Auditor candidates Mitchell Kelly and Eileen Quiring O’Brien stress election integrity

What combination of skills, experience and public service will make for the best Clark County auditor? That’s the question voters will decide when they submit their ballots for the Nov. 3 general election. Mitchell Kelly, a longtime employee in the auditor’s office, is facing off against former county councilor and Oregon legislator Eileen Quiring O’Brien. O’Brien, 78, served on the county council from 2017 to 2022, in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1995 to 1997 and in the Oregon Senate from 1997 to 2001. Kelly, 44, has worked 10 years for the county auditor’s office — three as controller and the past seven as reporting and analysis manager. Although O’Brien did not respond to The Columbian’s request for an interview, she participated in a Sept. 23 League of Women Voters candidate forum. She said her first priority if elected will be to order a full audit of all departments under the auditor’s office, including elections, auto licensing, financial services and marriage licenses. “Taxpayers deserve an independent executive who will step in on Day 1, open the books and conduct a complete third-party audit across every division,” she said during the forum. O’Brien also said she is focused on election integrity, especially cleaning up the voter-registration database and conducting more thorough audits of election results. In a recent interview, Kelly said his primary goals are to protect and ensure the integrity of elections, protect and rebuild public trust, and improve financial reporting. “I think there’s a lot a misinformation and disinformation being disseminated in our community,” he said. “It makes people feel their vote isn’t important, and I want people to think the opposite.” Along with continuing to improve camera surveillance at election drop boxes, Kelly said, he wants to find ways to better provide information to residents about elections and other responsibilities that fall under the auditor’s office. One example would be short videos that explain each step in the election process, something he’s seen other counties do with great success. “The world has changed, and we need information in the way that we consume it,” he said. O’Brien also is focused on election security. She said voter-registration rolls need to be scrubbed to eliminate incorrectly or illegally registered voters. “Right now, the current administration relies on passive self-attestation rather than proactive checks,” she said during the candidate forum. “True security begins when an auditor takes responsibility for cross-referencing eligibility databases and cleans out the voter rolls proactively on Day 1.” However, Kelly said both federal and state election laws limit what actions can be taken at the local level. For example, voters can’t automatically be unregistered if their ballot is returned to the auditor’s office as undeliverable. He said the law allows removal only after ballots are returned twice. Similarly, a voter can be marked as inactive only after failing to vote for four consecutive years. “It’s not just how the elections process works but why does it work this way,” Kelly said. He said his time in county government, and specifically in the auditor’s office, has given him the skills and experience needed to serve in the leadership role. While the August primary election results showed a close race between Kelly and O’Brien, with less than 1 percent of all votes cast separating them, O’Brien is outpacing Kelly in campaign fundraising. O’Brien has raised around $47,000 while Kelly has raised $26,731, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. Both candidates have relied heavily on individual campaign donations. Nearly 78 percent of Kelly’s campaign contributions have come from individual donors, along with the Vancouver Firefighters Union and Southwest Washington Central Labor Council. Although current Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey hasn’t officially endorsed Kelly, he said he’s encouraging anyone who asks to vote for him. Individual donors make up 85 percent of O’Brien’s fundraising, along with Peck Petroleum Corp. and National Advertising Consultants.

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