Dayton resident Jessica Ruffcorn speaks during public comment in March 2023 at the Columbia County Rural Library District board meeting.

DAYTON, Wash. — A political action committee in Columbia County has taken legal action to block a measure to dissolve the county’s rural library district from appearing on the 2023 general election ballot.

In a complaint filed Tuesday, Aug. 29, in Columbia County Superior Court, Neighbors United for Progress Chair Elise Severe and committee member Gerald Kaiser allege the measure to dissolve the library district is unconstitutional and the effort to get it on the ballot was invalid.

The complaint names ballot measure sponsor Jessica Ruffcorn, Columbia County and the Columbia County Auditor’s Office, including Auditor Will Hutchens and elections supervisor Cathy Abel, as defendants.

Hutchens and Abel are named in their official capacities only in the complaint, which the Union-Bulletin obtained through a public records request.

The complaint alleges that the ballot measure is invalid and exceeds the county’s initiative powers, that the signatures to get the issue onto the ballot were obtained fraudulently and are invalid, and that the state’s dissolution statute is unconstitutional as applied because it disenfranchises city voters.

The complaint requests declaratory judgements on those items and injunctive relief, seeking to prevent the Auditor’s Office from including the issue on the November ballot and to recover attorney fees.

The named defendants have up to 20 days to respond to the complaint, according to the summons issued to each party Tuesday.

Signatures from at least 10% of registered voters in the unincorporated areas of the county were required for the issue to appear on the ballot. While the first petition submitted by Ruffcorn failed to receive the needed 107 signatures, a second petition did meet the 10% threshold.

Ruffcorn organized the petition to dissolve the library district after attempts to remove certain books concerning gender, sexual identity and anti-racism from library shelves failed.

The county said in June that only voters in the unincorporated areas of the county could petition or vote to dissolve the library under state statute, though the city had been annexed into the rural library district and city residents use its services.

In a Tuesday, Aug. 29, news release, Neighbors United for Progress said the ballot measure to dissolve the library is censorship by another name.

“It’s time to focus on building and creating things together rather than tearing things apart,” Severe said in the release.

Ruffcorn, Hutchens and Abel did not immediately respond to a request for comment by deadline.

This story is developing and will be updated. It has been changed to correct the day of the week of the filing.