Washington Co., Wi – Following a loss in the August primary, Washington County Clerk candidate Sue True is running as a registered write-in candidate in the November 5, 2024, election.
“When God closes one door, He opens another,” said True. “I see opportunity in running as a registered write-in candidate for County Clerk in the November 5 General Election.
True said part of the process of running as a write-in means the ballots have to be hand counted to get the final results.
“I’m going to get a hand count on my balance at the end of the night, and that is what I’m going for,” she said. “All registered write ins have to be sorted by the clerks, and they have to be pulled out, because these machines can’t process a write in.”
The Washington County Clerk’s race is an election for a four-year term. Incumbent Ashley Reichert is running for a third term.
True outlined a few reasons why she is running:
- Unofficial results posted to the county website indicate the majority of voters in Washington County did not weigh in on the County Clerk selection. Because it was a partisan primary, less than 25,000 (mostly Republican) voters of the 89,861 total registered voters participated.
- As a registered write-in candidate, any ballot cast for Sue True must be examined/ hand counted immediately after polls close. (Ironically, the write-in hand counting practice is required to verify machine results because according to the WEC election manual, “The decision- making capability of optical scan equipment is limited. The voting equipment “decides” a vote based on its assessment of the marks placed on the ballot by the voter.”
- Hand count data may help assess whether Washington County residents are concerned about the details of election integrity. Would voters prefer that machine generated results tapes be verified with original ballots immediately after polls close vs the current practice of only verifying voter turnout (i.e, counting the total number of ballots for comparison to the poll book numbers)? It may serve as a type of “survey” that assists municipal clerks.)
- Competition is good. Should the Ashley Reichert Election Integrity Package (that will reportedly be in effect for the November General Election) fail to meet expectations, voters will have a choice. (I stand by Sue True’s Election Integrity Initiative.)
- Longer time to campaign may help establish a more-informed electorate. (The County Clerk race represents more than re-electing a highly endorsed “popular” incumbent to serve a total of 12 years. It represents the importance of term limits for the position in order to remain accountable to the public and establish meaningful election integrity measures.)
In-person absentee voting for the November 5, 2024 election begins Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
