Dear John,
As Democracy Defenders, we are used to responding to a “4-alarm fire”. Usually it’s not a real fire – just something that needs quick attention. But early Monday morning, around 4am PT, authorities responded to a burning ballot box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, WA. They soon discovered extensive damage to most of the ballots inside. A similar incident occurred across the river in Portland, OR, but with damage to only 3 ballots.
Unfortunately, the Vancouver ballot box is located in the WA-03 congressional district – a swing district hosting a re-do of the highly competitive 2022 election when Marie Gluesenkamp Perez defeated Joe Kent 50.1% to 49.3%. (Kent had beat the incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler in the 2022 GOP Primary - based chiefly on Herrera Beutler’s vote to impeach Trump for the January 6th insurrection and related activities.) This year’s virtual tie makes it essential that every ballot that was destroyed is replaced and that the voice of every resident of this district is heard. We will not tolerate an assault on democracy.
If you know anyone who lives in Vancouver, WA, please forward this email to them. And if you are with one of our Partner Organizations, please forward this email to anyone in your organization who is working in the Clark County area.
If you live in Congressional District WA-03 and you dropped your ballot off between 11am Saturday and 4am Monday at the above location, please check online at vote.wa.gov call 564-397-2345, email [email protected], or stop by the Elections Office at 1408 Franklin Street to confirm whether your ballot has been received intact. If you need a replacement ballot, you can obtain one at vote.wa.gov or at the Elections Office. Your ballot must be received in the Elections Office by 8pm PT on Election Night, Nov. 5th, whether you return it by mail, in the ballot box, or in person. All ballots deposited in boxes before 5:30pm will be brought to the Elections Office daily. The Elections Office is open M-F 8am-5pm and on Saturday 9am-4pm. Extended hours on Election Day will be 7am-8pm. Here is the latest update on the situation here:
Let’s do everything we can to make sure this arsonist does not steal votes in WA-03. We know, based on Jan. 6th, that if they can’t win, they will try to cheat. But we mean it when we say that our coalition of Republicans, Independents, and Democrats is committed to preserving, protecting, and defending our American Democracy. Thanks for joining us in this mission!
It takes all of us!
The Union
