SEATTLE — Republican activists in Washington are organizing surveillance of election ballot drop boxes, raising concerns about possible voter intimidation.
Signs were posted over the weekend near ballot boxes in several Seattle-area locations, with red letters warning the boxes are “Under Surveillance” and saying that accepting money “for harvesting or depositing ballots” may violate federal law, The Seattle Times reported.
A scannable code on the signs leads to the King County Republican Party website and a form encouraging people to submit “election incident” reports, including photos and video.
King County Elections spokesperson Halei Watkins said the office received several reports about the signs and called the signs “a little bit worrying.”
While it’s legal for people to observe the county’s ballot boxes, Watkins said King County Elections has notified the county prosecutor’s office “to check on the legality” of the effort.
Washington law allows people to drop off legal mail-in ballots for other voters with no restrictions.
Mathew Patrick Thomas, who was elected chairman of the King County Republican Party a few months ago, said he hadn’t been aware volunteers were placing signs until King County Elections Director Julie Wise called him. He said he assured Wise he’d “get this rectified.”
Thomas said he called Amber Krabach, a GOP activist and candidate who has helped lead the King County Republicans’ election integrity committee, and said he wanted to ensure the signs were at least 25 feet away from drop boxes.
Krabach told the newspaper Monday the signs were placed by volunteers “to act as a deterrent” to anyone getting paid to deliver ballots.
“If they are legally dropping ballots into the box, then the sign shouldn’t bother them,” she said.
Krabach, who is running for the state Legislature as an “Election Integrity Party” candidate, has spread misinformation on social media about the 2020 election and COVID-19 vaccines, and promoted the conspiracy theory QAnon.
A Drop Box Watch Washington website doesn’t say who is running it, though it appears motivated by former President Donald Trump’s lies that he lost to Joe Biden due to fraud.
