By Jim Brunner

Seattle Times political reporter

As midterm voting kicks into high gear, Republican activists in Washington are organizing surveillance of ballot drop boxes, generating complaints and concern from some elections officials.

Over the weekend, signs were posted near ballot boxes in several Seattle-area locations, with red letters warning the boxes are “Under Surveillance” and stating that accepting money “for harvesting or depositing ballots” may violate federal law.

A scannable code on the signs pointed to a section of the King County Republican Party website with a form encouraging people to submit “election incident” reports, including photos and video.

Meanwhile, a group calling itself “WA Citizens United to Secure Ballot Boxes” is promoting drop-box surveillance statewide, encouraging people to sign up to watch ballot boxes and record video of people “dumping an in ordinate [sic] amount of ballots” and “taking pictures of themselves doing it,” according to the organization’s “Drop Box Watch” website.

The signs in King County were spotted near at least two ballot boxes in Seattle on Sunday, at the Lake City and Broadview branches of the Seattle Public Library.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/republican-activists-organizing-surveillance-of-ballot-drop-boxes-in-washington/