for re-election…
Never mind the fact that Julie may have made it a normal practice to swap out tabulation servers in the middle of elections without proper testing for many years.
King County is by far the largest populated county in Washington State, the county estimated 2023 population is 2,371,204 with 1,380,823 registered voters. About one out of every 3.5 ballots in statewide races are cast from the ‘fraud factory’ in King County.
Under the leadership of Julie Wise KC Elections continues to set very dangerous precedents for future elections in Washington State - see articles here.
How can an election be certified if there was never any required-by-law emergency L & A test done with the new server?
SOLUTIONS: For the reasons stated above and the many other reasons outlined and described, Director Wise needs to resign or be replaced by the voters Nov. 8, 2023.
The WA SOS needs to answer the WSRP State Chair Jim Walsh and must do a thorough investigation.
The WA State Auditor’s Office also should do a thorough investigation.
Any King County August 2023 Primary Election Candidate that ran for office should seriously consider contesting their respective election / race.
Vote for Doug Basler, who is an election integrity candidate running for Director of King County Elections in the upcoming 2023 November General Election.
Bill Bruch
Bill Bruch is the WA State GOP Election Integrity Chairman, WSRP Executive Board Member, 4-Term Skagit County GOP Chairman, Citizen Journalist, Blogger, Business Owner, “2021 Citizen Activist of the Year” award by the Olympic Conference, 2020 WA State House Representative Candidate, Former Council Member, and WA State 2016 RNC National Convention Delegate.
More Related Source Docs, Links and Articles:
AUDIO PODCAST EP 120: King County Elections Redacted…
VIDEO: King County Elections Department Caught Making Secret Server Swap in Middle of Election
What is a Server? Why Important? Types of Servers
VIDEO: King County Citizens Election Oversight Committee Meeting - 9.20.23
The Jason Rantz Radio Show - Interview of KCGOP Mathew Patrick Thomas
King County Republican Party Demands Accountability and Transparency in Election Process
King County Republican Party Calls for Investigation into King County Elections
Why King County Elections Policies Foster Corruption and Fraud!
King County - Election Fraud Epicenter in WA
Washington State Sham and Scam Election “Audits” That Are Not Audits
25 Counties in WA Notified of Potential Litigation for Deletion of Elections Records
Problems with King County Elections Mount…
If this doesn’t light a fire under observers statewide, nothing will! And, taking the important step requesting public records to back up those observations is critical. We will be correcting that lack of action in Clallam County.