Benton, Franklin counties saw biggest voter turnout in years. Election results certified
Franklin County saw the biggest voter turnout in 12 years in this month’s election. And in Benton County it was the highest in eight years.
Both counties certified their election results this week. But at least one county commissioner planned to dispute the results.
Franklin County voters returned 32,837 ballots — a 78.29% turnout. That was the highest since 2008, when it reached 85%.
Benton County received 103,736 votes — a 82.16% turnout. Returns hadn’t reached that level since 2012 when it also was 82%.
On Tuesday morning, Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier told a group of protesters objecting to the state’s COVID-related business restrictions that he opposed certifying the 2020 election results. He has sent a letter to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office with his concerns.
“As commissioner District 3 of Franklin County in Washington State, I have found too many irregularities in the votes and concerns of security breaches to be able to certify our Franklin County election of 2020,” said the letter.
Didier did not say what the irregularities were. Didier was not a member of the canvassing board that votes to certify the results.
County Auditor Matt Beaton, Commissioner Bob Koch and a deputy prosecutor signed off on the results.
Beaton told the Herald he is confident in the results, but he can understand that Didier might be concerned about the Dominion Voting System software the county uses. The system, which is not connected to the internet, is used to scan and count ballots and flag any with problems.
A separate system is then used to uploaded the information online.
Beaton said there are multiple safety checks preventing any tampering with ballots. That includes a locked storage room and 24-hour camera surveillance, and when the ballots are scanned in they’re done by two people.
He said he understands people are concerned with elections, especially this year when voters were worried about mail delivery of ballots.
“Elections and the results they produce are only as good as the administrators leading them and the training and commitment of the staff charged with conducting the process,” he said. “As interest groups push technology to prioritize last-minute access and ease of voting, we need to implement those secondary goals as long as they don’t negatively impact integrity and transparency.”
Beaton complimented the Washington Secretary of State’s Office for its oversight in the state.
Just 18 ballots arrived too late to be counted in Franklin County this year. And nearly 540 ballots were rejected, mostly because the signature on the return envelope did not match the signature on file with the elections department.
It was a larger percentage of mismatched signatures than normal, he said, but many were either older voters whose signatures had changed or in some cases younger voters who hadn’t signed their name.