Another former Republican Party official is facing a felony charge in connection with her refusal to abide by a mask mandate in the Island County Elections Office last fall.

Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks charged 61-year-old Tracy Abuhl, a Camano Island resident, in Island County Superior Court Feb. 25 with unauthorized access to a voting center, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in the first degree. The charge of unauthorized access to a voting center is a felony.

Abuhl was the former vice chairperson of the Island County Republican Party and an election observer. The charges against her are the same recently filed against Tim Hazelo, the former chairperson of the party.

The prosecutor initially charged both Abuhl and Hazelo in district court with a single count each of disorderly conduct. When negotiations failed, he filed the new charges in superior court.

If convicted of the charges, Abuhl and Hazelo could face up to a year in jail under the standard sentencing range.

Abuhl and Hazelo contend that they are innocent because the auditor’s office didn’t have the right to impose a mask mandate.

On Feb. 18, the Silent Majority Foundation, an Eastern Washington organization, filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in Island County Superior Court on behalf of Hazelo, Abuhl and resident James Peterson. The lawsuit was filed against Island County government as a whole and also names Banks, Island County Auditor Sheilah Crider and Commissioner Jill Johnson as defendants. It argues that neither the auditor nor the county canvassing board have the authority to make health-related rules.

The report by the Coupeville marshal explains that the Elections Office in Coupeville experienced a COVID-19 spike during the primary election and, as a result, Crider imposed a mask mandate in the ballot counting room during the general election. On Oct. 28, Abuhl was observing in the ballot processing room but refused to wear a mask. Elections staff repeatedly asked her to leave but she refused, the report states.

Abuhl told Elections Office staff that they were “going to have to take (her) out,” according to court documents.

When the marshal and a deputy arrived, Abuhl told them she would not wear a mask but starting walking to the door right away. The two officers walked her out and told her not to come back. Another observer in the public area recorded the incident and later posted it online.

In Abuhl’s statement on the incident, she wrote that she was told that she would have to observe from the hallway if she wouldn’t wear a mask but that the vantage point severely limited her visibility.

Abuhl noted that the next day KOMO TV News conducted an interview in the Elections Office and a staff member was recorded working without a mask in the observation room, she wrote.

Abuhl could not be reached for comment.