ISLAND COUNTY—A jury found Tim Hazelo, a Republican ballot observer in Island County, guilty of unauthorized access to a voting center (felony) and criminal trespass (gross misdemeanor) during a jury trial Thursday, July 10, stemming from an incident where he refused to wear a mask, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, during the ballot counting process in a closed area. The Navy veteran, now faces up to two years in prison.
“We are going to appeal it,” said Hazelo. “The prosecution and the court won’t let the jury see all the information… We couldn’t talk about masks and the fact that there were all kinds of other people not wearing masks at different times. This is definitely a selective prosecution. The only people getting prosecuted are Tracy and I, the two Republican faces of Island County…I don’t blame the jury for making the decision they did because couldn’t have the information; they were not given the information they needed to make the right decision.”
Hazelo is the former Chair of the Island County Republicans and ran against Rep. Rick Larsen back in 2020 to represent Washington’s Second Congressional District. He also served as a 2024 National Delegate at the Republican National Convention.
Leading up to the November 2024 election, Hazelo was scheduled to be a ballot observer in Island County when he was forcefully removed by law enforcement for not wearing a mask. Body camera footage from the officers shows Hazelo at first argued his right to be there but eventually complied with their orders.
According to the police reports, however, Hazelo turned toward a fellow elections worker (who reported Hazelo to the police) before leaving saying “I know who you are,” which the election worker took as a threat. Hazelo’s testimony states, on the other hand, that this election worker first called him an “asshole” and returned the threat.
The responding officers did not wear masks when entering the ballot counting room when asking Hazelo to leave. A week after Hazelo’s trespass, security camera footage of the room also captured a ballot counter who was not wearing a mask while inside the room. That man was not asked to leave or charged with a crime.
When challenged why this unmasked election worker was not similarly trespassed, or charged, the Island County Auditor’s Office said that he was not wearing a mask because he was drinking a beverage. However, security camera footage does not show a beverage near the worker. It is also against the Island County Elections rules that food and beverages be allowed in the counting room.
Per state law, RCW 29.A.60.170, County Auditors shall request a list of individuals willing to serve as ballot counting observers from each major political party — to ensure accuracy and transparency. Observers are not allowed to touch the ballots, the statute states, just simply observe the counting process. The RCW does not state, however, that a mask must be worn during this observation process. That mandate was enforced by Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider, also a Republican, who said she imposed the mandate due to several of her staff members getting sick during the August primaries.
Those who did not wish to wear a mask could still observe the counting process from the hallway, but Hazelo believed he had a right to be in the counting room proper and argued that his view was obstructed from the hallway viewing area.
Another Republican election observer, Tracy Abuhl, who formerly served as vice chair for the Island County Republican party, was also asked to leave for not wearing a mask just one week before Hazelo on November 4. Abuhl also faces similar charges. Her trial was set for last month but was continued.
Both Hazelo and Abuhl were originally charged with “disorderly conduct” – a misdemeanor – but that charge has since been upgraded to a class C felony by Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks. They both pleaded not guilty.
The criminal charge is under RCW 9.A.20.021 regarding unlawful access to a voting center. Unlawful access to a voting center is defined, under this law, as “any person who willfully and without authority accesses or assists another person or entity with unauthorized access to a voting center, election office, ballot counting area, ballot storage area, or any election system, or provides unauthorized access to another person or entity to a voting center, election office, ballot counting area, ballot storage area, or any election system, whether electronic or physical access.”
Hazelo originally did have the authority to access the ballot counting area as he was selected by the Auditor to be an official observer and officially signed in on November 4, however he was trespassed by police after he did not leave when requested to by officials. Hazelo did not return to the ballot counting area after being trespassed.
“I signed in, I signed the documentation, I was authorized to be there regardless of what I did in the room or not, which I did nothing but sit down and watch the counting,” said Hazelo. “I was authorized to be there so how can this be unauthorized access?”
Social media posts from the Prosecutor who upgraded the charge, Banks, has been staunchly opposed to Republicans, President Donald J Trump, and anti-maskers, commonly voicing his disdain. Because of this, Hazelo believes the upgraded charge to be politically motivated, which Banks denies.
Leading up to Thursday’s hearing, Banks sent a letter to Hazelo saying that if he did not plead guilty to the misdemeanor crimes he would upgrade the charges to a felony.
Hazelo, on his own personal social media page, has a history of posts of America First polices on immigration, critical of LGBTQ, and pro January 6 content. However, Hazelo does have a First Amendment right to his opinion; whereas, a prosecutor is typically held to a higher standard.
Hazelo argued that Auditor Sheilah Crider had no authority to impose a mask mandate in her office, but Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Joseph Wilson, a visiting judge in the case, disagreed, saying that the Auditor was entirely within her right to impose safety regulations for her place of work.
Another visiting judge in the case from Whatcom County, who was originally assigned, was disqualified from hearing Hazelo’s case by Banks without any given reason.
“This is a very amazing thing. I can torch a federal building, I can vandalize a Tesla, I can graffiti, I can defecate on a sidewalk, I can beat someone up, I can yell and scream at the top of my lunges and scare old people at a park, I can do all of that and nothing,” said Hazelo following his conviction. “But I don’t wear a face mask, when there’s no COVID emergency, or any other kind of medical emergency, and I’m found guilty of a felony.”
Washington State lifted its COVID-19 State of Emergency in October, 2022. The Department of Health lifted its mask mandate on April 2, 2023.
Hazelo continued that he had “very little time” to testify during court proceedings while those arguing against him had “hours.” He also said that Prosecutors could not directly reference the state law that he was in violation of and had to “go off of memory.”
Hazelo now, in addition to facing jail time, could lose necessary security clearances for his job with a felony charge on his record. He’s planned to be sentenced at a later date but plans to appeal.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
One Response
It is outrageous that the judge did not allow the defense to show the jury that other people who were not wearing masks were in the ballot counting room. That shows selective prosecution.
Also, Hazelo makes an excellent point when he lists all the far worse things WA prosecutors decline to charge, but then charge him for the very reasonable position of not wanting to wear a mask. Again, selective prosecution.
Also, it is sad that so many people still think surgical or cloth masks do anything to stop the spread of covid or other respiratory viruses. For years, there has been data showing that places with strictly enforced mask mandates have similar covid occurrences to places with virtually no mask wearing. That an official in Nov 2024 was still making people wear masks is sad. It’s yet another failure of our public health system that they ever recommended masks in the first place and that they have not issued a retraction and apology. Because those health officials don’t want to admit they were wrong, people still want to make others wear masks, and we end up with situations like this, where one citizen knows the facts, and others don’t.
For anyone still thinking masks stop respiratory viruses, please see Unmasked: The Global Failure of COVID Mask Mandates, by Ian Miller | Jan 20, 2022. Surgical masks stop saliva droplets from falling into an open surgical incision; they do nothing to stop respiratory viruses.