Cascade Party
A new path in Washington State politics.
A new path in Washington State politics.
Voting & Elections
Let's audit our voting rolls — not as a concession to critics, but as a statement of confidence.
By Damon Townsend (December 8, 2025)
On September 8, 2025, the United States Department of Justice sent a written demand to Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, to produce Washington’s complete voter roll data. Hobbs refused, and now the federal government has taken the matter to court.
At stake is not just a database. It is the question of who controls elections in this country and how to uphold trust in the process.
The federal government is asking a court to force Washington to deliver a full electronic copy of its statewide voter registration database, including; names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and either a driver license number or the last-four digits of a Social Security number.
The DOJ's stated justification is to uncover widespread voter fraud. Much of this speculation centers on the idea that undocumented immigrants are voting in large numbers. The evidence does not support this claim, and the law does not justify the intrusion.
A lot of the noise online about voter roll problems ignores how our laws actually work. The loudest critics are often MAGA-aligned activists and national election skeptics. Some of them are well intentioned and want accurate rolls.
Others ignore the statutory process available to challenge a voter’s eligibility. That process is straightforward and open to anyone.
Yet in Pierce County, there have been only five official voter challenges since 2017. If evidence truly existed, we would see the challenge process being used.
One popular claim is that ten percent of Washington voters have no driver license number on file. Critics frame that as suspicious. It is not.
Washington law requires new registrants to provide either a driver license number or the last-four digits of a Social Security number. One identifier is enough. Not both. Thousands of voters naturally have one or the other.
Another claim is that a few thousand voters have neither. Some cite this as proof of fraud. The truth is far more ordinary.
Before the 1990s, Washington used sworn registrars appointed by county auditors to register voters throughout the community. These voters signed a form, the registrar attested to their identity, and that was enough. They were registered legally under the law at the time and remain valid voters today.
This is not fraud. It is simply the history of our state’s election administration.
Most of the voter roll is already public. Anyone can request names, addresses, precincts, registration dates, and participation history.
What is not public, and has never been public, are the keys to your identity such as your Social Security number and your driver license number.
The DOJ complaint is keen to security concerns. The Fed’s want our state to produce the requested information through encrypted email or via a secure file-sharing system.
The DOJ have also found a loophole. Federal law statutes say the last 4 digits of a social security number, shall not be considered a social security number. And let's face it, the federal government already know everyone’s individual Social Security number.
On the other hand, releasing driver license and SS numbers violates Washington law, while facilitating an intrusion into a state's right to administer its own elections.
State Audit
Our elections are administered by trained professionals who use every lawful tool available to maintain clean, accurate rolls.
Washington voters have repeatedly chosen convenience in voting, and they also expect security. Our system provides both. Counties constantly remove voters who have moved, died, or duplicated a registration. Indeed, actual fraud exists — but is rare, isolated, and routinely caught by election staff.
Washington’s system is not perfect, but it is stable, transparent and grounded in law.
This is why Secretary Hobbs is right to resist the federal government’s overreach. But simply saying no is not enough.
In moments of doubt, silence creates a vacuum, and skeptics will always rush to fill it. Hobbs must step forward and proactively show Washington voters how the system works, why it works, and how it is protected by law and professional oversight.
Hobbs is the top election official in Washington. The responsibility to cultivate public trust rests with him. The state needs more than resistance — it needs visible leadership.
Secretary of State Hobbs should request a formal audit of the voter rolls — not as a concession to critics, but as a statement of confidence.
Pat McCarthy, our State Auditor, who previously served as Pierce County’s chief elections official, is uniquely qualified to lead it. Former Republican Secretaries of State like Sam Reed and Kim Wyman should serve as subject matter experts. Such an audit would show the public how the process works and why the rolls are accurate and lawfully maintained.
This approach reassures voters that their system is strong. It also reinforces the principle that Washington controls its own elections, not the federal government.
For the Cascade Party, the expectation is clear. Protect privacy. Support the professionals who administer elections. Keep the federal government in its lane. Uphold the convenience and security that Washington voters have repeatedly chosen. But most of all, lead.
The moment calls for transparency and confidence.
Secretary Hobbs must lead, not in response to pressure, but because Washington’s voters deserve a system defended openly, confidently and without apology.
Damon Townsend is a former Pierce County Election Supervisor and has served as Interim Elections Manager in both Cowlitz and Clallam counties. He helped develop the VoteWA voter registration system and later served as the Washington Secretary of State’s Support and Training Manager for county elections offices statewide.
