Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert has latched onto the idea that putting ballot boxes at churches, firing ranges, and gun stores could help ensure free and fair elections this November–and increase conservative voter turnout. Reichert apparently believes that conservatives only leave the house to shoot or pray, and that Republicans need armed vigilantes to protect GOP votes against ballot gremlins or whatever.
Back in February, Reichert told an audience at a Pierce County GOP endorsement meeting that he supports a plan from Washington State Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh to buy some ballot boxes and put them “in places where conservative voters go.” Reichert pitched his churches and gun store location ideas.
“Try to steal a ballot from a gun range. How about a gun shop? Places like that where we know we can protect our votes,” Reichert said, in a video from the endorsement meeting.
Reichert has made similar comments during at least five other campaign events, according to audio recordings obtained by The Stranger as well as an article in The Reflector. Reichert did not respond to a request for comment.
Reichert’s rhetoric seems mostly like a ploy to turn out the most rabid members of his base on the off chance that they’ll have an opportunity to shoot someone near dropping off a ballot.
In the video, Reichert makes it sound as if these ballot boxes would be official, but in a text message Walsh said that’s not his intention. He wants to create unofficial ballot boxes that the Washington State GOP or county parties would provide and maintain.
The plan seems unserious, unnecessary, and fraught for a number of reasons. First of all, stealing ballots from official ballot boxes is very hard. King County Elections Administrator Julie Wise described the boxes as “steel tanks” that can weigh up to 1,000 pounds, and they are bolted into the ground. Crosscut published an excellent piece on the ballot collection process that references another article about a time when an SUV hit a ballot box in Thurston County and failed to even dent the thing. That article goes into further detail about how a person can’t even open the boxes with crowbars. The proposed GOP ballot boxes would be smaller, “But sturdy. Secure. Metal,” Walsh said.
Second of all, at least in King County, ballot boxes are already pretty accessible. According to Wise, about 90% of people live within three miles of a ballot box, and about 76% live within a mile. Nothing in state law prohibits the county from putting a ballot box at a shooting range, but the office would want to understand the specific gap they’d be filling, Wise said. A lot of data goes into ballot box location decisions, and the county tries to put boxes in places with lower voter turnout to encourage people to vote. While King County Elections (KCE) has found a natural partner with libraries, government buildings, and transit hubs, they’ve also put boxes in Safeway parking lots. I think conservatives still buy groceries.
Finally, ballot box theft remains a stupid and unlikely strategy for trying to change the results of an election. The prospective thief could guess about the politics of nearby neighborhoods, but they wouldn’t know how the voters voted unless they opened up the ballots, and dumping a whole box would risk dumping ballots the thief would presumably want counted. And if anything, locating boxes in areas with high concentrations of Republicans would only make it easier to target those ballots for theft. Though I guess Reichert assumes no one would dare take a ballot from a box surrounded by gun owners, who would all shoot or threaten to shoot any would-be ballot box robbers instead of calling the police?
Overall, Wise said KCE doesn’t recommend people submit their ballots to unofficial boxes. Pop-up boxes are legal, but if the organization collecting the ballots turns them in late or loses them, then voters have very little recourse to make sure their ballot counts. In general, the election’s office recommends people only trust themselves with their ballot.
Wise also encourages people to sign up for text messages and emails alerting them about the status of their ballot.
Another great mind from the WA State GOP.
Our current system is just fine. Thanks, Mr Mannequin
Oops, forgot to add: I wonder what Semi Bird’s solution will be. I’m sure it will be doubly Jesus-y and triply Gunny. After all, he was raised in a “Christian environment”, by a single mother in “the ghetto of East Oakland” who taught him to never be a victim.
So he joined the victim party (AKA, the GOP, AKA horrible people)
@3 Ah Raindrop, proving yet again that you are one of the poorly educated bigots that Trump loves so much.
Did you see Bob Ferguson doing cocaine with Hunter Biden just off screen on CNN, Raindrop dear?
How often does he think conservatives go to gun stores? I don’t know, I don’t own a gun, and I’ve never been in a gun store, but is it somewhere one goes on the reg if one does own a gun? Does one need to stock up on ammo in the same way as stocking up on bananas, ie about once a week?
for some gunowners, originalcinner dear, a trip to the gun store is like what a trip to the beauty parlor was for women of my mother’s era – you go there weekly and it’s as much to socialize as do anything practical.
But if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose the beauty parlor. Every time.
This is so unhinged. It’s like a Democrat asking to put collection boxes outside abortion clinics.
We talk a lot about the death of irony but I think the Trump years pulled the plug on it and it’s starting to catch up with us. We’re officially beyond parody.
@3 Is there any evidence that there would be any “more democracy” in such a scheme? Perhaps we should prioritize more popular, proven, or ‘portant things?
@2 Is it really fair to characterize Republicans as “horrible people” when there is no evidence that anyone on Raindrop’s list is actually a person?
“Try to steal a ballot from a gun range.”
what the Fuck FOR?
mightn’t it be Simpler
to just put targets on all
Libs & hope the Lone Wolves
remember in November how the
former’re always Stealing Elections?
which is what this Is: Reichert making his
Ploy for Eltrumpfster’s juandiced eyeballs
perhaps
he’ll get Lucky
and be placed In
Charge of catching
Cereal Killers and be
relocated to Battle Creek
where he can make all
the Difference he did in
Washington stepping over
Gary Ridgeway to fix himself
in Front of the teevee cameras
again.
go Dave.
go.
The KCE advice about avoiding “unofficial” boxes is sound. And boxes placed at locations identified with particular political leanings are more likely to be targeted by the opposition. If one wants to follow their paranoia down that rabbit hole.
@12
(A. No.)
[what we Should do is Remove their Tax-Exempt
Status when they Endorse Republican
Jesus-type candidates & pretend
they’re pro-Human Beings]
does
“Republican”
Jesus approve of
Bump-stocks to murder
as many & as quickly as possible?
then pay
the fucking
Tax, already.
You were expecting common sense from a MAGA republican?
Ha ha ha ha ha
“But if I had to choose
between the two, I’d
choose the beauty
parlor. Every time.”
–@Catalina
I doubt you’d ever Need it
but that’s a Brilliant Idea:
Beauty Parlor cum
Gun Store. now
if they Only
Sold the
Booze
too
you’d Have
Something.
kristofarian dear, all churches should be taxed, all the time. The lord will provide.
LouChe dear, I will continue to refer to Republicans as horrible people until I come across one who isn’t. They seem to be getting more and more horribler.
@17 There is nothing so final as pronouncements made on the basis of an amendable and (increasingly convolutedly) interpreted document.
@16 I believe that “horrible” is clearly established. My question is if there’s enough evidence, especially regarding online Republicans, to safely assert they’re people.
Raindrop, the US Constitution was ratified in 1788. The Federal Income Tax wasn’t put in place until 1913 (or thereabouts). Are you confusing the Establishment Clause with some sort of prohibition on church taxation?
A Supreme Court Case found that such exemptions from taxation are constitutional, but it was moot on whether the government was required to not tax churches.
With Christianity devolving and becoming cheap entertainment for fewer and fewer stupid people, we could perhaps one day soon see a day where we start to tax them.
@17 We know you are poorly educated, but there is actually a strong argument that the 1A actually prohibits government from showing any favoritism to religion by giving them separate tax laws from other social clubs. The problem being that the law has never been reviewed by a court whose members were not at least nominal members of an organized religion.
I have yet to see one valid argument why my local public radio or television station should be banned from actively supporting political candidates the majority of their donors support, while we have hundreds of delusional ministers openly calling on their flocks to advance a Christian Nationalist agenda at the ballot box.
Tax all the Churches!
So now it’s MY responsibility to keep the Democratic Party “afloat”? Do I have to do everything?
But it’s nice of you to tacitly acknowledge that only Christians are horrible enough to be Republicans.
@7 – Actually, I think that a visit to the gun store is more like what a visit to the old-school peep show arcades used to be.
@21 – I for one am happy to bash any religion that tries to impose its beliefs and rules on the rest of us. The [Islamic/Christian/Hindu/Buddhist/Scientologist/whatever] [Republic/Kingdom/Califate] of [fill in your favorite country] is and will always be a complete clusterfuck. Every single time.
dvs99 dear, my only beef is with the Abrahamic religions. The rest of them are ok, but should still be taxed.
And Scientology is just Amway for the wealthy and wealthy wannabes.
@28: “peoples’ quest for spiritual fulfillment.”
How do we know what constitutes “spiritual fulfillment?” For tax purposes, that is. Any test would (with a competent and unbiased court) fall afoul of the First Amendment. Putting the government in the position to certify what is and is not a qualifying religion. OK, so throw the door open to anything. Be sure to include the Church of the FSM. Now excuse me while I stop to make my tax-exempt donation to Spinasse.
A 501c3 should be all the tax exemption a church needs.
Any organization that preaches politics at the pulpit should be taxed.
Think of how tedious it must be to be a mealy-mouthed apologist for anything that that demented old whore Reagan said was “American”
@32–Up early to nag the libs, raindrop?