Dear Group,
Republican hijinks in Ferry County, right here in Washington State’s U.S. Congressional District 5.
Here is the source: http://chewelahindependent.com/hardy-criticizes-ferry-county-auditor-for-not-providing-pre-paid-postage-on-ballots/
Click that link. It’s worth the time to read it. Karen Hardy, the whistle-blower in this tale is a force to be reckoned with. Her campaign motto is “Horse Sense–No Bull.” She is running for the State Legislative District 7 Senate seat. LD7 is contained entirely within Washington State’s U.S. Congressional District 5, site of the Lisa Brown/McMorris Rodgers race, so this act of voter suppression could affect the outcome for all of eastern Washington.
Ferry County is the northwestern-most of the counties in Congressional District 5, just west of Stevens County, McMorris Rodgers’ political place of origin. Government there has been in Republican hands for a long time. Probably thanks to some earlier gerrymandering, the Colville Reservation is split between Congressional District 5 (in Ferry County) and Congressional District 4’s Okanogan County to the west. There is no ballot dropbox on the Colville Reservation. What follows is, in my mind, a blatant effort at voter suppression very, very thinly veiled in a County Auditor’s claim to be “a good steward of the tax payers money.” If this isn’t recall-level incompetence then it is surely Republican ballot box bullshit.
This year Washington state is paying for return ballot postage for our Aug. 7 Primary Election, which means that voters will no longer have to put their own stamps on their ballots, making it easier for more people to vote. However, the Ferry County auditor has announced that she’s declining state funds to pay for postage, which means that every county in Washington will provide pre-paid ballot return postage *except* Ferry County.
The auditor’s decision particularly hurts Colville Tribal members, since half of the Colville reservation is in Ferry County and there is no ballot deposit box on tribal land.
Voters in Ferry County should have the same access as everyone else. Contact Ferry County Auditor Dianna Galvan and tell her that Ferry County should accept state funds for pre-paid postage like every other county -> 509-775-5225 ext. 2500.
Keep to the high ground…and this is some pretty high ground,
Jerry
P.S. We used to trust the checks and balances of government to take care of this sort of thing. I’m done with that. Part of Indivisible’s mission as I see it is to activate citizens to pay attention and, by raising their voices to call out this kind of behavior, and nip it in the bud.
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Follow up 7/18/18 on the Ferry County ballot postage controversy from yesterday. From one of my readers: I got through to Ferry County Auditor Dianna Galvin about Ferry County’s initial refusal to put a pre-paid envelope to return our ballots for the primary elections in August. Ms Galvin was so flooded with phone calls this morning from Ferry County constituents (as a result of the Spokesman Review article) that she and Commissioner Nathan Davis were able to solve the problem. So now, Ferry County voters – all of them, even those on the Res, will be able to mail in their ballots without having to purchase a stamp. They have also put 4 more ballot boxes out in Ferry County (2 on the Res) to make it easier for voters. We called, they listened. That is how DEMOCRACY is supposed to work! Woohoo! I think the kudos here go to Karen Hardy, the Democratic candidate for the LD7 Senate seat “Horse Sense–No Bull.” Ms. Galvin’s ill-considered action might have significantly affected the Primary vote count. Karen Hardy put out a press release, the Independent picked it up and social media and citizen networks amplified it. The Spokesman review picked it up from there, but it was Karen Hardy who started it. |