Auditor Kimsey's Charter Amendment #18 FAILS By 304 Votes

Instead of ensuring Clark County was adequately prepared for the 2024 General Election, Auditor Kimsey focused on defeating a citizens’ initiative, the Restore Election Confidence (REC) initiative, aimed at reforming election processes. In a joint effort with the Prosecuting Attorney’s (PA) Office, Kimsey worked to block the proposed initiative from proceeding to signature collection and later suppressed efforts to gather signatures by planting doubt that the initiative was "legal" to the public in the media.

But to ensure that something like the REC initiative would never happen again, Kimsey pushed to amend the law (Home Rule Charter) to give the PA’s Office broader authority to block initiatives and allow government officials to sway voter opinion against initiatives by incorporating financial and legal opinions directly unto the ballot.

Had Kimsey’s effort succeeded, county initiatives lacking the endorsement of a few government officials might never have a chance, potentially being stopped even before reaching the signature collection stage.

Charter Amendment 18 (Initiatives) Timeline:

December 19, 2023: The REC initiative is filed.

December 21: The PA’s Office improperly rules that the REC initiative cannot proceed.

January 8, 2024: A Writ of Mandamus is filed in Skamania Court.

January 11: The PA’s Office reverses its decision, forwarding the REC initiative to the Auditor.

January 26: Auditor Kimsey sends a memo to the PA’s Office arguing that the REC initiative is outside the scope of local initiative powers.

January 26: The PA’s Office issues an opinion affirming that the REC initiative falls within local initiative powers, despite Kimsey’s objections.

March 11: Kimsey proposes Charter Amendment 18 to the County Council, aiming to restrict future initiatives deemed harmful by expanding the Charter's restriction section.

June 25: The County Council approves Charter Amendment 18 for the November ballot.

July 31: The PA’s Office submits the ballot title for Charter Amendment 18 to the Auditor's Office.

August 7: The Auditor delays releasing the ballot title, leaving only a few days of the allotted 10 days for a legal challenge.

August 21: An appeal is filed challenging the legality of the ballot titles for Charter Amendments 17 and 18.

August 22: In a preliminary hearing, a judge dismisses the appeal on procedural grounds. Kimsey testifies that the Elections Department failed to follow proper procedures in releasing the ballot title. The judge, influenced by Kimsey’s assertion that ballot titles needed to be finalized imminently, rules against allowing the appeal to proceed due to time constraints and technical errors (e.g., incorrect naming of parties and lack of proper service by a third party).

August 26: The PA’s Office revises some, but not all, ballot titles. This revision reveals that the original titles did not comply with state law (RCWs). However, the PA’s Office refuses to include language clarifying that Charter Amendment 18 amends the Charter’s initiative restriction section, leaving the ballot title voters saw as noncompliant with state law.

November 21: Charter Amendment 18 officially fails by 304 votes.

ICYMI: BALLOTS BURNED FOR HOURS

WATCH ONE MINUTE VIDEO OF THE FOUR HOURS BURNING

Last week, I was the first to release surveillance footage from the Fishers Landing ballot box that was firebombed on October 28th (similarly to the October 8th incident in downtown Vancouver). Shortly after my release, several media outlets began sharing the footage—possibly taken from my posts—which shows a large, fiery explosion from the ballot box just after the suspect drives away.

Following additional public records requests, it’s now confirmed that the ballot box burned for almost FOUR HOURS before any attempt was made to extinguish the fire.

Here’s the timeline:

• 2:35 AM - the ballot box is attacked
• 4:08 AM - ONE AND A HALF HOURS LATER, a citizen (not a gov official) discovers the ballot box burning and appears to call 911
• 4:19 AM - VPD arrive on the scene
• 5:32 AM - ONE HOUR & 13 MINUTES LATER, Sheriff Bomb squad officials arrive.
• 6:30 AM - Efforts to extinguish the fire and access the box begins

Not only did the fire suppression system fail (possibly because it was never designed for ballot boxes, per the manufacturer’s statement), but ballots were left burning in the ballot box for almost four hours before any attempt was made to limit the damage.

Why did this take so long?

Races & Results Are Tight, Help to Cure Ballots

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP – Action, Action, Action! Send An Email that you are available to help. The next few days will be critical

Click Here To Help Cure Ballots

Click HERE To Follow On X (Twitter)

Click HERE To Follow On Facebook

Or HERE To Follow On Instagram

www.reformclarkcounty.com

[Reform Clark County only encourages lawful and respectful action that leads to meaningful constitutional reforms in Clark County]