Clark County Republican Party hosted event that featured Scott Presler, a conservative activist known for registering conservative voters throughout the country

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

A famous conservative activist known for getting out the vote paid a visit to Battle Ground on Monday to encourage people to protect the vote.

Hundreds of people welcomed Scott Presler during a signing rally for an initiative that would require Washington residents to prove they are citizens eligible to vote when they are registering to vote.

“As I travel this great country, I can firmly tell you besides securing the border, besides having peace and no new wars, the single most important thing that you guys desire … is you demand integrity in our elections,” Presler said.

Jim Walsh, the chair of the Washington State Republican Party, was in Battle Ground to explain the initiative and introduce Presler. Walsh is the one who helped write the initiative, in hopes of getting enough signatures to take the issue to the ballot in November of 2026.

Eventually, Walsh said, he wants the standard to be in-person, precinct voting in Washington. 

This initiative has nothing to do with mail-in voting nor the voting system. It is a first step, he said, to making bigger changes. This initiative only requires that people prove they are citizens when they are registering to vote.

“The voter ID initiative is the first step in the process of reforming our voting and restoring trust in elections in our state,” Walsh said. 

There were a few protesters outside the Battle Ground Event Center, and Walsh had a message for anyone spreading misinformation about the intentions behind the initiative.

“Don’t let anyone on the left say we want to suppress voting,” he said. “We don’t. We want maximum turnout. We want every legitimate voter in Washington to vote and to have their vote counted.”

Presler has gained a following nationally for his actions in serving communities in need throughout America, as well as registering Republicans. One of his claims to fame is helping register 50,000 Pennsylvania voters prior to the 2024 election. Pennsylvania voted for President Trump.

The son of a retired Navy captain, “I am that long-haired Eagle Scout,” he said as he opened with a story on how he got involved. He thanked President Obama.

“The night he got reelected in 2012, I realized I was part of the problem,” Presler said. “I wasn’t doing my part to get other people out to vote. When you are not the solution, you are the problem.”

During the first Trump administration, the president had some choice words regarding the garbage in the city of Baltimore. 

Presler said he realized he needed to do something. He wanted to lend a helping hand. He sent out a post on social media, it went viral, and within a week, hundreds of volunteers showed up to help. Those volunteers and Presler picked up 12 tons of trash in Baltimore.

“This is why I am a Republican. I don’t need the government’s permission to take action,” he said. 

His mission spread. He picked up garbage at a number of cities across the country. For that, he was protested. Strange, he thought.

Later, as he waited for the red wave that never came in the 2022 midterms, he found another calling. Presler started Early Vote Action. He understands that a lot of conservatives do not care for early voting. Maybe reform will happen, but, he said, conservatives must take advantage of current election rules.

“We cannot change the law until we win,” he said.

So now he travels the country, looking to register Republicans and/or fire up the base about signing petitions for “people-powered, citizen initiatives.”

Presler is in the state this week, touring many locations to promote the cause.

There were more than 200 people in the Battle Ground Event Center at 10 in the morning Monday. He called them diehards. But he also challenged them. He asked each of them to take a sheet of paper and find 20 other people to sign. 

He said if this initiative gets on the ballot for November 2026, he promised to return to Washington to encourage more election reform.

Monday’s event was hosted by the Clark County Republican Party. The chair, Matthew Bumala, said it was an honor to have Presler in Battle Ground.

Bumala also fired up the crowd by reminding them that earlier this month conservatives won eight of the 15 seats for the upcoming Clark County Charter Review Commission. Five years ago, only one conservative was elected to that commission. 

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