EVERETT—On September 19, 2025, the Snohomish County Auditor, Garth Fell, issued a ruling dismissing a voter registration challenge against Niko Battle, a candidate for Everett City Council District 4. The Auditor’s decision comes 10 days after Battle’s name was removed from the General Election ballot by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent ruled that Battle did not provide sufficient evidence to prove he is a resident of District 4.
Battle’s name will still not appear on the General Election ballot, benefiting third place finisher Luis Burbano, unless Battle files and wins a successful appeal in court. John Dimas, after the Judge’s ruling on September 9, shared that he supports Luis Burbano, who replaced Battle on the District 4 ballot. Burbano will now face frontrunner, Alan Rubio who advanced to the General Election following the August Primary.
Dimas filed the challenge on August 18, 2025, asserting that Battle did not live at his registered address of 1730 112th St SW, Everett, WA 98204, known as Sage Apartments. Dimas claimed Battle’s actual residence is 1111 132nd St SW Apt. C, Everett, WA 98204, and supported his allegation with various documents, including a letter from the Sage Apartments manager and online directory searches.
Under Washington state law, any registered voter or county prosecuting attorney may file a voter registration challenge, as outlined in RCW 29A.08.810(2). The challenger must provide a signed affidavit based on personal knowledge and one of the specified grounds, such as alleging the voter does not reside at the listed address. The challenger, in this case Dimas, bears the burden of proving the claim with clear and convincing evidence, a standard defined as evidence that makes the fact at issue highly probable.
After a thorough review of evidence and testimony related to the voter challenge filed by John Anthony Dimas in August, who alleged that Battle did not reside at his registered South Everett address, the Snohomish County Auditor concluded that Dimas “failed to meet his burden of proof” and that the “Challenge to Nikolas Battle’s voter registration is dismissed.”
“The Auditor concludes that the Challenge does not demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence sufficient to override Mr. Battle’s registration and its presumptive evidence of the right to vote,” Fell wrote in his decision.
Fell analyzed the written submissions and Battle’s testimony. The burden of proof rested on Dimas, according to state law, to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that Battle did not reside at Sage Apartments which he failed to do so with Fell noting in his decision that Dimas’ failure to appear at his voter challenge hearing against Battle left the challenge reliant on submitted documents and Battle’s testimony.
“The documents presented by the Challenger, while admissible under the standards governing this proceeding, are unauthenticated hearsay, and the challenge did not appear at the hearing to explain their significance,” Fell wrote in his decision. “The Auditor considers the Challenge materials for purposes of the decision, but the lack of authentication or any supporting testimony lessens the weight that the Auditor places on these records.”
Dimas’ evidence included a letter from the Sage Apartments manager stating no record of Battle living there and setting occupancy limits. Additional documents comprised a US Phone Book listing, a Georgia voter registration record, a SPOKEO printout, utility records requests, and a returned mail attempt. Fell deemed this evidence as “unauthenticated hearsay,” lacking supporting testimony.
The Auditor’s decision is final unless Dimas, within the next 30 days, appeals to the Snohomish County Superior Court.
Author: Mario Lotmore
