Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall is the recipient of the Election Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Thurston County announced Tuesday.
Also known as the National Association for Election Officials, the Election Center is the largest national professional association for election officials in the United States.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for individuals whose entire career arc has permanently and positively shifted the trajectory of the election administration profession.
“Mary Hall exemplifies the very best of election administration. She is a visionary practitioner whose work over three decades has modernized how elections are run,” said Dr. Kathleen Hale, executive director of the Election Center. “From pioneering statewide voter access reforms to establishing a framework for election cybersecurity, Mary has transformed administrative challenges into lasting blueprints for the entire profession. The Lifetime Achievement Award reflects a career dedicated not just to serving Thurston County, but to elevating the standards, security, and integrity of elections across the United States.”
Hall received the award at the Election Center's 41st Annual National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, held Aug. 19 to Aug. 21.
“It is an incredible honor to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Election Center," Hall said. "My focus has always been on making voting accessible to every eligible citizen while protecting elections against modern threats. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of my entire team in Thurston County and our collaborative partners across Washington State who work tirelessly to preserve trust in our elections."
Hall’s career in election administration spans three decades, beginning in Pierce County in 1996. After securing her National Certification in Elections Administration in 2004, she was elected Thurston County Auditor in 2013.
“Over the past 30 years, Hall has transitioned from a meticulous local practitioner into a pivotal legislative and operational architect, rewriting outdated administrative rules to meet the challenges of modern elections. Her career is defined by landmark legislative successes, pioneering cybersecurity models, and historic voting expansions,” Thurston County said in a news release.
Hall’s legacy is built on “her unique ability to pioneer structural changes that benefit hundreds of thousands of citizens across Washington state,” Thurston County said.
Hall spearheaded the statewide push for a suite of landmark voting access bills, including same-day voter registration, automatic voter registration, and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Her leadership was formally honored by Gov. Jay Inslee, who selected Auditor Hall as the only elected official invited to speak at the historic 2018 multi-bill signing ceremony for the Washington Voting Rights Act.
In addition to expanding access, Hall engineered a multi-year legislative strategy to secure proportional state funding for elections.
Recognizing that local property taxpayers were unfairly burdened with the entire cost of conducting state elections, Hall successfully convinced the Washington state Legislature to fully fund its proportional share beginning in 2022.
This structural victory permanently stabilized local county election budgets statewide.
Following the 2016 presidential election, Hall recognized that election security had transformed into a dynamic threat matrix requiring defensive technical leadership, Thurston County said.
In 2018, she formed and co-chaired the Thurston County Cyber Security Forum, aggressively integrating local, state, and federal resources.
By coordinating directly with the Department of Homeland Security for exhaustive system penetration testing and establishing mandatory county-wide cybersecurity training, Hall created “a groundbreaking blueprint,” the county said.
The National Association of Counties recognized this work nationally, awarding the program its prestigious 2019 Achievement Award and holding it up as a scalable model for local governments.
During the dual disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the highly polarized 2020 presidential election, Hall mobilized her team to rapidly stand up a fully secure drive-thru voting center on the campus of South Puget Sound Community College.
“This innovative, low-contact solution preserved safe access for thousands of voters while protecting front-line staff,” Thurston County said.
In 2021, Hall was named the Washington state Auditor of the Year by the Office of the Secretary of State, recognizing her crisis management and defense of voter access during the pandemic.
Hall did not file for reelection this year, and will leave the auditor’s office at the end of December.
Current Thurston County Elections Manager Tillie Naputi-Pullar is running unopposed for the position.
