Peggy-Jo “PJ” Faria lost her bid for Ocean Shores City Council Position 6 by exactly one vote, 1,739 to 1,740 against Richard Wills. Now she and Ocean Shores Mayor Frank Elduen have filed a federal lawsuit claiming the county misplaced their names on the 2023 ballot and then worked to hide the mistake.
According to KING 5, Faria and Elduen sued Grays Harbor County, Auditor Joseph MacLean and Deputy Auditor Scott Turnbull in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Per the complaint, the two had drawn the first ballot position in a random drawing but appeared second on the ballots mailed to voters in 2023. The lawsuit does not ask a judge to overturn the election results or remove anyone from office — it seeks damages and changes to how the county handles ballot-order procedures going forward.
Faria is seeking compensation for campaign spending, lost council pay and benefits, emotional distress and other alleged harm, the station's report notes. Elduen, who won his mayoral race despite the alleged ballot error, is seeking recovery of legal expenses he says he spent investigating the issue. The lawsuit also requests punitive damages against MacLean and Turnbull specifically.
A Drawing, a Discrepancy, and a Disputed Explanation
Grays Harbor County held its candidate-order drawing on May 19, 2023. Per the complaint, the signed drawing record placed both Faria and Elduen first in their respective races — but a county-typed report instead listed Elduen first and Faria second, per the same account. When the Elduens raised questions, a county elections account reportedly assured them that Elduen's ballot position was correct and explained that the online report reflected candidate filing order rather than the actual drawing results, per the lawsuit.
The complaint disputes that explanation entirely. It also alleges that Deputy Auditor Scott Turnbull emailed a revised report to Auditor Joseph MacLean that appeared to change the recorded order to match what had already gone to print on the ballots, according to the complaint.
Earlier reporting adds more texture, though accounts differ on the exact chronology. The Daily World reported that the initial May 19, 2023 lot draw listed Elduen first over his opponent, incumbent appointed Mayor Jon Martin, while The Daily Chronicle described Elduen's name as initially appearing first but then being moved to second after the lot draw. An early military absentee ballot posted online in September 2023 showed Elduen listed second, according to The Daily World, while a separate seed fact states that an early military ballot showed Jon Martin listed first against Elduen. The dossier does not reconcile these differing accounts.
A Records Fight That Outlasted the Election Challenge Window
The signed drawing record did not surface publicly until October 16, 2024 — well after public records requests had been filed and, crucially, after the window to formally challenge the election results had already closed. A Thurston County Superior Court ruling, issued in July 2026, found that the auditor's office had failed to adequately search for and disclose the signed lot-draw record in response to records requests, according to the complaint. The court went further, finding that certain records appeared to be fabricated to cover a huge error on the part of the Grays Harbor County Auditor's Office, in the court's own words.
Separate reporting from The Daily Chronicle on the underlying public-records case put a number on the delay, stating the signed lot-draw document was released 184 days after the Elduens' initial request. In that same case, Judge Schaller said she was not ruling that election laws had been violated — a distinction the Chronicle's report took care to note applied only to the records dispute, not to the ballot-order claims now before the federal court.
What the Research Says About Ballot Position
The lawsuit cites research indicating that candidates listed first can gain an advantage from their position alone, and Faria's second-listed position allegedly cost her votes in a race decided by a single ballot, per the lawsuit. The broader academic record is mixed. The MIT Election Lab notes that research largely confirms appearing first can increase a candidate's chances of performing well, though the lab cautions that the actual difference between first and second position may be relatively small and the effect does not always occur.
Some studies found sizable effects in specific contexts. A study of 118 Ohio downballot races in 1992 found ballot order made a substantial impact in 48% of those races, per MIT Election Lab, and a study of New York City Democratic primaries in 1998 found candidates listed first received a larger vote share in almost 90% of nominating contests. California city council and school board elections showed first-listed candidates winning office four to five percentage points more often than expected, the lab reports. A separate study of Danish parliamentary elections in 2007, 2011 and 2015, published on ScienceDirect, found ballot positions have a causal effect on election results in proportional-representation systems.
Other research cuts the other way. A study of California's 1998 general election, hosted on MIT DSpace, found little systematic evidence that candidates' vote shares benefited from being listed first on the ballot. The dossier's evidence does not establish that ballot order caused Faria's one-vote loss; it only documents what the lawsuit alleges and what the wider research literature has found in other elections.
What the Lawsuit Wants Changed
Beyond damages, Faria and Elduen are seeking several procedural changes from the county: a requirement that someone other than the ballot-proof preparer check it against the drawing before ballots are printed, a requirement that the county publish signed drawing records within five business days, and a requirement that the county preserve those signed records going forward. Under Washington law, the state legislature's RCW 29A.36.131 already requires that the filing officer determine ballot order by lot after candidate filing closes, and that the determination be public and witnessed by media and candidates.
Faria and Elduen intend to run for Ocean Shores City Council again in November 2027, according to the complaint. Whether their lawsuit changes how Grays Harbor County handles its ballot drawings before then remains to be seen.
