Inside The Audit Checking Franklin County Special Election Ballot

Ever wondered how our county election officials make sure our machine ballots are counted correctly? Here’s an inside peek at today’s special election ballot audit in Franklin County.

Elections watchers are present during the entire audit in the spirit of public transparency, and there is a viewing room where the public can watch as well. This special election revolved around a vote for/against Proposition 1, a levy for the Pasco School District. It passed with nearly 59% of the votes tallied.

State Laws Govern How County Auditors Inspect Election Ballots

It’s common knowledge that states govern their elections, and some have been questioning the validity of mail-in ballots. Few people seem to take advantage of the public viewing offered by county auditors that allow you to watch a live inspection of our mail-in ballots.

Today, I got a chance to see up close exactly how the process goes inside the county elections building on N 3rd Ave in Pasco.

Here’s What You Get to See in a Public Viewing of an Election Ballot Audit

Franklin County Elections Manager Suleima Wallwin and members of Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton’s staff conducted an audit for the levy vote’s Special Election on April 28, 2026 at 11 a.m. As required by state law (RCW 29A.60.170), there must be a post-election audit of six random batches within 48 hours of the election.

A random generator determines which specific batch of machine-counted votes will be chosen for a manual inspection by election workers. Their hand counts will verify if county election machines are correctly counting each vote submitted by Election Day.

Franklin County uses a new high-speed imprinter machine, obtained in 2025, that stamps a number on each ballot as it is processed. Having this machine eliminates the tedious need for a ballot inspectors to physically write a manual number on each election ballot that comes in the mail, and also shortens an otherwise long and time-consuming auditing process when the time comes.

 

For this special election, ballot inspectors verified machine counts for the following:

• Yes Votes for the Levy
• No Votes for the Levy
• Over Votes for the Levy (where someone voted for more than one selection on their election ballot form)
• Under Votes for the Levy (where someone skipped making a selection on their election ballot form)

Inspectors double counted each of the six batches before verbally confirming the tallies with the elections manager. This ensures the random machine counts match the hand counts.

READ MORE: Famous Stars With Surprising Deep Ties To Tri-Cities, WA

Note: At least one of the batches from the random drawing must contain at least 200 ballots.

The Auditor’s Office Says More Election Ballot Inspectors Are Welcomed

Wallwin says that more ballot inspectors are always welcomed to assist in future post-election ballot audits; all they have to do is apply online, pass the background check, and attend the special training.

Now that the random audit has been complete, a report of the findings will be given to the Canvassing Board and the election will soon be verified.

Election laws regulate how long election ballots are kept; they are stored for 22 months for federal elections and 60 days after non-federal elections, unless otherwise requested by the county auditor or other authority.

You can get more information on how to become a ballot inspector on the Franklin County Elections website.