Clerk sheds light into ballot audit

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County's clerk on Wednesday provided more details about the Jan. 2 audit of absentee and early voting ballots during November's general election that revealed a 50-vote discrepancy from the original count.

In a statement read during a meeting of the county's elected officials that was also submitted to The Press, Clerk Jim Brannon said former elections manager Carrie Phillips presented inaccurate totals of early and absentee ballots when commissioners made the vote official on Nov. 16.

Phillips, who worked for Kootenai County for nearly 18 years, was asked to leave the agency effective immediately on Dec. 14.

"Human error is not unexpected," Brannon wrote. "What is unexpected is that I was not informed of this discrepancy by management."

The statement was the first time since the audit that Brannon publicly shed light on what specifically triggered the audit, which did not alter the outcome of any races.

He added that a week after the vote was made official, a "concerned employee" brought to his attention the ballot discrepancy. He said that employee was not Phillips.

"Upon my review of the absentee ballot report, which shows the total amount of early voting and absentee ballots returned and the total amount of absentee ballots that have been voided, I noticed the numbers did not match what had been canvassed," Brannon wrote.

In an email to The Press on Wednesday night, Brannon said he believes changes are on the way to restore the confidence of voters in the elections process. He announced that he has hired Coeur d'Alene Press staff writer and military veteran Judd Wilson to replace Phillips as elections manager.

"New leadership recognizes a chain of command that follows directions explicitly," Brannon wrote. "The expectation is that employee turnover will be reduced, stabilizing personnel, resulting in better trained individuals. Exceptional communication with the clerk and chief deputy clerk is expected as situations occur, and we will be informed immediately."

In an email Wednesday night to The Press, Phillips said she’s also trying to move on. She said she interviewed for a crime analyst position at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office and is going through the background check process.

Brannon declined to speculate on if he believes there were any motivations behind the ballot discrepancy.

"I am not a mind reader and I do not know why the former manager did not report the discrepancy to me," Brannon wrote in the email. "It certainly was not a simple oversight for my chief deputy and I or for the Idaho Secretary of State. This audit had to be completed to make certain that all ballots were counted and properly reported."

When asked if he believed Phillips knowingly reported inaccurate ballot figures to the county commissioners, Brannon wrote: "When I requested the audit trail of ballots run through the machines, one report was marked with sticky notes showing areas of concern and possible errors."

Phillips said she did not knowingly provide inaccurate numbers, nor was there any malicious intent.

"At the time I felt that I did everything I could to rectify this by going through the audit trail with the counting machines to going back over all the envelopes counted by hand and reviewing reports from the Idaho Voter Registration system," Phillips wrote in an email. "There were no physical ballots found during this time. Had there been any ballots found during that time I would have divulged that information to Jennifer (Locke, the chief deputy clerk)."

After Brannon read his statement to The Press to other elected officials during Wednesday's meeting, no questions were asked of the clerk about the audit.

Commissioner Chris Fillios said he had the audit update put on the agenda because he wanted more information on the matter. He said the first time he became aware of the audit was when he read about it in The Press. No press release was sent before the audit was conducted.

Fillios said he was satisfied with Brannon's statement to The Press entitled "Elections audit: The untold story."

"There was a discrepancy and the discrepancy was found," Fillios said. "It sounds to me like it's case closed."

But Fillios said he's still curious about how exactly the discrepancy occurred.

Phillips earlier told The Press that she believes she was asked to leave her position due to "not being the right fit."

She also said displeasure with the elections counting process was not a reason she was given the choice of either resigning or being fired.

Phillips said there was a strained working relationship with Brannon, so she wasn't overly surprised about the move.

"During this election he was unavailable most of the time and would not speak to me directly or if he did it was only with Jennifer there," Phillips wrote. "There is no excuse for not being involved. I felt very uncomfortable at times and felt that I could not go to them.

"With that said, I should have told them of the discrepancy. I get to live with that poor decision. But I do know that I did the very best I could under the circumstances."

Brannon said he stayed away from the day-to-day elections matters during election season because his name was on the ballot.

The action against Phillips drew concerns from community members who also wondered if the audit was Brannon's way of validating the decision without disclosing confidential personnel matters.

"I don't know what Jim's intentions were," Phillips wrote. "As I stated before, I was not told I wasn't doing a good job. I can say that for nine years I was dedicated, honest and hard-working and I have conducted many accurate elections."

Phillips added that the stress was even higher during the November election because of unprecedented turnout.

"We were spread way too thin," she wrote. "There was also lack of support and attention from the higher ups."

Brannon has maintained that the two-day audit occurred simply because every vote needs to be counted.

"I was elected Kootenai County clerk to do the right thing even if it's difficult, unpopular or tedious," Brannon wrote.

Fillios said Kootenai County's vote discrepancy, while it needed to be addressed, does not compare to other glaring election flaps nationwide. He doesn't believe the intent of the local case was malicious, either.

"If someone was trying to sway the vote, 50 ballots wouldn't do it," Fillios said. "Not in a high turnout such as this."

Commissioner Bill Brooks said he also is content with Brannon's audit update to elected officials.

"It was a very plausible explanation as to what happened," Brooks said. "But, if there's additional information, I'd be interested in having access to it."

Brannon on Wednesday distributed to elected officials the last page of the absentee ballot report dated Nov. 14, which clearly shows the vote discrepancy.

Brannon told attendees that while no races in November's general election were close, the elections team must be vigilant to ensure all votes are counted as the March vote with school proposals won't likely draw as many voters but could have much closer results.

"Performing this audit greatly enhanced our knowledge of the entire process," Brannon wrote. "It was an opportunity to document procedures so future quality assurance measures can be implemented."