‘Hearsay and double hearsay’: State Supreme Court official calls voter fraud lawsuit into question
Dec 30, 2021, 12:14 PM
An elections worker carries a box of unopened envelopes to his desk for processing at the King County Elections headquarters in Renton, Washington. (File photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
(File photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
A Washington State Supreme Court commissioner heard arguments this week in the latest lawsuit levying allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
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The lawsuit was brought by a group known as the Washington Election Integrity Coalition United (WEiCU), claiming that thousands of non-citizens had ballots illegally submitted in their names in 2020.
The WEiCU cites a “preliminary investigation” based on statements made by a Department of Licensing employee during a political rally. Based on its findings, it alleges that over 34,000 non-citizens were registered to vote in King County, as well as thousands more in Snohomish, Pierce, Clark, and Yakima counties among others.
State Supreme Court Commissioner Michael Johnston presided over the hearing held on Wednesday, and approached WEiCU’s claims with skepticism.
“I don’t see anything that establishes a foundation for the rather eye-popping numbers set forth there,” Johnston noted. “It’s almost like somebody pulled them out of thin air.”
“I can’t really call it competent evidence — it’s just a bunch of numbers,” he added.
Johnston went on to question the dependability of the DOL employee the WEiCU based its investigation on, calling their initial claims “hearsay and double hearsay.”
“I don’t see any actual direct evidence of any of this,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of Gov. Inslee’s office — which is cited as a defendant in the WEiCU’s lawsuit — was state Deputy Solicitor General Karl Smith, who echoed Johnston’s concerns.
“There is no competent evidence supporting the coalition’s allegations that ineligible individuals are registering to vote,” Smith said. “The declaration that accompanied the petition was entirely hearsay from a political rally.”
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He further likened the WEiCU’s lawsuit to “similar efforts we’ve seen around the country, where individuals or organizations make grandiose allegations of election improprieties or irregularities.”
The WEiCU has been the main group behind a series of lawsuits filed in Washington state challenging the validity of the 2020 election. Most recently, a Franklin County judge dismissed a similar lawsuit on the grounds that it not only missed the deadline to sue under state law, but was also not filed by a licensed attorney, instead getting submitted by WEiCU Director Tamborine Borrelli and two Franklin County men.
Moving forward, Johnston will weigh arguments from the WEiCU and the state, and will decide whether to refer the case to the state Supreme Court, send it back to “an appropriate superior court,” or dismiss it outright. A ruling is expected “early next week.”
