Thurston County elections office wins national award for outreach and accessibility

The Thurston County Auditor's Office received a national award from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for its voter-outreach work and an additional honorable mention for accessibility, county officials said at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on May 6.

The award recognized a video-based outreach campaign the auditor’s office produced in house that features local election workers speaking unscripted about their duties. Auditor Hall said the videos were aimed at building trust by showing “the faces of the people that count the ballots.” Emmett O'Connell, communications manager in the auditor's office, told commissioners the office organized communications around three objectives: dates and how to vote, how ballots are counted, and the neighborhood-based series, “your neighbors, your election.”

"We wanted to show the community who really is behind elections," Auditor Hall said. She noted the county had also received a special mention for accessibility after partnering with Inner City Transit. Emmett O'Connell said the primarily lo‑fi, face‑to‑camera videos were unscripted and that the most measurable success was a marked change in the tenor of online comments when the county promoted the videos with paid ads.

Randy Gagnon, an election worker who described his duties processing and prepping ballots, said the office uses two‑person procedures during processing and that visiting the ballot processing center would reassure residents about chain of custody and accuracy.

"The process that they do is very impressive," Gagnon said. "If somebody would come down to watch what we do, I think they're gonna be impressed with how it's counted from the minute we get the ballot to the minute we process it through our tabulator and count it for the voter."

Auditor Hall and O'Connell told the board the outreach effort cost very little because it was produced in house and relied on volunteers; Hall also noted staff and volunteers had faced threats, including a prior incident where the office received a fentanyl‑laced envelope. The office said the campaign was intended to increase transparency and trust by showing election workers as neighbors and community members rather than anonymous officials.

The board applauded the office and staff after the presentation.