Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire stops by to talk with us about Auditor's Day in Olympia, the importance of e-mail/electronic voting for servicemen and servicewomen overseas, the missteps at the Iowa Caucus, and other election related facts and figures. You can update your choices at any time in your settings. "If I go in, someone would immediately accuse me of fraud," says Paddy McGuire . McGuire was on the ballot in the primary on August 2, 2022. Its part of a national effort to undermine confidence in democracy, so that they can object when they dont get the election results they want.. width: 350px; This is crackpot stuff of the first order, counters McGuire. .widget-row { On the other hand, Steve Duenkel is a proud conspiracy theorist who believes in the big lie that the 2020 election was rigged despite having no experience with election management. Seattle Times political reporter Jim Brunner covers state, local and regional politics. You will be sent a secure link via email that will confirm your subscription. McGuire is married to Vikki McGuire, who works for the Washington State Senate. margin-bottom:16px; What was linked to from our official Facebook page was not election advocacy. color: white; Theres lots of questions about what happened in 2020, Steve Duenkel, a Republican who is running against McGuire, said during a recent podcast interview. https://lnkd.in/ghgdYsH. } He wanted to preemptively quell misinformation, and reach less active voters who begin to pay more attention in presidential election years. text-align: center; Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Case Closed with No Evidence of Violations. Of the 21,112 votes reported cast in the race, McGuire received 10,823 votes (51.26%) and Duenkel had 10,276 (48.67%). font-size: 16px; z-index:1; display: table; Still, that the job of elections referee is now inflamed with partisan zealotry down in the trenches doesnt bode well. On July 11, 2020, the Mason County Auditors Office Facebook post stated: You can update your voter registration online at VoteWA.gov if you have a valid Washington Drivers License or WAID card. position: relative; .key-messages li {margin-bottom: 10px;} width: 43%; Paddy McGuire, the only candidate running for Mason County Auditor, sits down with MasonWebTV Powered by HCC's Dedrick Allan. } margin: auto; | $('#candidate-connection-email-147366').on('click', () => { ga('send', 'event', 'surveycta', 'surveycta-click-email'); }); According to the Secretary of State's website, approximately 3,000 ballots remain to be counted. font-size: 2em; I mean, theres really no other way to describe it other than just complete junk science.. Why are you running for the county auditor's office? I absolutely have to wear my auditor hat when Im writing this and not my personal hat, he says. .race_header, .results_text, .results_table_container, .votebox_legend { } What point there was in trying to fix the vote in tiny Mason County which has fewer than 1% of the states voters is never mentioned. Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), 74588 Mason Co Auditors Office Officials Complaint.pdf, Mason County Auditor Complaint Return Letter (PDC Case 74588).pdf, Paddy McGuire Response (PDC Case 74588).pdf, Mason County Auditor's Office Officials (2): Alleged Violation of RCW 42.17A.555 for misuse of public facilities (EY20, Aug20). width: 100%; First day of a new career! .votebox_legend .non_result_row { The people who stood up and defended our elections in 2020 were county, local, statewide elections officials from both sides of the aisle.. Learn more in our Cookie Policy. It didn't include ballots that remained in county drop boxes or those yet to be delivered to the Auditor's Office in the mail. OK, but heres some potentially good news: All the auditors named in this column are up for election this year. Title 29A PAC In the contest for secretary of state, an America First Republican candidate, Tamborine Borrelli, leads a group that has sued several county elections offices alleging massive vote flipping in the 2020 election. padding-bottom: 8px; HomeClassifiedsDirectoryPhotosAboutContactAdvertise. Principal at Law Office of Stephanie Vardavas, Supervisor of Elections for Okaloosa County, Florida, Policy Director at Secretary of State of WA, congratulations Paddy! } https://lnkd.in/gmgqnwER #elections, Here is your chance to come work for me and manage Mason County Elections! Im always happy to write not like a bureaucrat, because I do plenty of that, Paddy adds with a chuckle. 67: 27 73 28: 77: 29: 81: 30: 82: 37: 83: . } One of the primary sources of local news is the Shelton-Mason County Journal, a weekly newspaper distributed to over 8,000 people. My staff and I are preparing for the year ahead and I will use this column to tell you about that. His future columns educated the public about vote by mail procedures, explained behind-the-scenes challenges of same-day voter registration, and debunked election falsehoods. Paddy McGuire's Post Paddy McGuire Mason County Auditor 11mo background-color: #ccc; The Zuckerberg-funded grants in the run-up to the 2020 election $400 million in total were used to help elections offices across the country conduct elections during the pandemic. color: #888; @media (max-width:600px) { Data Consultant at Washington Secretary of State. } McGuire is an avid road and trail bicyclist. width: 250px; font-weight: bold; display: inline-block; The party has publicized a resolution declaring ballot tabulation machines vulnerable to tampering and asserting numerous instances of election irregularities.. Its madness, McGuire said. We think weve got our own mules here in Shelton, Duenkel told a podcast last month. As Auditor Paddy McGuire, a Democrat, navigated the room, he was bombarded with questions from voters, some of whom have spent the past two years marinating in paranoia about the 2020 presidential election. To be criticized for taking a grant and spending it locally to provide voter information that I dont have the budget for otherwise is ridiculous, he said. Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire with the initial 2019 General Election results. He has endorsed Duenkel and recently posted a video attacking McGuire for his offices acceptance of about $33,000 in grant money from a nonprofit funded by billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. height: 22px; } This is like arsonists trying to run the fire department., This absolutely is not a partisan issue, Lydgate added. .results_row td:first-child { Mason County, Washington Auditor Paddy McGuire has taken another approach. https://lnkd.in/ghgdYsH. For instance, the elections team decided to restrict observers access to the ballot processing room to comply with social distancing. I miss working on the Therapeutic courts the most, and Mason has a great one. top: -5px; Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. } .mw-content-ltr td.votebox-results-cell--text, top: 0px; Finally, Paddy understands the importance of remaining even-handed and putting his personal opinions aside. ", The Secretary of State's election results website reported an estimated 4,390 ballots were left to count in Mason. They have a daughter who works in corporate finance in Houston. Morgan is a longtime Thurston County activist known for filing hundreds of campaign finance complaints against Democratic candidates and allied groups. font-weight: bold; .results_table_container { .hideResponses { display: none;} } font-size: 12px; vertical-align: top; background-color: green; display: inline-block; padding:7px 8px 8px; He is a past president of the Shelton Rotary Club and the Hamilton College Alumni Association. margin: 0; The conspiracy-adjacent candidates all lost a huge win for Washington state regardless of what happens in November. .inner_percentage { color: #6db24f; top: 2px; .widget-row.Republican {
. margin-bottom: 1px; He said he is "concerned" about Duenkel's comments during the campaign. background-color: grey; The Election Matters columns are shortabout 200 wordsand use simple language that anyone can understand, even those who know little about election administration. 3 (4-year term) (Mason) Incumbent: Terri Drexler Candidates: Sharon Trask, Mary Jo Cady, Kathy Caussee, and Kevin Schmelzlen Mason County Coroner (4-year term) (Mason) Paddy admits that it was sometimes difficult to resist the urge to be an election geek when writing the column. McGuire said he would not be challenging the results. } You can reach out to him at [emailprotected] or give his office a call at (360) 427-9670 x468. } p.survey-response {white-space: pre-line;} In the race for secretary of state, which oversees elections, it appears the two finalists will be the current officeholder, Democrat Steve Hobbs, and the Pierce County auditor, Julie Anderson, who made a point of running as a nonpartisan to keep the office independent. } An email containing a link to confirm your subscription to this case has been sent to {{ } The point with these coordinated efforts isnt to solve anything, its to cast aspersions, says McGuire, of Mason County. 4 56: 6 57; 13 59 15 73: 17 74 20 77: 21 80 25 81: 26 83 28 84: 36 88 44 94: 45 95 48 Juvenile Court Services WSU Extension. display: block; But the guy in charge of counting them down in Mason County says he cant go into the vote-counting room. height: 56px; $('.collapse').collapse('show'); State legislature | Ballot measures, Who represents me? font-weight: bold; } Such candidates in Washington are part of a national trend that troubles experts tracking the spread of election deniers seeking important public offices. And I certainly do when Im at my job, too.. County Roads Paths & Trails Historical Preservation: Paddy thought writing a newspaper column would help him achieve all of those goals. When I started in this business, election officials were sort of treated like pharmacists, trusted innately, McGuire said. Incumbent Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire, left, and challenger Steve Duenkel chat briefly Tuesday night in the ballot processing room while waiting for election results. LinkedIn and 3rd parties use essential and non-essential cookies to provide, secure, analyze and improve our Services, and (except on the iOS app) to show you relevant ads (including professional and job ads) on and off LinkedIn. He said a final report on those results is forthcoming. } Phone - (872) 204-5714. } p.survey-response {margin-left:10px;} https://lnkd.in/g7Sm2wBw. } text-align: center; color: black; The puzzling rise of defendants too sick to stand trial in WA, Solar storm on Thursday expected to make northern lights visible in 17 states, including WA. background-color: green; } padding-left: 10px; It was something I tried to keep in mind all the time. .widget-key { Im really, really terrible at it.. WEB UPDATE: Steve Duenkel took a seven-vote lead in the Mason County auditor's race after Wednesday's second ballot count. background: #4c4c4c; padding-left: 8px; text-align: center; It may depend on how long youve lived here, Federal judge fines WA agency $100 million for mental health failures. Jim Brunner. It sure is head-snapping how election deniers morph instantly into election boosters the minute the vote shifts their way. color: white; color: white; He was elected County Auditor in 2018. McGuire had previously served as Oregon Deputy Secretary of State, implementing Vote by Mail statewide, and as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of the Interior. .widget-value { font-weight: bold; .mw-body #mw-content-text th.votebox-results-cell--text { margin-top: 1em; .panel-heading:hover { cursor: pointer;} })(); See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection. Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Serving as County Auditor for the last four years has been a pleasure and an honor, but I still have things that I want to accomplish. Republican auditor candidate Steve Duenkel looks over election results at the county election office after Tuesday's 8 p.m. first count. background-color: #db0000; We'll make a lawyer out of you yet. } Duenkel also has participated in a statewide canvassing effort led by conservative activist Glen Morgan, in which a team of volunteers has gone door to door searching for suspected illegal voters or voters who no longer live at their registered address. #BeVoteReady.. font-weight: bold; .votebox-results-metadata { You can expect to hear more about the Mason County mules.. Across the country, nearly two-thirds of secretary of state races and half of gubernatorial and attorney general races this year include at least one candidate who denies the results of the 2020 election, according to States United Action, a nonprofit, bipartisan organization devoted to protecting free, fair and secure elections. Im happy to share that Im starting a new position as Chief Superior Court Administrator at Mason County, WA! For most of that time, public confidence in the accuracy of ballot counts was a given, said McGuire, who has spent the last three-plus years overseeing elections in the conservative-leaning rural county in south Puget Sound. Mason Countys ballots have a perforated tab along the top with a barcode thats used to put together a voters packet. width: 250px; background-color: #dac113; } Three candidates for Washington Legislature are listing election integrity as their party preference. display: inline; margin-bottom: 0px; State executives | .inner_percentage.Democratic { But the guy in charge of counting them down in Mason County says he can't go into the vote-counting room. margin-right: 12px; Leading up to the 2020 General Election, he wrote a biweekly newspaper column to educate and engage voters. $(".collapse-all").on('click', () => { width: 57%; } Arizonas GOP just nominated a full slate of election conspiracists, including a secretary of state candidate who attended the Jan. 6 insurrection and is a member of the Oath Keepers militia group. This year, as he seeks a second term, McGuire, a Democrat, has drawn a challenger running on an election integrity platform and pushing to stop using machines to count ballots. .votebox-scroll-container { Mason County, Washington Auditor Paddy McGuire has taken another approach. APPLY TODAY! } }) .contact_office { font-size: 0.8 em; margin-top: 0.6em; margin-bottom: 0em;margin-right: 0.5em;} padding-bottom: 3px; The program focused on what Mason County elections officials are doing to be prepared for the upcoming election, and other voting issues. .votebox-results-cell--check { padding-bottom: 5px; None of the issues that the complainant was able to find by searching the website of the League of Women Voters is a matter of a Washington State ballot measure.. If not, go to out website masoncountyelections.us to download a registration form or contact us. And dont be intimidated by the need to come up with ideas. Solar storm on Thursday expected to make northern lights visible in 17 states, including WA, The puzzling rise of defendants too sick to stand trial in WA. width: 35px !important; Mason County Chief Superior Court Administrator. @media screen and (max-width: 350px) { padding-top: 8px; } }) Paddy McGuire, Mason County Auditor stated in his response to the complaint: "The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization dedicated to expanding participation in the electoral process. Send Ballotpedia contact information for this person. Some are quitting. Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire has spent nearly two decades helping run elections, including stints as Oregon deputy secretary of state and . https://lnkd.in/g7Sm2wBw. The community tends to be older, he explains, so they are newspaper readers.. The Facebook information posted on the LWV site and reviewed by PDC staff provided information about registering to vote, the importance of registering and voting, the suffrage movement that provided women the opportunity to vote, and recognizing individuals that have worked on behalf of voting rights and included Congressman John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hammer, and Alice Dunbar Nelson. } McGuire said Mason Countys grant was approved by the Republican-majority county commission and paid for things like sending a mailer to every household in the county showing where ballot drop boxes were located. Lets face it, people have lost confidence in our election system. .race_header { Paddy McGuire, Mason County Auditor Fina Ormond, Election's Superintendent "All Things Elections" - Paddy said that our elections are fairly safe because we have: a) Good people b) A good system .votebox { display: block; Scouting/Outreach To encourage community attendance and leadership participation, a scouting team visited Shelton in early December to identify and confirm accessible meeting and lodging facilities. A story with updated results will be available today on the Journal's website, http://www.masoncounty.com. I really enjoyed my time with the courts, its a great community. County after Tuesday's initial count, which McGuire clarified was the number of ballots on hand that are uncounted. I have a great team down there, so I just stay up here in my office.. .mw-body #mw-content-text th.votebox-results-cell--text { I'm starting today as the Mason County Chief Superior Court Administrator. Federal courts | Paddy McGuire Election Reforms and Systems Paddy McGuire is the Mason County Auditor. width: 100%; text-align: left; width: 100% !important; Finally, the auditor of Spokane County, Vicky Dalton, is facing a campaign from a state legislator, Bob McCaslin, R-Spokane Valley. color: #fff; .votebox_bp_logo { SEATTLE Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire has spent nearly two decades helping run elections, including stints as Oregon deputy secretary of state and at the Department of Defense, ensuring military service members overseas could vote. div.oneoff-scrollbox.regular { height:400px; overflow:scroll; margin:20px; padding:10px; border:1px solid gray; } $('.showResponses').show(); } Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. .clearfix { display: inline-block; } What started on a national level in 2020 has trickled all the way down to the trenches of democracy. $('.showResponses').hide(); I will miss electionland but am very excited for something new. He is the lead author for Direct Democracy: The International IDEA Handbook published by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Administration in Stockholm, Sweden. .results_row td { .percentage_number { Duenkel trails incumbent Democrat Paddy McGuire by 547 votes after the initial count. Just before the August primary election, posts began popping up on Facebook claiming that if a voter didnt remove it, the election office would throw out their ballot. .results_table { McCaslin co-hosted a nearly four-hour meeting last year in Snohomish that purported to go over all the ways that voting was rigged. .infobox p { } padding-bottom: 0px; "There are still a lot of ballots to count," McGuire wrote in a Tuesday night email to the Journal. I'm starting today as the Mason County Chief Superior Court Administrator. position: relative; The group and its attorney were recently fined more than $28,000 by the state Supreme Court for frivolous legal filings. ", Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair HeraldEmail: [emailprotected], 227 West Cota StreetP.O. https://lnkd.in/gmgqnwER #elections, Senior Project Manager at Clear Ballot Group, Government Relations for over 30 years in Salem and Washington DC. In these times where trust of election officials generally has gone down, and politicization of the process has gone up, in our little corner of the world I think weve reversed that trend, he says. background-color: #f9f9f9; He has served Mason County with integrity and transparency above and beyond the call of duty. }) Clackamas County Clerk. ul.key-messages {list-style-type: none; margin-left:10px; } .external_links_table { width: auto !important; } } Ironically the only way out, though, is more politics. border-bottom: 1px solid grey; He seemed oddly certain that his own narrow first-place primary finish was 100% legit: At this point Im declaring VICTORY! he wrote Thursday on Facebook. Sign up to receive more success stories from election offices across the country. So if Im stealing elections for Democrats, Im terrible at it, he said. Being so proactive about outreach helped blunt the criticism that we didnt allow observers, he reflects. filters. The video paints the money in a sinister light, calling Zuckerberg creepy, suggesting his money controlled the county election and displaying a fake quote from him telling McGuire, Now I own you.. Plus, he gets to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. overflow-y: auto; Across the country, candidates motivated by Trumps false assertions of widespread voter fraud are running for office, including positions that oversee elections at the state and local levels. Here is your chance to come work for me and manage Mason County Elections! The surge in election denial comes even as the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack has produced sworn testimony from top Trump advisers who say they told the former president that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly and that Trumps claims of widespread fraud were baseless. He says auditors used to be treated like pharmacists: They were anodyne, invisible professionals. font-size: 12px; overflow-x: scroll; } Staffs review, found no information was posted on the LWV Facebook site that supported or opposed any 2020 candidates dating back to July 11, 2020. color:white; padding-left: 10px; margin-top: 0px; "I love my job and am pleased to have the support to be ahead. } } If youd like to write for your local newspaper, it cant hurt to reach out to the editor. In his recent interviews with a podcast and another local media outlet, Duenkel did not explicitly bring up Trumps loss, but he echoed some of the former presidents allies rhetoric casting doubt on the reliability of vote-counting machines. font-size: 20px; .race_footer { .electionsectionheading { border:1px solid #FFB81F; .indicate_scroll { font-weight: 200; There, its the longtime Republican auditor, Marianne Nichols, getting a MAGA challenge from a fellow Republican, Tamara Newman, who believes the election was stolen from Trump and also cites concerns about ballot-running mules.. $('.hideResponses').on('click', () => { Paddy McGuire and Steve Duenkel ran in the primary for Mason County Auditor on August 2, 2022. They live on Harstine Island, Washington. vertical-align: middle; Great work, Paddy! The simple fact is, any professional election administrator will tell you that machines are better at counting votes than people. Paddy responded to these rumors in a column, writing, I can tell you, from my time processing ballots and tearing off hundreds of these stubs that voters left on, we count those ballots. Sharing his personal experience in the column was an effective way to quash the falsehood. } color: black; margin-bottom: .75em; The over-politicizing of the election system isnt some game. $('.pastResponses').show(); Its deadly serious.. McGuire is a graduate of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and has a certificate from the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. .non_result_row div { Democracy can be its own worst enemy, but the only thing that ever saves democracy is more of it. You can update your choices at any time in your settings. clearInterval(nTimer); Were there illegal immigrants on the county's voting rolls? max-width: 75px; Box 430Shelton, WA 98584Ph: (360) 426-4412Fax: (360) 426-9399, Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation Talking to them reminds me how public health workers were getting threats during the pandemic you dont expect to be so vilified, one told me. 1. display: block; margin-bottom: -2px !important; height: 100%; .race_header.democratic { U.S. Congress | I think it helped us to dispel some of the rumors that were floating around right before the election, and also to be more of a trusted source of information right there at the end, says Paddy. } You landed fast. } For secure and fair elections, choice is clear. left: 0;
. .inner_percentage.CrossFiled { .widget-row.value-only { Its a small detail, but it sends a powerful message: he and his staff are ready to engage with voters, and answer their questions. Find Paddy's email address, mobile number, work history, and more. Re-elect Paddy McGuire. Happy for you. div.survey-scrollbox { height:400px; overflow:scroll; margin:20px; padding:10px; border:1px solid gray; } font-style: italic; There was a new editor at the paper who had just moved into town, so Paddy introduced himself over coffee and pitched the column idea. } Cumberland County, New Jersey Awards Turnout Trophy, The Boston Election Department Manages Social Media with Hootsuite, 14 Ways Election Offices Can Partner with Libraries. a[aria-expanded=true] .fa-chevron-right { display: none; } LISTEN: Northwest News Network on Mason County Auditor race and 2020 election denialism. Paddy McGuire's Post Paddy McGuire Mason County Auditor 1y Report this post . Duenkel, the Republican challenger, trailed incumbent Democrat Paddy McGuire by 547 votes in results released election night. background-color: red; Auditor Paddy McGuire is working to keep his job in Mason County, but the incumbent is facing a stiff challenge that started with the 2020 presidential election. | How will you use your voice? .votebox { Assessor Prosecutor width: 150px; .contact_office { margin-top: 0.3em; margin-bottom: 0em;margin-right: 0.5em;} Democracy is on the ballot in Mason County, Very nice write-up today in the Center for Tech and Civic Life's newsletter, ELECTricity. In Pend Oreille, which Trump won by 37 points, the MAGA fraud challenger is losing the primary to incumbent auditor Nichols by 48 points. Email - [emailprotected] } Ive been working with Steve on fixing 2020 for the better part of year now, Frank wrote in March on the social media site Telegram.