Covered extensively by
the Stranger, and
Goldy at Horsesass.
Diaried here, here and here.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the first King County (WA) Canvas Board hearings for those whose voter registrations were challenged by Lori Sotelo, the Vice Chair of the King County GOP. Today's hearing was only covering the 35 poll voters whose registrations were challenged by Ms. Sotelo (as Goldy has pointed out, many of the challenges had already been rescinded, and apparently many of the challenged poll voters apparently never made it to the polls).
One voter's story (and some snarky observations) below the fold.
Bob Smith's registration was challenged because his address was a PO box at a UPS facility (I've changed his name to protect his privacy). He testified that because of personal reasons he had to use that address - and that he wanted to talk with Sotelo privately about his situation in the hope that she would drop his challenge.
Diane Tebelius (Sotelo's attorney, and long-time Washington State Republican hack) took him aside to talk. Apparently they couldn't reach an agreement, as he returned to the hearing and proceeded to ask Sotelo questions. This is where things got good (and as much as I wish I could repeat everything verbatim, I can't write that quickly - so I'll do my best to relay what happened - the full transcripts of the hearing won't be available for a couple of weeks):
Q
(Bob to Sotelo): Do you know me?
A
(Sotelo): No.
Q: Did you personally inspect the mail box location?
A: I am a regular at a Starbucks in the area, and know people who live around there. I didn't personally visit the location until this Monday (6 days after the election).
Q: Did you ask the owner of the UPS location about me, and my situation?
A: No.
Q: Did you ask me about why I was registered there?
A: No, my accusation is based solely on the fact that you are registered at a PO Box.
Q: Why did you wait two days before the election to challenge me? If you are so familiar with the location, with your frequent Starbucks visits, you obviously knew that that location was a PO Box facility - so why would you wait so late to challenge voters at that location?
A: (at this point Tebelius objects to the question twice as it "this goes to intent", and advises Sotelo not to answer).
Q: Did you know that there was no way for me to respond to this challenge? I didn't receive the letter until the day before the election.
A: I submitted the challenge on 10/27.
King County Elections Head Dean Logan to Bob: Do you consider this location your residence?
A: Yes.
Smith then went on to lay out a poignant case against Sotelo's challenge. Again, this is totally reconstructed from my notes, so I'll be missing the exact wording, and his moving delivery. Forgive.
"It is the Sotelo's responsibility to have her facts straight and prove that I do not reside at the UPS facility. This challenge is now making me admit publicly that because of a condition I have, I live in a car, have lost my job and my wife, and been forced to file for bankruptcy. I've also lost my home, which was 3 blocks away from the UPS store. Now I've had to admit all of this, and my 11-year-old daughter has to see this all go down publicly.
"These laws were meant to protect the public from fraud, not persecute the homeless. I've tried to do the best I could to give King County Elections the most accurate address possible. Making these challenges so close to the election speaks badly about the Republican Party.
"What Ms. Sotelo doesn't know is that I have a key to the UPS store, and I sleep there when it's cold outside - the owner knows me. They don't have any proof that I wasn't doing this, and the burden of proof is with Ms. Sotelo - the law says that she has to know that I don't live there, and she didn't do her due diligence. I ask the members of the Republican party to ask themselves if this is how they want their party to act."
Question from Tebelius: Did you reside at the UPS location in the 30 days preceding the November 8th election?
A: With my bipolar condition I spend part of my time living in my car, part of it in the UPS store, and part of it hospitalized. I really can't remember if I spent a night in the UPS store in the month before the election.
He was obviously shaken and embarrassed. During his statement his hands were shaking, and on more than one occasion it sounded as if he was on the verge of tears. This was obviously a very hard thing for him to do. This is what these ill-conceived and ill-researched challenges have forced people to do to preserve their vote. I hope Lori Sotelo and Chris Vance are proud.
Funny observations:
1) Lori Sotelo does not, in fact, have horns.
2) Quote of the night came from another challenged voter: "My family has been Republican for generations, and I regularly receive donation requests from the King County Republicans. Apparently I am good enough to give you money, but not good enough to vote!" (again, reconstructing from notes)
3) Sotelo couldn't provide current addresses for most of the challenged voters (as required by law), and when she did she found them largely by Googling their phone number. If I tried to pass this off as "research" in college, I would've flunked out.
4) I've heard it from good authority that at least two challenged voters are starting to move forward with civil actions against Ms. Sotelo. Gotta love that!
I'm sure there will be more to follow. I was tempted to post a simple blow by blow, but it would've been painful for you to read, and for me to write (Canvas Board meetings are notoriously boring, and the rest of the meeting was).