Mask requirement at Washington county auditor's office produces standoff

An Island County elections observer was escorted out of the Auditor’s Office on Monday for refusing to wear a facemask.

The masking requirement came from Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider, who told The Center Square that in the wake of a COVID-19 outbreak at the elections center back in August, when election workers were conducting a recount in the Lands Commissioner race between Democratic candidate Dave Upthegrove and Republican Sue Kuehl-Pedersen – the second and third-place finishers – several workers got sick.

“We had eight people that got sick, so now we’re just ensuring everyone is kept safe as a precaution,” Crider explained.

Tracy Abuhl, an Island County GOP precinct committee officer and trained election observer, was forced to leave her observation of Island County elections workers on Monday for refusing to wear a mask.

“I showed up Friday, and they said I had to wear a mask, and I didn’t want to go to jail for the weekend, so I contacted people and decided I would go back on Monday,” Abuhl told The Center Square Monday afternoon.

When Abuhl arrived back at election headquarters on Monday, it was clear others were ready for a potential confrontation.

“When I got here on Monday, there were three police officers that came in because I guess they heard something about this,” she said, noting the scenario felt like government overreach to her.

“I’m sitting out in the hallway, and I don’t have to wear a mask, but then down the hallway I do?” Abuhl asked.

She warned the police officers who were there Monday that she would attempt to enter the observation area without a mask.

“I knew when I came in that’s what they would do,” Abuhl said, claiming she wasn’t trying to create any issues but did want to make a point.

“It’s simply unconstitutional as I see it to do this,” she said. “To me, this is election interference because even when the last recount was going on, all the Democrat observers were coming in with masks, and Republicans didn’t want to wear them, so there was no inclusion.”

Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh told The Center Square that while there is a WAC relating to county auditors taking measures to protect elections, no current law allows the auditor to require masks for election observers.

Crider told The Center Square her job is to keep election workers and observers safe.

“Auditors can take measures to do that,” she said.

Abuhl said she understood the health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic and at health facilities with high rates of illness but said the mask requirement goes too far with no current outbreak.