Vulnerabilities exposed in Seattle voting system as police and prison abolitionists pull ahead in primaries

Two police and prison abolitionists are currently leading the polls in Seattle primary elections after updated ballot counts pushed the candidates ahead one week after the election took place on August 3.

Nicole Thomas-Kennedy (Seattle City Attorney candidate) and Nikkita Oliver (City Council candidate) campaigned on total abolition of the police force and prisons. They have also advocated for riots and are strong supporters of Antifa, the far-left anarchist group that spent the majority of 2020 rioting in Seattle and even siezed six blocks of the city during the deadly 'autonomous zone.'

During the ongoing riots in Seattle in August of 2020, Thomas-Kennedy referred to police as "armed thugs," supported black bloc Antifa activists and tweeted that "Property destruction is a moral imperative."

On Friday, longtime Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, a 12 year incumbent, conceded to Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and Ann Davison after receiving unfavorable results in the primary. Before Monday's updated count, law and order candidate Ann Davison had the lead. Although thousands of ballots remain uncounted, trendlines failed to show a promising swing in votes for Holmes.

"After two decades of public service to Seattle — the last 12 as your City Attorney — it's time to acknowledge that my opponents will be advancing to the general election," Holmes said in a statement. "While defeat is difficult to accept, it's inconsequential compared to the collective pain we've suffered as a City throughout this pandemic."

Come November, Seattle will decide between an abolitionist who won't prosecute misdemeanor crimes and a law-and-order candidate that hopes to restore the city from Holmes' failed revolving-door progressive policies.

Socialist Seattle City Council position 9 candidate Nikkita Oliver, an attorney, has been a longtime anti-police and prison activist. During the time of the George Floyd riots, Oliver worked to bail out rioters, including Antifa and is still leader of one of the groups that was active in the autonomous zone.

After the recent updated poll count, Oliver ended up surpassing Fremont Brewery co-founder Sara Nelson in the polls and currently has 40.16 percent of total votes compared to Nelson at 39.50 percent. Nelson was leading Oliver by a 42 percent to 34 percent margin last Tuesday.

Progressive candidates in Seattle pulling ahead towards the end of ballot counting, sometimes in miraculous numbers, has become the new normal in Seattle as Washington state's all vote by mail system continues to be refined

On election night, former council President Bruce Harrell held a 10-point lead over anti-police progressive candidate Lorena Gonzalez. However, current numbers show Harrell's results at 34 percent compared to Gonzalez at 32 percent, MyNorthwest reports.

However, video captured on primary election day at the ballot box in the West Seattle Junction exposed a voting system that is ripe for tampering. Voters were handing their ballots to election workers from their vehicles then drove off without checking to see if their ballot was placed in the box, acting in blind faith.

The Post Millennial contacted Secretary of State Kim Wyman's office for comment and Wyman's communications director, Kylee Zabel, defended the state's voter policies.

"It is the voter's responsibility to return their ballot. Voters have the option of placing it in an official ballot drop box themselves, which the voter in the second video did, or handing it to an election worker to be placed in an official ballot drop box. That choice must be made by the voter. Voters also have the choice to return their ballot postage free through the U.S. mail so long as it is postmarked by election day," Zabel said.

"State law does not require that observers be present for ballot drop box collection. However, observers, including at least one representative from each political party, may be present to observe counting center operations," Zabel added.

The comments by Wyman's office provide no reason to believe that Washington state will enact election integrity laws like many states across the country have recently passed, which include restrictions on vote-by-mail and ballot drop boxes.