Email to WA Secretary of State about improper governance at REI-COOP

 March 23, 2026,


Dear Secretary of State,

It is my understanding that your office has an oversight over the cooperatives registered in Washington State.
I am concerned that REI-COOP's board of directors has been violating the rights of the membership to elect board members.
During the election that took place in 2025, it's 3 candidates were defeated by a majority of withhold votes.
Thereafter, qualifying this result as disappointing the Board modified the bylaws so that coopted members would not have to be confirmed at the next election. 
This amendment deprives the coop membership of its rights to elect board members when they are coopted. and should be nullified as improper governance.
After adopting this amendment, in september 2025, the REI-COOP board coopted 3 new members that have not been confirmed by a vote of the membership. 
Therefore those unelected members have no legitimacy to belong to the board and should be removed or submit themselves to a special election. 
As a watchdog for the law governing cooperatives I hope you can take my concerns into consideration and stop the REI-COOP board of directors to deprive the membership of their rights to elect board members.
Respectfully,
Philippe Boucher
Bainbridge Island 

PS: I have collected more personal thoughts about those issues in the blog electionmockery.blogspot.com

As we see an authoritarian President trying to deprive citizens of their right to vote, it is frustrating to see an organization supposedly respectful of members rights doing exactly the opposite, apparently in complete impunity.

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