King County Elections officials held a hearing Thursday morning, Jan. 7, to review a challenge to North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing’s voter registration. Hearing was re-elected in November and sworn into office  Jan. 5.

If the challenge, filed Nov. 24 by Bryan Stokosa of Snoqualmie, is upheld, the city of North Bend will be in a rare scenario, having to address the problem.

All candidates for public office must be registered voters of the district in which they filed, said Kim van Ekstrom, spokesperson for King County Elections.

If an ordinary voter’s registration is found invalid for that district, county and state laws specify how the ruling affects the votes cast by that person. If that voter holds a public office, “now it falls under the city rules,” said van Ekstrom.

North Bend Municipal Code does not contain any references to a candidate’s voter registration being challenged and Hearing, speaking by phone on Wednesday, Jan. 6, could not recall any such incident during his 20-plus years in city government.

Challenges to voter registration are rare, van Ekstrom added. In her six years working with King County Elections, she said she’s seen at most one or two each year, and none were upheld.

“The burden of proof is on the accuser,” said Hearing.

Hearing’s residency in North Bend city limits is the subject of the challenge. According to the complaint, he lives on Southeast 133rd Street, not at his registered address on Janet Avenue. Hearing planned to prove his residency with utility bills and mortgage documents.

This challenge will be the first heard by Julie Wise, voted in as Elections Director in November, so van Ekstrom couldn’t estimate when a decision would be made.