April special elections move ahead amid COVID-19 concerns

OLYMPIA – Bond and levy elections in several jurisdictions in nine counties will move ahead at the end of April after Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee declined a request by Secretary of State Kim Wyman and county elections officials to cancel or postpone the elections amid concerns about COVID-19.

Originally, more than 30 jurisdictions in 18 counties were set to hold special elections on April 28. As of Friday, 19 jurisdictions had canceled due to coronavirus concerns, leaving just nine counties set to oversee elections April 28.

In a letter sent last week, county auditors from across the state joined Wyman, a Republican, in asking Inslee to cancel the elections, citing a host of concerns ranging from a potential reduction of election staff and postal staff, disruptions with vendors who support election operations, and concerns about the health of elections workers handling ballots. Because Washington is a vote-by-mail state, ballots to overseas and military voters will be sent out this weekend, and the remainder of the ballots will be sent to voters the week of April 6.

Inslee Chief of Staff David Postman said because some of the counties had already started spending money to prepare for the election, the governor’s office determined “the right thing to do was to move to work with the secretary of state’s office to mitigate impacts on the auditors.”

“We totally understand the concern of counties,” Postman said, but noted that elections are an essential government function. “We need to help these counties conduct elections and count these ballots in a way that absolutely protects election workers.”

Wyman said Friday that she was disappointed by the governor’s decision.

“The main concern I have is the uncertainty that the stay-at-home order and all the mitigating things we’re doing as a society to prevent the spread of the virus makes it very difficult to conduct that election,” Wyman said Friday.

In Washington state, there have been at least 175 coronavirus deaths and 3,700 confirmed cases. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

Inslee issued a stay-at-home order Monday night and ordered all nonessential businesses to close through at least April 6, though Inslee has said that people should be prepared for it to be extended. It expands previous actions taken by Inslee that ordered the statewide closure of bars, dine-in restaurants, and entertainment and recreation facilities and banned large gatherings.

Heidi Hunt, the auditor of Adams County and president of the Washington State Association of County Auditors, said that while her county isn’t one with an election next month, she signed last week’s letter to the governor because of all the unknowns that remain as the state continues to remain in the midst of an outbreak.

“If one or two people get sick, especially in smaller counties, that’s a back breaker,” she said. “If people are sick and quarantined, how do you run an election with nobody?”