show cause hearing on February 13, 2014. The court considered declarations
submitted by the parties and by the Secretary of State. The court ruled that even
though no statute states an explicit exemption for voted ballots, they are exempt
under various election statutes codified in Title 29A RCW:
The statutory scheme controlling ballots in RCW Chapter
29A is very long and complex and, therefore, how it expressly
exempts ballots from public records disclosure cannot be found in
just one quote from one statute. However, taken as a whole, RCW
Chapter 29A expressly exempts election ballots from disclosure as
public records.
In a comprehensive memorandum decision, the superior court observed that the
secrecy of a citizen's vote "is the cornerstone of a free democratic government."
"Given the numerous and unpredictable ways ballot disclosure could be used to
ascertain voters' identities, given the possibility of human error if we rely on
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people to individually redact thousands of ballots for identifying information, given
the constitutional requirement for absolute secrecy, given the disruption to public
confidence in election results that could be caused by endless private reviews of
ballots," the court determined that the legislature did not intend to subject ballots
to the Public Records Act.
White appeals.
Because the record consists of documentary evidence only, this court
stands in the same position as the trial court. Mitchell v. Dep't of Corr.. 164 Wn.
App. 597, 602, 277 P.3d 670 (2011). Our review is de novo. Fisher Broad.-
Seattle TV. LLC v. City of Seattle. 180 Wn.2d 515, 522, 326 P.3d 688 (2014).
BALLOT SECRECY