SOS: Tarleton defends voter rights, election security

Re: TNT endorsement of Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman (10/14).

State Rep. Gael Tarleton received the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement in cybersecurity and national security, skills crucial to fair elections. She sponsored bills passed in 2020 that strengthened elections security. She led legislative efforts to expand voting rights and participation.

In contrast, incumbent Wyman opposed efforts to expand voting rights on both state and national levels. She was the only SOS to testify in Congress against HR1 (that included early voting, unrestricted voting by mail, and paper ballots) and her office testified against state youth voter pre-registration and same day registration, claiming technical challenges.

Tarleton has an impressive record of administering, organizing and working across the aisle to complete complex large-scale projects. Wyman’s serious failures include failing to assure that precinct committee officers could file for the party of their choice, and overseeing envelope designs that needlessly exposed party identity in the presidential primary.

Tarleton will increase election security, expand voting and expertly run the Secretary of State’s office.

This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 12:28 PM with the headline "SOS: Tarleton defends voter rights, election security."