A ballot collecting strategy deployed by the Jerrod Sessler for Congress campaign aims to gain 11th-hour support as voters finish returning their primary ballots for the Aug. 6 election.
The Prosser Republican is holding several “voting parties” starting Wednesday, according to a recent mailer. The campaign ad encourages voters to bring their ballot when they come to meet him.
The mailer also tells voters to “text or call us to pick up your ballot.”
It’s a practice known as “ballot harvesting” or ballot collecting and is loosely defined as when a third party handles or transports ballots from a voter to an elections center.
It was a flash point during the 2020 presidential and 2022 mid-term elections, when many states shifted to mail-in voting and absentee ballots because of the COVID pandemic.
While many Republicans decried the practice then, they are embracing it now in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election.
Sessler, the former regional circuit race car driver and Prosser businessman, is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse for Washington’s 4th Congressional District seat.
It’s Sessler’s second attempt at ousting the Sunnyside farmer — but this time Sessler has the endorsement of Donald Trump.
He’s not the only conservative challenging Newhouse. Tiffany Smiley, the veterans advocate from Pasco, who mounted a failed challenge to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray in 2022, also is in the race.
Sessler has called the U.S. elections systems a “banana republic,” and he believes in the false premise that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump by the Democrats. In a recent Yakima Herald-Republic interview, Sessler called Biden an illegitimate president.
Fraud in Washington elections is incredibly rare, but when it does happen elections officials are quick to investigate. Most instances of action that could be considered “fraud” are simple mistakes made by voters or irregularities, say county auditors.
Sessler did not respond to a Herald request to talk about the issue.
Legality of ballot harvesting
Washington state has had vote-by-mail in place for more than a decade now, and ballots have had prepaid postage on them since about 2018, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office.
In 1983, the Evergreen State began allowing special elections to mail ballots, and in 1993 some counties began moving toward the process for smaller elections.
By 2005, the Washington Legislature adopted vote-by-mail as a permanent option for all elections, allowing counties to choose. Then, in 2011, with 38 of 39 counties switched over to the system, the state enshrined vote-by-mail in law.
Vote-by-mail requires fewer poll workers, provides an auditable paper trail, allows more time for voters to research candidates and promotes higher turnout, say officials.
But there are some downsides: More material prep time, a higher level of staff expertise and a longer time to report final results.
In Washington, it’s legal to return someone else’s ballot to the elections department since no state law or administrative code bars the practice, said Derrick Nunnally, the Washington Secretary of State’s deputy director of external affairs.
“You should treat your ballot like it is something that’s very valuable to you,” he said. “It’s your way to participate in democracy.”
“The best thing folks can do is return them to a county drop box themselves. … They’re safe and secure, and you know that once you put your ballot in there that it’s in the county’s custody,” Nunnally said.
The Secretary of States Office says the U.S. Postal Service has been a reliable partner in supporting Washington’s vote-by-mail systems. Those ballots will count as long as they’re postmarked by election day.
Nunnally says there’s a lot that can go wrong when voters hand off their ballot to a family member, friend or a third party to turn in for them.
“A person can have all the good intentions in the world, but if something happens on their way to turn in your ballot, that deprives you of the opportunity to participate,” he said.
While ballot harvesting is legal in Washington, it may not be in other parts of the nation.
At least 32 other states allow someone to return an absentee or mailed ballot on the voter’s behalf, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
NBC News reports that Republican National Committee members are focused on ballot harvesting efforts in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina, all battleground states where electors will determine the fate of the White House.
But thanks to Republican efforts, the act of ballot harvesting is illegal, to some extent, in six of those seven states. Only Nevada allows the practice.
Key dates for Aug. 6 primary
Voters have until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, to turn in their ballots to a county-certified drop box.
Registered voters have already received their ballots for the primary election. Voters who need to update their registration, register to vote for the first time, or who haven’t received their ballot must contact their local county auditor’s office.
Voters can track the status of their ballot and find drop boxes online at vote.wa.gov.
Candidates running for state and federal offices, as well as some county offices, will appear on the primary ballot. The two candidates who receive the most votes move on to the general election in November.
