Auditor Pat McCarthy has taken her name off voter surveys that will be distributed at Pierce County polling places next Tuesday.

McCarthy said today that she took the action last week after her fellow county executive candidates and state Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser complained she had violated the sanctity of the ballot and perhaps given herself an unfair advantage by distributing the survey in mail ballots. State law bars officeholders from using public resources to promote their campaigns.

McCarthy, a Democrat and one of four candidates for county executive, argued the survey (here’s a copy) on ranked choice voting is part of her normal duties as auditor, and state officials said they saw nothing illegal about it.

But after people started complaining, she had her staff cut off the tops of the surveys that will be distributed at the polls, removing her name. McCarthy said the move didn't cost taxpayers anything.

McCarthy said she took the action before County Council Chairman Terry Lee yesterday sent her a letter requesting that she refrain from distributing surveys at the that contained her name.

In the letter, Lee, a Republican, cited a County Council budget proviso that prohibits the auditor’s office from using the name, image or likeness of any Pierce County official on ranked choice voting education materials. McCarthy claims she didn't violate the proviso because she paid for the survey out of another pot of money. Lee disagreed.

“While the distribution of an RCV survey with the general election ballots may very well be an usual and ordinary function of the auditor’s office, it is my position that the deliberate inclusion of your name and signature on the survey constitutes a clear violation of the spirit and intent of the budget proviso,” Lee wrote.

You can download a copy of Lee’s letter here.

Update: Last week Nick Handy of the Secretary of State's office praised McCarthy for a 2004 survey similar to the one now in question. He also said it was within McCarthy's prerogative to conduct the new survey.

On Wednesday, communications director Dave Ammons clarified the office's position. He said Handy and Secretary of State Sam Reed aren't saying there's nothing wrong with McCarthy's actions. He said they're just saying there's no state law to prohibit it.

Ammons said neither Reed nor Handy contacted McCarthy about the survey. He added:

When this first broke, Sam requested hard copies of the materials, including the stuffer she did in the 2004 pick-a-party primary ballot packet. After reviewing the materials, his comment was that he hadn't signed materials inside the voting packets when he was county auditor, but that she hadn't broken any laws that he knew of. So any criticism from him or Handy was implicit only. They are fully aware, of course, of the campaign that is underway for County Executive and really wanted to be circumspect about the situation. In this instance, it really is for the voters to weigh.