Culp alleges election tampering ahead of August primary
It’s primary day in Washington state. Votes have yet to be made or counted, however, one Trump-backed candidate is already trying to cast doubt on the election.
In 2020, Republican Loren Culp ran for governor. He claims, without evidence, that he lost because the election was stolen.
RELATED: Far-right activist visits Washington for Culp fundraiser
This week, he took to Twitter to claim an election law violation in the 4th District, where he’s now running for Congress. Culp posted a screenshot of the Yakima Herald's website that appears to show a vote tally.
And according to state law, results aren't supposed to be released until after 8 p.m., Tuesday (election day).
But Yakima Herald editor Gregg Halling clarified that no actual vote tally was posted. The screenshot Culp cites was of an election test page on the Herald's website, ahead of the actual election. Newspaper officials thought that only staff could see it. But people found the test page via Google searches.
The Yakima Herald has since taken the page down.
Washington's Secretary of State office says they have no reason to believe this is vote tampering.
Culp has asked the Yakima Police Department to investigate the incident, but department has declined to pursue the matter because it's not a local police matter.
RELATED: 'The lack of integrity ... it gets me,' says new leader for Washington's Mainstream GOP
-
David Hyde
Reporter
David’s people-focused politics coverage tracks local and national races. At KUOW, David has also reported for our Hearken Team answering listener questions,and covered a variety of other topics ranging from vaccine hesitancy to climate change.
More stories from David Hyde »
