During public comment on Jan. 7 residents urged Washington County commissioners to investigate and seek greater transparency in local election administration. Speakers reported mail-delivery problems, long lines at county election offices, discrepancies in ballot and voter counts, and concerns about noncitizen registrations. Commenters asked commissioners to press county elections staff at a scheduled Jan. 21 work session.

Mary Hall Keopulos (who identified herself as a county resident of 23 years) told the board she was concerned about recent resignations in the Oregon Secretary of State's office and alleged broader problems in state election oversight. Jackie Poppin summarized testimony from a Dec. 12 Oregon House interim panel and cited specific problems county clerks reported elsewhere, including a multiday shutdown of a secretary-of-state phone line during ballot inquiries, a drop-box fire in Multnomah County and delays or failures in ballot delivery observed in Coos County.

John Woods and other speakers urged the county to require more verification and transparency in voter registration and counting. Woods said he was reading a national commentary criticizing Oregon's voter self-attestation procedures and argued for stronger identity verification; his remarks included claims about noncitizen registrations that he said are reflected in state-level reports.

Sandra Nelson, invoking a historical theory of "lesser magistrates," urged commissioners to interpose when she perceives state laws are unjust; Jill Atre asked the board to press elections staff on a list of technical questions at the Jan. 21 work session. Atre specifically requested that commissioners ask about:
- who maintains Washington County's voter rolls and how eligibility/citizenship was verified for the Nov. 5, 2024 election, including UOCAVA ballots;
- whether ballots without a USPS postmark are accepted and counted;
- how many Washington County voters reported not receiving ballots for the Nov. 5 election;
- whether one or both ballot sorters were inoperable on election night and how that affected counting;
- why a second and final logic-and-accuracy (L&A) test was repeated on Dec. 2 after an initial test on Nov. 29; and
- an unexplained increase of 584 ballots and a reported decrease of 833 voters on Dec. 2 compared with earlier counts.

Bob Terry, who also spoke, said the citizen group presenting testimony has collected documentation and looks forward to the Jan. 21 session. Several speakers asked the board to seek or accept written testimony and to share questions with federal lawmakers; one speaker suggested sending materials to U.S. senators.

Clerk Moss and Chair Harrington noted the board's upcoming schedule; the commissioners have a work session with the Elections Office set for Jan. 21, 2025, where, according to speakers, commissioners will be able to observe but not engage in a public dialogue. Speakers asked the board to raise the listed technical questions during that session or to schedule a separate discussion with citizen groups and elections staff.

Commissioners did not take action at the Jan. 7 meeting during the public comment period; the concerns raised will be available to the board ahead of the Jan. 21 work session, which staff and commissioners referenced on the record.