Nov 7, 2005
King County prepares for secure and accountable election
Voters registered to post office or personal mail boxes may cast a ballot in the November 8 General Election, but if the Canvassing Board finds the registrations to be invalid, their vote will not be counted. This is the determination made by King County Elections as it prepares for the first General Election to see the benefits of cleaner voter rolls, a more secure temporary facility and outreach that has resulted in more accurate voting.
"We are preparing for a more secure, accountable election and how we deal with challenged ballots reflects that," said Dean Logan, Director of King County Records, Elections and Licensing. "Each challenged voter is entitled to due process and we will protect everyone's right to vote if they are validly registered. The Canvassing Board will consider all ballots cast by challenged voters and if it is proven that someone is invalidly registered to a P.O. or personal mail box, their vote will not be counted and they will be removed from the voter rolls."
Logan stressed the work being done by staff to ensure challenged voters have every opportunity to correct an invalid registration in time to vote in the General Election. Each challenged voter was sent a certified letter notifying them of the challenge and giving the opportunity to provide a valid residential address by Saturday, November 5.
By law, a voter's registration is presumptive evidence of his or her right to vote in any election. A challenge may be made only upon the belief or personal knowledge of the challenging party that the voter is unqualified and the burden of proof lies with the challenger.
King County Elections has put procedures in place to track challenged votes so they will be counted if the challenge fails and rejected if it succeeds. All challenged voters are flagged in the database. If they vote an absentee ballot, their vote is flagged upon return and set aside to be considered by the Canvassing Board at a challenge hearing to be held before the election is certified on November 29. If they vote at the polls, they will be issued a challenged ballot that is placed in a sealed envelope separate from other ballots and considered by the Canvassing Board in a special challenge hearing.
If a challenged voter does not vote in the election, the challenge will be processed in the same manner as challenges made 30 days prior to the election where the Director of Elections holds a hearing and makes a decision based on an evaluation of the evidence. Hearings for these voters will be scheduled after the General Election is certified on November 29.
Going into the 2005 General Election Logan stressed improvements that will result in a more secure, accountable election:
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Voter rolls are cleaner. Registrations where a voter uses the words "P.O Box or PMB" are not processed until the voter provides a residential address. More than 18,000 duplicate registrations have been merged and the work continues between elections. The names of 8,900 deceased have been removed from the voter rolls. Since June, two countywide mailings resulted in 73,000 voter registrations put on inactive status.
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Staff has been added for better oversight at the polls. A new provisional ballot judge has been added to each polling place to ensure ballots are issued and handled properly. Procedures have been redesigned to better account for voted and unused ballots. Every polling place is staffed with Democratic and Republican appointed workers to ensure the utmost integrity at the polls.
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Reconciliation procedures are more accountable. While national experts like The Election Center recognize small discrepancies in reconciliation are normal and expected, we have set the bar high, following new state laws on reconciliation and producing new reports accounting for ballots cast and ballots counted. The Canvassing Board has legally certified five elections since these new procedures have been in place.
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Facilities are more secure. Since last year, we have installed infrared motion sensors, and security cameras at the new Temporary Elections Annex and security cameras at the Mail Ballot Operation Satellite (MBOS) where ballots are stored in secure, fenced cages. Sheriff Deputies monitor security cameras and guard ballots 24 hours a day, seven days a week through certification of the election on Nov.29. Sheriff's deputies and political observers will escort ballots from the Temporary Election Annex, where they are processed, to MBOS for tabulation.
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