Whitman County grapples with voter registrations
Elections officials are attempting to cope with large number of improperly completed registration forms
COLFAX — Whitman County election officials say they’re trying to resolve a variety of problems caused by a large number of partial or inaccurate voter registration forms.
County Auditor Eunice Coker, who is in charge of the elections department, said the main issue is incomplete or inaccurate addresses and unverifiable identification information.
The problem seems to stem from the large number of voter registration forms that were turned in immediately prior to the Oct. 8 registration deadline. They all came from Washington State University.
“We had one organization that brought in about 2,000 registration forms in the three days before the deadline,” Coker said. “They didn’t do a very good job of looking to make sure the forms were filled out correctly.”
Nevertheless, the information was entered into the voter registration database, and general election ballots were mailed to voters two weeks ago.
Since then, however, a number of ballots have been returned as undeliverable. When that happens, elections officials will try to contact people by phone or email. People have also called in, saying they didn’t get a ballot. Provisional ballots are mailed out as soon as the office has a proper address.
“We’re trying to get the word out, if you get a letter or message from us, call us back and we’ll get you a ballot when we get the correct address,” Coker said.
In other cases, ballots have been returned but won’t count unless the voters resolve outstanding questions regarding their registration information. Those voters also will receive letters and/or phone calls letting them know what information is needed.
For example, as of Thursday evening, the office had nearly 150 ballots requiring more voter identification information. Coker said those ballots will still count so long as voters “cure” the situation by providing the missing information by Nov. 26. The final election results will be certified Nov. 27.
Coker said she wasn’t sure how the 150 ballots compared with previous years, but said “it feels like a lot more.”
Rumors that the office has rejected hundreds of ballots are simply false, Coker said.
In addition to the ballot issues, her office has received a number of calls from students complaining about overly aggressive voter registration personnel who “bullied” them into registering in Whitman County. She also heard that at least one WSU professor was offering a grade incentive for students to register.
There doesn’t appear to be anything illegal about either of these situations. Coker said she isn’t aware of any illegal activity taking place, and hasn’t submitted any complaints to law enforcement. She remains confident in the county’s ability to conduct Tuesday’s election.
Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.
