Washington State Election Fake "Recounts" That Are Not Recounts
Educate. Advocate. Mitigate. Activate!
When vote counting ended in the recent Washington State 2022 general election Legislative District 10 State Representative Position 1 race, it was agreed under RCW 29A.64.021 a mandatory “machine recount” was required by state statute.
Per RCW 29A.64.021(1), the Legislative District 10, State Representative Position 1 race qualified for a mandatory machine recount because the difference in the number of votes cast was less than two thousand votes and also less than one-half of one percent of the total number of votes cast for both candidates.
Under RCW 29A.64.041 (1) Procedure: The plain language of the statute states: At the time and place established for a recount, the canvassing board, or its duly authorized representatives, in the presence of all witnesses who may be in attendance, shall open the sealed containers containing the ballots to be recounted, and shall recount the votes for the offices or issues for which the recount has been ordered.
However, unfortunately and against state statute, the Skagit County Election Department detailed the following “Notice of Recount” procedure for the Mandatory Machine Recount saying:
“On Thursday, December 8th at 10:00am, in the Skagit County Elections Department, Skagit County Elections will conduct a machine recount for the Legislative District 10, Position 1 race. A machine recount requires our office to look at the undervotes in the contest. An undervote is a contest where a voter chose not to vote.”
In our email correspondence, the Skagit County Election official explained:
"Yes, that is the correct definition of a Recount, but you also need to consider what the definition of Tabulation is as defined in WAC 434-250-110. During the mandatory machine recount, we will identify and digitally inspect the undervotes in Legislative District 10, State Representative (Pos 1).
After our inspection is complete, we will re-tabulate the votes for Legislative District 10 State Representative Position 1 (WAC 434-264-010).
If any votes are discovered during the recount process that were erroneously not counted or canvassed during the original count, the ballots shall be presented to the county canvassing board in accordance with RCW 29A.60.050.”
The election official stated that only the UNDERVOTE IMAGES (voters who did NOT cast a vote in the State House Position 1 election) were being reviewed and were subject to a “Recount.” The actual ballots that were cast in the Position 1 election would NOT be re-counted or included in the “Mandatory Machine Recount.”
On December 8, 2022, after the recount, the Skagit County Election Lead issued the following statement:
"We are done and accounted for all 181 undervotes. Recount Certification is December 13, at 10:30am. Some may be disappointed to what law states a machine recount does, but until the laws are changed, we can’t do anything differently."
OF NOTE: Republican LD 10 State House incumbent Greg Gilday finished 0.28% behind in the final vote tally - Only 0.03% and a few votes away needed for a mandatory "Hand Recount." And Gilday lost to a known serial lier. Hmm…
Evidently in answer to the question, “When does a Mandatory Machine Recount mean counting actual ballots cast in a given election?” The answer in this case is: Never, unless laws are changed...
This is absolutely ludicrous, the "UNDER VOTES" ARE ONLY THE BALLOTS THAT DID NOT HAVE A VOTE CAST IN THE ELECTION FOR THAT RACE. In other words...There were NEVER ACTUAL VOTES IN THE RACE RE-COUNTED. Election officials are only "recounting" BALLOT IMAGES for the race of the VOTERS WHO DID NOT VOTE IN THAT RACE.
OF CONCERN: Ballot images are easily manipulated by hackers - This is common knowledge - Video
In the Clark County 2022 general election Joe Kent Congressional race, and in Spokane and Benton Counties in 2021, similar "recounts" occurred. THESE ARE NOT GENUINE RECOUNTS and also DO NOTHING TO VERIFY IF THE PAPER BALLOTS THEMSELVES ARE COUNTERFEIT!
Why are they re-inventing new meanings of plain, clear, understandable words?
This is very simple: Merriam-Webster, and other dictionaries, define “Recount” to mean “to count again.”
Also, the question needs to be asked: Why do they want to eliminate Machine Recounts?
It is very apparent that many of the RCW's and WAC's are intentionally written vaguely by Democrat controlled lawmakers and administrative agencies to reduce transparency with elections and elections law. And election officials’ interpretation of these are particularly troubling.
It is shameful that the Secretary of State, County Auditors, and the State Auditor Association do not care about transparency for our elections and would rather have bogus recounts in our state!
Is it any wonder why voters are distrusting of the election process and the officials that oversee and administrate our sacred elections?
An April 2023 poll found 60% of all likely voters believed Cheating Affected the Outcomes of many 2022 Midterm Elections, and an Oct. 2021 poll found that 56% of All Likely Voters Believed Cheating Affected the Outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
How can we trust an election system and administrators that use terms like "Mandatory Machine Recount" but won't recount the actual paper ballots cast by the voter in the required race?
SOLUTION: Until we get rid of mail-in voting and voting machines that are vulnerable to manipulation, please at least pretend to have a machine recount and put the actual paper ballots of the people who voted in the race through the machines!
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.