Whitman County officials on Monday described a “smooth” local election and voiced strong confidence in the integrity of the process as ballots continue toward certification.
County Auditor Sandy Jamison, who oversees local elections, told county commissioners she had two security guards standing by last week at the Elections Center, but staff and volunteers did not report any altercations.
“It went actually very smooth,” Jamison said. “It was a busy day. We had long lines on Election Day, mostly people that were looking to register to vote.”
Jamison said she expected voter turnout to top 80 percent. The county had tallied 17,961 votes by Monday evening and estimated another 2,500 left on hand to tabulate. The next update should be released tonight.
“We continue to process ballots this week,” she said. “It’s a continuous cycle, but we are definitely making progress.”
As tensions have continued over national election outcomes, Jamison noted her office has received numerous calls from people questioning the integrity of the results.
“We’re fielding calls really from people who are watching the news and using terminology that they’ve heard and wanting assurance that their ballot is counted,” she said. “So we continually repeat the process to them on the phone and it’s all about voter education.”
Commissioner Art Swannack, who won reelection last week in an uncontested race, praised local election efforts. He said he trusts Jamison to run a “straight-forward” operation.
“There isn’t going to be any funny business in this,” he said. “It’ll be what it is.”
Preliminary election results can be found here. In the county’s only contested local race, challenger Tom Handy currently leads incumbent Dean Kinzer for the Dist. 2 County Commissioner seat.
Election staff will continue counting ballots this week and contacting voters who may need to “cure” ballots that have missing signatures or other issues.
This unofficial voter status listing, which pulls updates from public records to track ballots, shows about 250 Whitman County ballots have been challenged. More than 220 of those ballots appear to have signature problems, which can still be fixed by contacting the Elections Center before Nov. 23.
The three-person Whitman County Canvassing Board will review any questionable ballots on Nov. 23 and certify local results the following day. Read more about that process here.
Officials rejected about 170 ballots in 2019 and almost 300 ballots in 2018, mostly over signature problems or late postmarks.
Commissioner Michael Largent, who serves as one of the three officials on the Canvassing Board, voiced a “great deal of confidence” in the overall election process.
“It’s been proven over the years that mail-ins work,” he said. “We can handle it here in Whitman County. Our elections will be fair and accurate.”