KING COUNTY, Wash. – A man from New York is raising concerns of potential threats to voter integrity in Washington state.
He reportedly obtained a King County ballot online.
Jim, a New York resident, decided to test the voting system after seeing another person achieve the same feat on a communication app, Telegram.
After a simple Google search led him to the King County election page, Jim began the process of obtaining a ballot. Despite not being registered to vote in King County, he was able to bypass certain steps by using a real estate listing from the Seattle area.
Jim detailed his experience, stating, “Eventually I got this bogus King County voting address in and I put my real name, my real birthdate and my real home address in New York and voila, a ballot popped up in PDF format.”
Jim claims he was able to mark the ballot, which came with a prepaid postage label for return. He remarked, “And now I have it on my computer and I haven’t voted with it, but I don’t see there’s any reason why I couldn’t.”
Despite obtaining the ballot, Jim explained he would not sign or submit it, acknowledging the required signature verification.
King County officials are addressing these concerns, assuring that measures are in place. An election office spokesperson emphasized that the first action is to confirm voter registration in King County and verify that no ballot has been cast.
Upon learning of the signature requirement matching those on file, Jim remained skeptical, saying, “The database knows who’s registered and who’s not, and then it let me get a ballot anyway. So there’s a big chink in their armor – let’s put it that way.”
This experience led Jim to doubt the accuracy of election outcomes in both New York and Washington State. “I do not think they’ll be accurate,” he stated. Jim adds he feels paper ballots being hand counted would be a safer way to maintain election security.
The King County Elections Office highlighted serious consequences for any attempts at voter fraud, which include the possibility of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
For those wishing to learn more about election security click this link.
