The Spokane County Auditor’s Office has been made aware of door-to-door canvassing activity being conducted by individuals associated with the Washington Voter Research Project. These canvassers are not employees of, or associated with, the Spokane County Auditor’s Office or the Washington Secretary of State’s Office.
The Spokane County Auditor’s Office does not go door-to-door to gather voter information and does not have any jurisdiction to authorize groups to do so. No Spokane County Auditor employee will ever ask a voter for information about who or what they voted for.
“I understand this kind of canvassing can be concerning to some voters,” said Vicky Dalton, Spokane County Auditor. “Voters are under no obligation to provide information to someone who comes to their door asking about their voting information. It is perfectly within your right to refuse to answer any questions from someone you do not know and/or trust.”
Canvassing for and with voter information is legal under state law. While some voting information (such as name, address, and whether a voter returned a ballot in an election) is public record, what a person confirms to someone at their front door is up to that individual. Responses are completely voluntary.
Anyone claiming to know which candidates or issue someone voted for is not being truthful. All votes are completely secret. All ballots are separated from any identifying information before they are counted. Third parties do not know how someone voted.
The Spokane County Elections Office is diligent in maintaining the voter rolls for our 350,000 registered voters. The Elections office uses multiple sources (including the Social Security Administration, the state Department of Licensing, the state death records and the United States Postal Service) to keep that information as up to date as possible.
Voters can help keep the voter rolls current. If a voter receives a ballot for someone who no longer lives at their address, they can write “no longer at this address” and place the unopened envelope back in the mail. When voters move, they are encouraged to please update their voter record quickly. To do that, voters can go online at VoteWA.gov or give the Auditor’s Office a call at 509.477.2320.
Original source can be found here.
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