The fight about Washington’s 2020 election results continues. On Wednesday, the Washington State Democratic Party filed motions in Clark County, and several other counties, to intervene in and dismiss suits filed by Republican activists last month.
The lawsuits filed in September by the Washington Election Integrity Coalition United claim county auditors engaged in widespread election fraud by “adding 400,000 votes,” defied public records laws, used unverified equipment, and “flipped” 4,000 votes. The suits also alleged that “thousands of voters were removed” in “one or more statewide races before, during, and/or after the election.”
The suits sought to have a “full forensic audit” conducted in the same manner as the audit carried out this year in Maricopa County, Ariz. The suits were filed against auditors in Clark, King, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, Whatcom, Lincoln and Franklin counties.
The state Democratic Party called the allegations “baseless” and contrary to Washington law, adding that no evidence has been offered to support any of the claims.
“These lawsuits are little more than warmed-over versions of the meritless ‘fraud’ claims that the Trump campaign and its supporters filed across the country after the 2020 election and that were uniformly rejected by every court to have considered them. The Washington State Democratic Party is proud to stand up and fight back against these despicable attempts and false narratives to undermine our democracy,” said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski in a statement Thursday.
The WEICU lawsuits are only the most recent in a spate of suits filed across the nation after the 2020 election. Current congressional candidate Loren Culp, who lost his 2020 gubernatorial bid to Gov. Jay Inslee, sued Secretary of State Kim Wyman in December 2020 claiming the election was “at all times fraudulent” with “intolerable voting anomalies.” Culp withdrew his suit a month later.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating that these allegations of voter fraud continue to be circulated by Republicans without evidence,” Podlodowski said. “They are using it all as an excuse to push voter suppression legislation and undermine confidence in the results of the 2022 and 2024 elections well in advance of voting.”
Podlodowki said she expected the WEICU’s suits to be thrown out promptly by the courts.
