Judge throws out latest lawsuit levying claims of election fraud in Washington
Dec 15, 2021, 9:01 AM | Updated: 12:27 pm
An elections worker loads unopened ballots into a machine for sorting at the King County Elections headquarters in 2020 in Renton, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
A judge threw out a Franklin County lawsuit this week that had levied claims of fraud in Washington’s 2020 election.
Election fraud narrative becomes common thread among state GOP candidates
The lawsuit was led by a group known as the Washington Election Integrity Coalition United (WEiCU), claiming that hundreds of thousands of votes across the state were illegally altered, and that local auditors “used uncertified voting systems” to tabulate ballots.
The WEiCU filed similar lawsuits in Clark, King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, asking auditors in each county to turn over ballots for examination.
The Franklin County lawsuit was dismissed 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. Nonprofits are not permitted to represent themselves in court.
The lawsuit was further hamstrung by the fact that ballots are legally required to remain confidential, and as such, are not subject to public records requests submitted by the group.
Claims of election fraud have become a common rallying cry among many Republicans in Washington state. That includes former gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp, who has repeatedly maintained his belief that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and refused for weeks to concede defeat to eventual gubernatorial winner Jay Inslee. Culp — who is now running for Congress — filed a lawsuit of his own demanding an audit of Washington’s paper ballots and vote counting machines, before abruptly withdrawing it less than a month later.
Opinion: Culp, Trump show refusal to accept reality in both Washingtons
Three other Washington Republican lawmakers signed onto a coalition of 186 Republicans across 39 states in calling for a full 50-state ballot audit. That includes state Representatives Vicki Kraft and Brad Klippert, both of whom are running for Congress in 2022 as well.
To date, state election officials have maintained that there has not been any evidence of fraud in the 2020 election.
