Governor Bob Ferguson signed , requiring members of clergy to report known child abuse, even if it’s revealed during confession. This has drawn criticism from local religious leaders, particularly in the Catholic Church, who say that the law violates the confidentiality of confession.

Archbishop of Seattle Paul Etienne issued a of the bill, stating that any priest who abides by the law would face excommunication.

“There are some other states that have very long-standing statutes…relating to broad reporting requirements. None of them seem to single out the clergy as singularly not able to invoke the privileges that otherwise apply to professionals,” Harmeet Dhillon told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, says this law would impact more than just the clergy. It’s why the law now faces a federal investigation.

“What they don’t seem to comprehend is that under Catholic doctrine the seal of the confessional actually applies both to the penitent and priest,” said Dhillon.

“So, now they’re actually invading the rights of all Catholics because now people are concerned not that they might confess some sex crime involving a child, but that anything they report to their priest might become the subject of a law enforcement report,” she added.

Unconstitutional on its surface

While their investigation is ongoing, Dhillon doesn’t seem to believe that this is a law that would pass constitutional muster.

“I’m withholding judgment at this time, but it does not look like a law that is consistent with our current jurisprudence on the First Amendment,” said Dhillon.

The timeline for the investigation is not entirely clear, but Dhillon noted the law goes into effect in the summer and that they want to protect Washingtonians from any law that violates their civil rights.

Liston the full conversation with Dhillon below.

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ranked UW number 10 on its list of “Ivory Tower Hypocrites.”��These are schools that frequently allow leftist activists to break campus rules (and even the law) without any consequences whatsoever but also fail to protect the free speech of students with differing viewpoints.

Among the examples that the report cites is an incident involving and event with Olivia Krolczyk, with the Riley Gaines Center, who speaks out against biological men in women’s sports.��The report reads, “right from the start, a crowd of angry protestors from the radical Marxist group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) gathered outside to protest. The demonstrators quickly swelled into a crowd of approximately 200 individuals.”

Krolcyzk attempted to press on, but the building had to be evacuated when one of the activists pulled the fire alarm. Now, the UW is facing a Title IX investigation over it.

Will UW change its tune?

UW also has a notoriously egregious antisemitism problem. Amidst the raucous pro-Hamas protests, activists also shouted down Jewish speakers at a UW Board of Regents meeting and physically threatened students wearing yarmulkes.

The report concludes that the school “has given the radical gender mafia and pro-Hamas left free reign on campus, while allowing these violent groups to curtail the free speech rights of women and Jews.”

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Reges sued the school last spring after they launched an investigation into him for putting a mock land acknowledgment in his course’s syllabus. It came after the university encouraged the practice.

“I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington,” the land acknowledgment read.

A district court initially ruled against Reges, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear his case on May 15.

“I like our chances here,” attorney Josh Bleisch told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. He’s working with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (the FIRE).

“I think they [the Court] might agree with us that a university is a special kind of public employer. It’s not like a police department. It’s not a K-12 school. It’s a place where debate and discussion is encouraged. It’s kind of the whole point of going to university,” said an optimistic Bleisch.

UW started the land acknowledgment move

Bleisch noted that it’s unfair for the school to single out Reges when they started this culture war in the first place.

“They opened up the battlefields here, they opened up the debate. They’re the ones who said to their faculty, ‘hey, it’s a good idea for you to put a land acknowledgement statement on your syllabus.’ They just didn’t like the political stance that Professor Reges took. And that’s viewpoint discrimination, and that’s unconstitutional.”

But what happens next if the court rules against Reges again?

“I think we’ll definitely look at taking this up to the Supreme Court… It’s hard to predict whether they take any case, but we’ll keep fighting until we can’t anymore,” said Bleisch.

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Stanwood City Councilmember Robert “Chili” Hicks announced his candidacy, and unlike Shavers, he doesn’t need to . Hicks retired from the United States Navy as a Master Chief Petty Officer.

“If you’re going to lie, and your family is going to come back and say, ‘hey, that guy’s not telling the truth.’ That’s a message, right? That’s a serious integrity problem,” Hicks told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Why Robert Hicks is challenging Clyde Shavers

The impetus for Hicks to run is because Washington is becoming increasingly unlivable. Hicks puts an emphasis on the issues of affordability, education and public safety.

“We’ve got to restore some fiscal responsibility, some common sense. You can’t spend more than you make,” Hicks said.

“Parents need to know what’s going on with their kids when they’re in the custody of the school system. And obviously, public safety will never go away, but I don’t think there’s enough district attorneys, or judges, or enough room in the jails to prosecute these offenses,” he added.

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“Going into this election cycle, we have a five-seat majority. No party has ever gone into an election cycle with a narrow margin like this, and we’re going to need every single seat that we can get,” Whatley told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Specifically, the GOP has its eyes on Washington’s 8^th congressional district.

Can Republicans flip WA-08 back into their corner?

The purple district’s seat was long held by Republican Dave Reichert but has been flipped blue by Democrat Kim Schrier since 2019.

“It’s very realistic to think that we could be able to put that seat in play,” said an optimistic Whatley.

He added, “it’s a little too early to give out any names, but I know that there are some really good potential candidates for this race to take on Kim Schrier, so we’ll obviously be keeping abreast of who says they’re ready to jump in.”

Listen to the full conversation with Michael Whatley below.

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Los Angeles-based writer and filmmaker Jason Kessler is the host of the YouTube Show “Jew or False.” He has created that reveals the onslaught of anti-Jewish sentiment at the University of Washington.

Kessler says that the aftermath of the October 7^th terrorist attacks created a painful new reality for Jewish students. And he needed to cover it for the nation to see.

“Jewish students were terrified. They hid their Stars of David and took off their yarmulkes. They avoided campus and skipped class in the months that followed. ��Swastikas spattered around campus like mushrooms after a rainstorm, and the hateful rallies continued,” says Kessler in the documentary.

Has the University of Washington surrendered to extremists? Watch the full investigation here:

— Jew or False (@jeworfalse)

Brazen antisemitism was accepted at UW

Kessler says one of the most jarring things about the antisemitic activism on campus is just how brazen it was.

“The attack on the was crazy. The fact that students went and slashed her tires and graffitied her home and put pro Hamas symbols,” Kessler told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

“And I think the craziest thing about that is that they posted the whole thing on Instagram and had an explicit threat,” he added.

To make matters worse, Kessler says these events are still going on.

“There’s a student group on campus called ‘SUPER UW’ and they’re supposedly suspended. But even as recently as last week, they’re still holding events on campus.”

And don’t let these radicals fool into believing that they’re merely “pro-Palestinian” and not pro-Hamas. Kessler says this student group once held an event that explicitly amplified terrorist propaganda.

“They celebrate Leila Khaled who was a terrorist who was involved in hijackings. They platformed another terrorist and showed a video of him, somebody who was affiliated with a known terrorist group,” said Kessler.

“Thing that blew me away is one person in the crowd asked the person in charge how she responds when people bring up the violence of October 7, and people have to watch the video because you won’t believe how she responds so casually.”

Listen to the full conversation with Jason Kessler below.

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Former Republican Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley has founded Endeavor PAC, which supports conservative candidates in both blue and swing states. She��believes that even deep blue states like Washington are not too far gone.

“The only way for things to change is to continue to stand up and raise your voice,” Smiley told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.��“I think the far-left policies are outnumbered. It’s not what the majority of Americans want, and Washington state is continuing to run down that line, and we have to expose it.”

A simple message to conservatives: vote!

It may sound obvious, but Smiley says one of the best things conservatives can do to effectuate change is to actually vote.

“A lot of voters feel like their vote won’t matter, so why even bother? I’m born and raised in the 4th Congressional District, one of the most conservative districts in the West Coast, and the voting turnout there is abysmal,” lamented Smiley.

Smiley believes another way Republicans can continue to build a bigger tent is by putting an emphasis on issues that most sensible people (even many Democrats) agree with. She cites the Democrats’ radical positions on immigration as an area where Republicans can capitalize.

“It’s an interesting hill to die on for the Democrats, and as long as they’re on the wrong side of these 80-20 issues I think we have a real opportunity in the next several cycles to win and hold majorities,” said a hopeful Smiley.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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would require Rainier School to close by the end of June 2027. It’s part of the Democrats’ half-baked cost-saving measures. However, State Representative Joshua Penner (R-Orting) said closing the school would be deeply irresponsible.

“There’s no plan of action to provide support in the community for these people,” Penner told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “When they did this in other states, people died, hundreds of people. It is not hyperbole to say people are going to die because there is a lack of community support for these people outside of these RHC facilities [Residential Habilitation Center].”

To the Republican lawmaker, this issue is deeply personal.

“It’s nothing I ever expected, but two of my kids have profound special needs, and one of them would be right in the zone for needing to be in a facility like Rainier School,” he explained. The thought of closing a place that has been so helpful for residents is painful.

Why are Democrats trying to close Rainier School?

Penner contends that there is an effort to distort what these facilities are really like.

“The rhetoric around this is that these RHCs provide institutional care, and I think they’re trying to paint a picture that it’s some Dickensian facility from the 1960s where you have Nurse Ratched taking care of everybody…These are exceptional situations,” said Penner.

So why would Democrats try to prevent care for such a vulnerable population? Penner suggests that there may be an ulterior motive at play, and the Democrats are engaging in a sort of legislative brinksmanship.

“It’s just this really weird rhetoric. I think it’s all designed around raising taxes,” said Penner.

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Governor Bob Ferguson’s office the state currently faces a deficit of around $12 billion, though Republicans contend it could be as high $15 billion.

Sen. Gildon says the first step is to acknowledge that there are certain things the state simply can’t pay for this year.

“The biggest of those is the collective bargaining agreements negotiated by Governor Inslee… that’s $4 billion worth of raises that he negotiated. There’s no way you can slice or dice the budget and find the money for those without new taxes,” Gildon told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

But Gildon says there’s a way to honor the agreement without raising taxes.

“We’re going to offer every single state employee a $5,000 bonus and we’re going to say, ‘go back, renegotiate the contract with the Ferguson administration and then come back to the legislature at a later date,’” explained Gildon.

More from Jason Rantz: Seattle has a domestic terrorism problem that Democrats won’t talk about

Republicans say teachers don’t have to see a pay cut

Gildon also assuaged fears that teachers would have to take a pay cut.

“We do not make any cuts to K-12 education. As a matter of fact, we make investments into K-12 education. We’re able to find $200 million each for school operating costs, as well as special education,” said Gildon.

You can listen to the full interview with Sen. Gildon below.

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The theft occurred in the early morning hours of Thursday, February 13 when the store’s owner Scott Nelson says he was alerted by his security cameras. When Nelson called the police, they said they had already been notified.����

“Thankfully our neighbor upstairs, when the thieves backed up with a U-Haul, they ran into our store sign that was just hanging outside the front door, which promptly woke them up. And they were like, ‘well, this is a little unusual for just being about five o’clock in the morning,’” Nelson told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

The owner of Sasquatch Bricks had an estimated $10,000 worth of LEGO sets stolen from his University Place store. (Photo courtesy of store owner Scott Nelson)

Will there be consequences to massive LEGO theft?

Nelson said the thieves had no trouble gaining entry into the building. ��

“Since this is a pretty old building with some pretty old, big, heavy doors, they essentially… used a crowbar to get into the door frame. And then just finally it pops loose, essentially just shredded the door frame, and then they just made entry right there,” he said. ��

Nelson acknowledged that he was, in some ways, lucky that this was the first time his store had been broken into. He chalks up the recent surge in retail theft to soft-on-crime policies. ��

“I don’t know if it’s political or not, but when these thieves or retail theft rings know that there’s not going to be a whole lot of consequences involved with it, you know, they’ll continue to do it,” he said. ��

You can listen to the full interview with Nelson below.

��

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During last year’s November election cycle, Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider instituted a mask mandate at election offices. The first person to be cited was former Vice Chair of the Island County GOP Tracy Abuhl when she refused to wear a mask while ballots were being tabulated back in October. ��

A few days later, Hazelo was confronted by an office manager for not wearing a mask.��

“I said, ‘Show me an RCW or a legislative rule that says that this is legitimate.’ She couldn’t do it… A few minutes later, the sheriff comes in, escorts me out. I wasn’t resistant. I wasn’t violent. There was no disruption,” Hazelo told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. ��

Eventually, Hazelo was escorted out by Sheriff’s deputies for not wearing a mask. ��

Politically motivated charges?

The charges were brought by far-left Island County prosecutor Greg Banks, who has a checkered past in regards to his comments about conservatives and Trump.��

“I go to court and lo and behold, guess who’s Zooming in as the prosecutor in this low level, the lowest possible criminal charge you can get? The chief prosecutor of Island County, Greg Banks. Weird,” said a bemused Hazelo. ��

So does Hazelo believe this prosecution is entirely political? ��

“If he wouldn’t have filed a felony charge for something totally crazy that doesn’t even apply here, I wouldn’t have thought about it. But you add all these things together… and you got to start thinking,” said Hazelo. ��

Despite pressure from the prosecution, Hazelo said he will not plead guilty and will continue to fight. His court date is set for Wednesday, February 26th at 8:30 a.m. at the Island County Superior Courthouse in Coupeville.��

Listen to the full interview with Hazelo below.

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But there’s at least one county official willing to test the state’s fortitude. Benton County Commissioner Jerome Delvin hopes to let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain criminal migrants at the local jail.

“Our jail can hold about 750 to 800 people … we’re around 340, maybe 320,” Delvin told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “So, you know, we have a lot of space there. And I thought, well, you know, they would talk about not having enough room to hold detainees until they’re deported.”

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Due to the 2019 Keep Washington Working Act, the sanctuary state policy, Washington currently restricts localities’ ability to assist federal law enforcement with deportations. But even if the state took issue with Delvin’s idea, he argues he wouldn’t be violating the law.

“I’m just looking for a way to offset our jail costs and if we can hold those detainees,” he said. “I don’t think that sanctuary law doesn’t allow us to do that.”

Delvin also said nobody on the Left has been able to explain to him why they can’t differentiate between illegal immigrants who contribute to society and violent criminals.

“They can’t make an argument,” he said. “I want to keep our community safer and also if we can earn some money to offset the local costs from the jail, why not?”

You can listen to the full interview with Delvin by clicking on the player below:

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The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its . It surveyed over 6,000 faculty members across the country, including at the University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU). The results were frightening.

“Back in the McCarthy era, some researchers asked social scientists if they’re toning down their writing for fear of causing controversy,” Nathan Honeycutt, a FIRE Research Fellow, told the “Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “About one in 10 social scientists said ‘yes.’ We found one in three in our sample said ‘yes.'”

UW, WSU hotbeds for self-censorship

Washington’s two largest universities did not fare well in this report.

At the UW, over one-third of faculty respondents said they toned down their writing for fear of creating a controversy. Additionally, 40% said that it’s either “not at all clear” or “not very clear” that the administration protects free speech on campus.

If there are any Cougs who think this gives them bragging rights, Washington State didn’t fare any better.

A staggering 45% of faculty members said they had toned down their writing and 38% said the administration’s protection of free speech was “not very,” or “not at all” clear.

Israel’s war against terrorist group Hamas was topic of contention

As was the case with most of the schools surveyed, Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza was the issue most respondents believed too difficult to openly discuss at both the UW and WSU.

“That’s clearly still a contentious issue on campus, not only among students, but among faculty as well as they just don’t think they can have an open and honest conversation about that,” Honeycutt said.

He added this FIRE survey should be a wake-up call, urging those who have stayed silent to let their voices be heard.

“Something needs to change,” Honeycutt implored. “I would hope, as students or concerned alumni, or parents see these numbers, that they would just encourage their students to be more proactive in speaking up and encouraging faculty to do the same.”

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Spokane City Council members Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart said the proposed rule changes would effectively make their presence on the council superfluous.

“Number one, they were going to move the day to where I couldn’t attend,” Bingle told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “Number two, they were going to make it to where you had to have three sponsors to bring something forward, which effectively would have silenced the conservative minority and any one district, they were reducing the time for public testimony from three minutes to two minutes.”

Bingle said he’s certain the rule changes were intended to silence conservatives.

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Spokane City Council introduced absurd rules

Bingle also said the rule proposal prevented them from criticizing policies past or present.

“Also, they were going to make it where we couldn’t question motives, and we couldn’t bring up any prior council action,” he explained.

Bingle said it would present a potentially “overbearing majority” that James Madison warned about in and . However, thanks to the conservative minority sounding the alarms, he said they received a wave of grassroots support to strike the rule changes down.

“We have a lot of community organizations that have risen up in the last year and a half, and they have gotten very loud,” Bingle shared. “And I think they were feeling the pressure, because they walked back literally every one of those things to say, ‘OK, sorry, sorry. We didn’t mean it.'”

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Getting activated in the community

Bingle said this incident highlighted the importance of civic engagement and holding your elected officials accountable.

“Public shame is a tool that’s underused, and we’ve been wielding it very well,” he said.

You can listen to the full interview with Bingle here:

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The Silent Majority Foundation (SMF) filed a suit on behalf of 10 women who were terminated by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General over their refusal to get the vaccine. The lawsuit also lists the AG’s Office and executive-level AG’s Office employees as defendants.

“They’re looking for damages … back pay, front pay,” SMF General Counsel Pete Serrano told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “Some of these ladies had been there 17 to 20 years and so they were on the cusp of retirement.”

Serrano also believes a case like this could help keep government power in check.

“The courts have been pretty strongly in favor of supporting gubernatorial or governors’ emergency powers,” he said. “But those statutes, those laws, don’t apply to other executive agencies.”

Even with a far-left judiciary in a state like Washington, Serrano does see a few positive trends that keep him optimistic.

“I do think that we’re at least seeing a soft trend, if you want to call it in Washington, where some of the judges are like, ‘OK, I’m open to hearing whether or not these people’s rights were discriminated,'” Serrano said. “I think we can see success out of this case.”

You can listen to the full interview with Pete Serrano here:

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The city appears ready to cut the (TPD) rover program, which helps fill in the gaps when firefighters are out sick or injured. Eliminating the program would remove 16 positions within the department.

The city argues that these positions were always meant to be temporary, but IAFF Local 31 Union president Allyson Hinzman said that is misleading.

“They were set up to be temporary in hopes that this city council would be able to set up the fire department for success. We have been underfunded now for the last several decades … we are at a critical breaking point,” Hinzman told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Rantz exclusive: Year-end Seattle Police staffing is dire, but union warns of new looming crisis

Hinzman also said that, as the city continues to grow, TPD has been left behind.

“We have the same number of engines as we did in 1955 … so we need personnel. We need apparatus. Our facilities that we’re still running out are over 100 years old,” Hinzman said.

A department running on fumes

Hinzman also noted that the department’s 450 staff members are about 60 short of where they need to be. As a result, they have to fill in the gaps through mandatory overtime.

“We have some of our people working over 100 hours a week,” Hinzman said. “Doing the work we do, that’s unacceptable, and that’s why you’re seeing the increase in leave and the increase in on-the-job injuries as well.”

More from Jackson Meyer: Sen. Marsha Blackburn reveals to Jason Rantz if Matt Gaetz has GOP backing for Attorney General

The city’s retort is that they have increased the fire department’s budget by $13 million. Hinzman claimed that is pure spin though.

“That has not been to our operating budget … We increased $13 million and a lot of that went to pay for city services,” he said. “So that $13 million didn’t come to the fire department to help cover operational costs, such as personnel, facilities and rigs.”

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Gaetz, who was the subject of a , has long been one of the more bombastic members of Congress and has burned his fair share of bridges on Capitol Hill. His combativeness was put on full display when he led the fight to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. He made some enemies in the process.

Reports have suggested that Gaetz will not have enough GOP Senators to get confirmed. But is that true?

Does Matt Gaetz have enough support for confirmation as Attorney General?

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) revealed she does think Gaetz will have the votes to earn confirmation.

Blackburn met with Gaetz Wednesday on the hill and said he is eager to address the issues some Republicans are concerned with, including how he’d tackle the lawfare.

“I do think Matt can get the backing of Republicans on the Senate,” Blackburn told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “I met with him today … right off the bat, said, dealing with the weaponization and the two tiers of justice, dealing with the broken border and the immigration issues.”

Gaetz has something else going for him too, which is the backing of Trump. Something that carries tremendous weight in the Republican Party.

“I would vote to confirm him because he is President Donald Trump’s pick,” Blackburn said. “He is focused on draining the swamp.”

You can listen to the full interview with Senator Blackburn here:

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A chief critic said Bob Scales, CEO of Police Strategies LLC, filed a $42 million tort claim against Ferguson and Washington State University (WSU) in July for alleged racketeering. He accused the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) of “managing a corrupt public procurement process that violated virtually every state procurement law and regulation on the books.”

Now, Scales said it appears Ferguson is unethically partnering with lawyers loyal to him to defend his office in that case.

A scandal within a scandal

Scales found that the AGO has signed Pacifica Law Group to a $250,000 contract to defend them in this case. Two of Pacifica’s partners include Zach Pekelis, a former AGO employee, and Washington’s Attorney General-elect Nick Brown.

Scales said this sounds like collusion.

“Bob Ferguson has essentially gifted a $250,000 contract to Nick Brown’s law firm to essentially buy their loyalty” Scales told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Ferguson’s Attorney General’s office has routinely engaged in practices that could be characterized as, at the very least, unethical, according to Scales. Look no further than, for example, back in August when Ferguson kept his donor’s lawsuit against the initiatives a secret from multiple parties to the lawsuit.

Scales was also incredulous at just how sloppy the attorneys at the AGO have been and believes their contract with Pacifica is just another smoking gun in his tort claim.

“They called my claims outlandish, and yet they’re hiring a law firm for $250,000 to defend against the lawsuit that I may bring,” an exasperated Scales said. “So clearly, they do not think that my claims are outlandish.”

Will Bob Ferguson and Nick Brown get away with it?

Scales says the AGO’s actions are “absolutely unethical … This violates every conflict-of-interest rule on the books. I mean, he is creating conflicts of interest in order to get his attorneys, the new attorneys that will take over for him, on board and on his side.”

But will Ferguson face any repercussions for his supposed corruption?

Scales believes that Trump’s Department of Justice’s government corruption unit will undergo a criminal investigation of both the incoming governor and attorney general.

“It is more than a 50-50 chance,” Scales said.

Editors’ note: This piece originally was published early on Friday, Nov. 15. It has been updated and republished since then.��

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One of the biggest causes of suspicion amongst those who doubt the integrity of our elections is how long the ballot-counting process takes. Even if you have complete faith in the security of our elections, the long wait times can still be frustrating in Washington. What we used to call Election Day seems to have morphed into election week, or even on occasion, election month.

Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell assured voters the time it takes to tabulate votes has nothing to do with foul play. On the contrary, Fell said the vote counting takes as long as it does to ensure it is accurate.

More on Washington elections: Why do dead people keep getting ballots in Washington?

Do staff schedules contribute to long Election Day wait times in Washington?

Couldn’t Washington get results faster if election staff worked around the clock to tabulate votes?

Fell said one reason they stop processing votes after the first count on election night is because “we want to make sure that our teams are continuing to stay as sharp as they possibly can.”

“Our staff have worked a long day, and we found that if you have them work through the night and you try to do shift work, the quality of work can suffer,” he added. “And so, our goal is to make sure that we have timely results, but they also need to be accurate and highly accounted for.”

Fell noted there are a number of factors that are completely out of their control.

“One piece that we can’t control is on-time ballots due to postmarking, and so that’ll continue to be a sizable number of ballots that come back that we get the next morning, even if we were to be working through the night,” he said.

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You can listen to the extensive two-part interview with Fell below:

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the��podcast here. Follow Jason on��,�������Ի���.

Virginia has been at the forefront as they are in the midst of an to have noncitizens removed from their voter rolls. Even here in Washington, a Bellevue woman just in the mail.

Even more confounding though, is when a dead person receives a ballot. How does this happen?

Why do dead people get ballots in Washington elections?

“The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH reached out to the offices of both the Snohomish and King County auditors to find out why this happens, how they find out if a voter has passed away and what is done if one of these ballots is returned.

When a ballot is sent to someone who has died, it’s typically because that person’s information has been filed before the county was notified of their death. The county also often learns of a person’s death through their family. But, not surprisingly, it isn’t always a family member’s top priority to update that immediately.

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In the case that a family member does not notify, the county also checks with agencies such as the Social Security Administration, United States Postal Service, Washington State Department of Licensing, and the Washington State Department of Health. Snohomish County said they even do daily reviews of obituaries in the newspaper.

If a ballot happens to be sent to someone before the county learns of their death, then it will be flagged and set aside for further review if it is returned.

What if a dead voter’s ballot is returned?

The main safety net against any potentially fraudulent ballot handed in is signature verification.

Washington law requires a signature to match what is on a voter’s registration record in order for that ballot to be counted. So, if someone else signed for a dead voter’s ballot it would be immediately challenged.

A ballot with a signature that does not match and is dated after the voter passed away will be investigated by the county’s prosecuting attorney for potential criminal charges. King County investigated 17 suspected cases in 2020 out of more than 1.2 million ballots returned.

More from Jackson Meyer: Your election integrity and transparency questions answered by an expert

So, does people receiving ballots suggest there is widespread cheating and fraud? Not likely, but the bigger concern is that these types of errors understandably sow distrust in the integrity of our elections. It is incumbent upon all of us to demand transparency amongst our local elections officials and that they prosecute any violators to the fullest extent of the law.

Jackson Meyer is the producer for “The Jason Rantz Show.”

Listen to “The Jason Rantz Show” on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on��,�������Ի���.