A challenge of Kent School Board candidate Trisha Sanders’ residency in the district has been denied by King County Elections director Sherril Huff due to a lack of evidence.
Kent School Board member Russ Hanscom, Sanders’ opponent for the District 1 seat, filed a voter registration challenge alleging Sanders did not live at the Kent address she used to file.
Sanders decided in July not to actively seek the board seat, but her name appeared on the Nov. 3 ballot.
A hearing for the challenge was held on Oct. 28. Sanders attended the hearing but neither Hanscom nor former Kent City Council candidate Bailey Stober, who submitted the voter registration challenge with Hanscom, were there.
Huff announced at the hearing she would make her decision within 10 days. The ruling was made released last Friday.
Sanders presented several documents to show her residency, including an affidavit stating when she moved in, her driver’s license, voter registration card, copies of several utility bills at the address under her name and the certified letter sent to her address informing her of the hearing, which her husband signed for.
In the challenge, Hanscom said he made multiple attempts to contact Sanders at the address, including sending a certified letter and visiting the residence, to no avail. He said her Facebook account says she lives in Federal Way.
In her ruling, Huff wrote that Hanscom and Stober “failed to meet the high burden of proof” required. Hanscom and Stober did not provide an address where they believe Sanders lives.
“They only allege that she does not reside at the address lister in her voter registration record,” Huff wrote. Hanscom said in an email on Monday he was informed of the ruling by email.
“Certainly this all could have been prevented had Ms. Sanders replied to my registered letter inquiring on her residency status,” he said. “The matter appears to be put to rest.”
If the challenge was upheld, Sanders’ voter registration would have been cancelled. Since the challenge was received on Oct. 2, less than 45 days before the election, the decision would not have affected the Nov. 3 election.
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