Two people who flouted a mask requirement in the Island County Elections Office and then attempted to have a judge reverse the rule are facing criminal charges.

Tim Hazelo and Tracy Abuhl, the former chair and vice chair of the Island County Republican Party, were charged with misdemeanors in Island County District Court for allegedly disturbing the process of counting ballots during the general election.

Abuhl, a Camano Island resident, was surprised to receive a summons on charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct just before Christmas, according to Hazelo.

Hazelo is facing a single count of disorderly conduct. A report by Coupeville Marshal Bo Miller indicates that Hazelo actually asked to be cited and warned that he would return to the Elections Office if he didn’t receive one.

Hazelo later referenced the citation in an affidavit he filed in a motion for an injunction against Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider, a Republican who imposed the mask mandate. He told the sheriff that he needed the citation to have standing in the civil action.

Despite this, Hazelo said in an interview this week that he will fight the criminal charge in court and claimed that Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks, a Democrat, is pursuing the cases for political reasons. As the county prosecutor, Banks also defended Crider in the civil injunction case.

Banks said he takes disruption of the election processes seriously.

“I believe the public is also very interested in ensuring elections are not tampered with,” he wrote in an email. “It has been a topic frequently in the headlines since 2020.”

Misdemeanor crimes carry a possible penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Hazelo said he will also continue to pursue a legal remedy in the separate, civil case over the mask mandate in the Elections Office. He said it’s an issue he wants the court to weigh in on.

“It has nothing to do with masks. That was just the catalyst,” he said. “The question is whether a low-level politician can make up arbitrary rules and impose them on the public.”

Crider wrote in an affidavit in the injunction case that 10 people in the office became ill and tested positive for COVID during the primary ballot recount in August.

“Because all of our volunteers are over the age of 65, and because we cannot afford to lose essential workers to perform the work of processing ballots, I have required that all staff, volunteers and observers in the ballot processing rooms wear a protective face mask,” she wrote.

During the primary election, two people were asked to leave the Elections Office when they refused to wear masks. Then in October, police escorted Abuhl out of the Elections Office when she also refused to wear a mask. She posted a video of the incident on social media, which caused an online uproar and was covered by regional news media.

Then on Nov. 4, Hazelo walked into the Elections Office and told a deputy that he wasn’t going to wear a mask in the ballot processing room, despite many signs posted around the office about the policy, according to the marshal’s report. Hazelo was offered another opportunity to wear a mask but he refused, saying that the auditor does not have authority under state law to impose such a rule.

The marshal asked Hazelo to leave. Hazelo asked if he was going to get a citation and said he would return if not cited. Hazelo told the marshal that he needed a citation for his refusal to follow the policy, and the marshal replied that he could give him one if they walked outside to his vehicle, according to the report. Hazelo complied and the marshal cited him for disorderly conduct.

The marshal’s report states that he later learned that Hazelo made a personal call from within the ballot processing room in “clear violation of the rule against use of electronic devices.”

On the morning of Election Day, Hazelo, Abuhl and resident James Peterson filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Crider. The motion argued that Crider doesn’t have the statutory authority to impose a health-related rule in her office.

Island County Superior Court Judge Christon Skinner heard the arguments that afternoon. Skinner ruled that only Peterson was allowed to continue as a plaintiff since the others didn’t sign the document and Hazelo wasn’t present.

Skinner denied the motion because the mask requirement would not cause “irreparable harm.”

“The question before the court is whether wearing a mask prohibits them from going into that room and observing. It does not,” he said.

But Skinner also said the motion wasn’t frivolous and that the plaintiffs can still seek declaratory relief once the complaint is amended to comport with court rules.

On Jan. 2, the judge officially granted the written order denying the emergency motion for preliminary injunction. Hazelo said he was waiting for the step before moving forward in the civil action.