PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Canvassing board will review a potential case of voter fraud in the 2016 general election at a public meeting Oct. 12, Clallam County Auditor Shoona Riggs said this week.
The board, composed of county Commissioner Mark Ozias, county Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols, and Riggs will meet at 9 a.m. Oct. 12 in the county Elections Center in the basement of the county courthouse, Riggs said Tuesday.
She said the state Secretary of State’s Office notified the county of the alleged misrepresentation after the completion of a multi-state study on voter fraud.
The voter being investigated was shown by the study as being registered in Washington and Colorado at the same time, Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Brian Zylstra said Wednesday.
Zylstra forwarded the case to Riggs’ office, he said.
Riggs said the possible fraud was discovered during the study and not the result of a specific referral from her office.
The state Auditor’s Office said in a Sept. 15 press release that voter registration records reviewed in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland and Delaware turned up 74 potential cases.
One case is in Clallam County, and none are in in Jefferson County.
Clallam County was one of 19 counties in the states that were reviewed with 59 of what the state agency calls potential cross-state fraud.
One additional case involving a deceased person is in Cowlitz County, and 14 more cases had to do with “in-state” fraud possibly occurring in eight counties.
Nichols said Wednesday that voter fraud can be punished as a misdemeanor or a felony but added he had not yet researched the issue.
Riggs would not disclose any details of the Clallam County case. She cited state public records law that exempts investigative information from public disclosure.
“Because we haven’t referred anything to the any local law enforcement and haven’t had the canvassing board meeting, I can’t comment at this time,” Riggs said.
The canvassing board can decide to refer the case to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office to investigate it further, Nichols said Wednesday.
Law enforcement can forward the case to Nichols, who would then decide whether to file a charge against the person, he said.
The board also can decide to drop the matter, Nichols added.
Nichols said voting-related cases can range from civil to felony cases.
The Secretary of State’s Office said the 74 cases statewide represent 0.0022 percent of the state’s 3.36 million voters cast.
The one vote in question in Clallam County equals 0.0024 percent of the county’s 41,042 votes cast in the 2016 election.
Nichols said his office lacks the investigative resources to probe a voter fraud case.
“If we are to have a chance of vetting a referral, we are going to need to have a sufficient law enforcement investigation provided,” he said.
Nichols said Riggs made the decision to refer the matter to the canvassing board after consulting with him.
“I agree this a sound approach and a good way to address these matters when they are brought to our attention,” he said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
