What happens to your election ballot
KXLY recently reported on election integrity in Spokane County, interviewing several election observers (2 Democrats, 1 Republican). The ballot processing system the Elections Office involves multiple steps in a controlled environment, with election observers at each stage as an added layer of integrity. In the words of someone who has served as an election observer for four years:
"My confidence has only gone up having watched in detail how they do it . . . I've really enjoyed watching all the stages they go through to do the count, to double check themselves, to make sure they don't lose a ballot along the way," she said. "They count and recount, double count and a third person checks it again."
Numerous checks and balances are followed. For the small number of ballots that are challenged, each of those voters will be contacted and can return a form so that their vote will still count.
All three observers interviewed agreed that they have never witnessed any type of concerning behavior at our local Elections Office. Mike McLaughlin of the Elections Office said out of the votes that have been challenged in this election cycle, none of them have been instances of voter fraud.