The first county clerk I ever met — this was in the mid-70s — was Walter Fry of Canyon County. He was a lively character and over the years sometimes made newspaper headlines he probably would rather not have had, but he ran his office well, and what most sticks in my memory about him was the pride he took in it.
He would show the rookie reporter around his operation, pointing to the experienced and skilled staff and new equipment and approaches to make his operation work more efficiently and accurately. Fry had a little of the salesman’s soul, but his deep commitment to getting the job done right was unmistakable. And he wasn’t proven wrong while I was there.
That, I have found, is not an unusual story. It’s one of those pieces of reality that rarely get reported because they never bounce against the expected, or the legal or the ethical: Something that works overwhelmingly the way it was intended to.
In the years since my time in Caldwell, in the process of gathering details about Idaho — and later, Oregon and Washington — elections, I got to meet many more county clerks, people of varying natures (some were more easy-going or cooperative than others), and even more county election staffers, in places with widely differing office capabilities and budgets. They were Republicans and Democrats, and worked in large counties and small, a few with up to date operations, many more contending with out of date and even archaic records and equipment. But every single one exhibited a strong pride in the work, a deep care in making sure that the job — managing the elections and the counts, as well as the rest of a clerk’s varied work — was done correctly.
That translated down to the staff, and the overall sense of responsibility carried as well to the election day volunteers — the people who serve at the precinct polling locations and actually tally the votes. Every one I have met in the last half-century, without exception, has been determined to get the balloting and the counting handled with care and precision.
I wouldn’t try to read other people’s minds, but I’m convinced that the idea of doing anything less than honest and correct — the idea of actively trying to corrupt an election result — simply never would have occurred to any of them.
I have no reason to believe that any of that has changed in the elections offices of 2022.
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You shouldn’t believe it either.
That’s the foundation of why I have felt such visceral disgust at the election deniers — the people who claim that some massive fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election — who have proliferated in the last election cycle.
To engage in such a massive fraud, you’d have to have buy-in from thousands — tens of thousands — of county election officials, in states across the country, Republicans and Democrats both. It would involve all these thousands of people who have devoted their professional lives to getting it right and honest, betraying their trust and then, year after year, all keeping their mouths shut about it.
That doesn’t mean they’re all perfect, or that mistakes don’t happen. They do. This year in Oregon, where city elected officials are chosen in even-numbered years, residents of one city (Newberg) received ballots with no city contests included. (Oops.) From time to time in close races, recounts are made, and as often as not some totals changes (almost always minor and rarely changing the results) are reported, which means they were off a little the first time. Election officials are as subject to error as the rest of us.
What I am certain about is this: They’re careful, they don’t often make mistakes, and they do not intend to.
Our election balloting and vote counting processes are honest. If you don’t believe it, head down to your local courthouse and meet the elections staff there, and see for yourself.
