Underage vote complaint denied

Ruling: Judge agrees with earlier decision on state ballot procedures

BRAD SHANNON; The Olympian | • Published October 24, 2009

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OLYMPIA – A Thurston County judge dismissed a legal complaint over state procedures for registering teen voters in Washington, saying Friday that there is no evidence the state allows significant numbers of underage voters to cast ballots.

Jonathan Bechtle, legal counsel for Evergreen Freedom Foundation, said the Olympia-based think tank would weigh whether to appeal the ruling by Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch.

Hirsch said the burden of proof went to plaintiff Robert Edelman of EFF to show that an administrative judge was wrong last year in finding the Office of the Secretary of State acted within the bounds of federal election law with its handling of voters younger than 18.

A study by the EFF last year showed 108 people younger than 18 had voted in Washington elections since 2000, casting 127 unlawful ballots in that period, including four in the February 2008 presidential primary.

The Office of the Secretary of State lets youths register before their 18th birthdays, but registrations are not supposed to become active until the voter turns 18. A few ineligible voters were discovered before the 2008 general election, but the ballots were not counted because monitoring procedures in place by the state and counties uncovered the errors.

EFF’s fight is part of ongoing fallout from the error-plagued 2004 election in Washington.

Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688

bshannon@theolympian.com

www.theolympian.com/politicsblog