Council approves all-mail voting for King County

Last week, the King County Council voted to conduct all elections by mail – once the infrastructure and management are in place to accomplish it. It could take until 2008.

Council also appropriated $1.6 million to cover the initial steps to convert to the vote-by-mail system, including advertising, education and improvements to the Elections Division culture.

The process to implement all-mail elections cannot begin until the Elections department meets three requirements:

• Appointment and confirmation of a Director of Records, Elections and Licensing Services and a Superintendent of Elections,
• Completion of the cultural change and management training recommended by the council’s Citizens Elections Oversight Committee and executive’s Independent Task Force on Elections.
• Council approval of the executive’s plan for all-mail elections that includes cost estimates, locations, and security measures for regional voting centers and ballot drop boxes.

The county will also establish a procedure to track ballots via the Internet as they move from King County to the voter and back to King County for counting.

Nearly 60 percent of registered voters in King County are permanent absentee voters. In some elections, the county says 80 percent vote absentee.

King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, one of Woodinville’s two representatives on the county council, said as many as 30 percent of absentee voters vote at home and take their ballots to a polling place. She believes the ratio of mail-in votes to polling-place votes is closer to 50-50.

The current system requires 528 polling locations and close to 4,000 poll workers for a countywide election, plus a full-scale mail ballot processing operation and facility.

Thirty-four of the state’s 39 counties have made the decision to conduct all-mail elections. King County would be the biggest local jurisdiction in the country to make the switch.

Councilman Bob Ferguson (District 1) represents a small portion of Woodinville on the King County Council. He did not reply to calls about this story; however, the following commentary was found on his Web site: “Prior to the infamous 2004 General Election, I advocated for King County Elections to specialize in one form of voting to streamline and perfect one election system. We currently operate two completely separate voting systems – absentee and poll voting.

With more than 70 percent of voters choosing to vote by mail in the 2006 General Election, it is clear that a majority of voters are choosing to vote with their stamps, not their feet.

“… Part of the vote by mail proposal includes the creation of a few satellite poll locations throughout King County to allow individuals the option of voting at the polls. I understand firsthand how important voting at the polls is for many citizens. My parents always vote at the Queen Anne Library. However, I believe all mail voting will improve the performance of our Elections Department.”

The council vote to conduct all elections by mail, however, was not unanimous. Councilmembers Kathy Lambert (District 3), Reagan Dunn (District 9), Jane Hague (District 6) and Pete von Reichbauer (District 7) voted not to support a mandatory vote-by-mail system at this time.

Lambert called the vote-by-mail legislation “a poorly designed scheme. For one thing,” she said, “they don’t have the staff, including the top two management positions and they’re short about a quarter of the line workers.”

She said the county spent $5 million on Diebold voting equipment while other parts of the nation are having serious problems with the same equipment. On top of that, she said, the county wants to consolidate the Elections operation in one building, so the department will be moving. No top management, too few employees, new equipment, and changing locations all add up to potential and costly problems.

There was talk of a regional polling place that would accommodate those unable to fill out their own ballots. There was even talk of a mobile van that would visit communities to pick up ballots. Lambert said she could imagine this van being available to Seattle residents at respectable hours and pulling into her district at midnight. These wrinkles need to be addressed, said Lambert.

Lambert also said the public isn’t aware of how many people handle a single mailed-in ballot.

She counts dozens of them, saying if people realized all that happens to their ballot after they’ve signed it, they’d say, ‘Yikes.’” She believes many people would be more comfortable taking their ballot to a polling place, putting it in the machine themselves, and being the only person to touch it.

KC Council adopts sewer rate, boosts capacity charge

The King County Council set the sewer rate for 2007 at $27.95 per month, up from $25.60 a month. The monthly sewer rate supports maintenance and operation of the county’s existing wastewater treatment system and is paid by all of its customers.

The council also increased the county’s wastewater capacity charge from $34.05 to $42.00 per month.

The capacity charge is paid by owners of newly constructed homes and businesses for the capital costs of providing new treatment facilities. The monthly capacity charge is assessed for 15 years after connection, but property owners can save 5 percent if they choose to pay a lump sum upfront.

Proposal to elect County Auditor

King County Councilmembers Reagan Dunn (District 9) and Jane Hague (District 6) are proposing a charter amendment that would create an elected County Auditor position.

According to Dunn, King County is the only county in Washington that does not place the administration of elections under the direct supervision of a separately elected official.

Two recent Elections oversight committees have recommended such a position, saying it would lend credibility to the Elections department.

The proposed legislation is a King County Charter amendment and must be put to a vote of the people. It would put the creation of an elected County Auditor on the November 2006 ballot. If passed by popular vote, an election for the County Auditor would occur on the November 2007 ballot.

The newly elected Auditor would take office in January 2008.

Funds approved to research restoration of original courthouse entrance

The King County Council re-designated $104,000 already appropriated to the Building Repair and Replacement Fund to assist in the analysis of redevelopment options for the south entrance of the King County Courthouse.

When the courthouse building was constructed in 1916, the main entrance, with a sweeping staircase made of white marble, was located on the south end of the building, facing Yesler Avenue and adjacent to City Hall Park. In 1967, the south entrance was converted into a loading dock and entrances were built on Third and Fourth avenues. The marble that was part of the entrance remains in place, covered by cement.

As recently as 2001, the county considered what it would take to re-open the south entrance, restore its majesty and bring vitality to the city park, but those plans were shelved by the Nisqaully earthquake.

Retrofitting the courthouse has been the primary issue since the quake, but with the completion of the project, the focus has returned to the south entrance.

Temporary closure of Sammamish River Trail between Wdvl., Redmond

There will be intermittent closures and restrictions along the Sammamish River Trail from July 10 through Aug. 8, weather dependant. King County road crews will repave and widen the trail from its current 10 feet to 12 feet.

Work will be done from the trail’s intersection with 145th Street in Woodinville south to its intersection with Northeast 124th Street in Redmond.

Cyclists will be able to use a temporary access adjacent to the trail during commute hours.

The trail and the temporary access, however, will be closed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. No work will be done on weekends.

While trail users will be able to use the trail’s shoulder to detour around most of the construction work, a small section of the trail where the right of way is extremely narrow will have to be completely closed for one day – possibly July 11 or 12.

The affected area is adjacent to the Redwood Apartments, south of the trail’s intersection with Northeast 145th Street.

An additional 24-hour closure of this section will be needed so that the asphalt can cure.

Sammamish River Tail users should check www.metrokc.gov for construction updates. More project information is available from Karan Soi at (206) 263-7283 or karan.soi@metrokc.gov.