About King County Elections

Our organization

King County has 1,015,000 registered voters and that number continues to grow each month. Although 37 of the 39 counties in Washington have moved to all-mail voting, King County still operates 396 polling places. Most voters, about 62 percent, prefer to vote by mail and anywhere between 70 and 80 percent of all ballots cast in any given election are cast by mail. King County is planning to transition to vote by mail in 2009.

King County Elections is staffed by 70 dedicated and hard working full time employees who have a strong sense of pride and commitment to the work they do. Working in collaboration with the Executive and Council, Elections has continually worked to establish open and transparent processes and since 2004 has implemented more than 300 reforms.

Mission statement

By conducting accurate, secure and accessible elections, we provide an opportunity for the people of King County to participate in their government.

Guiding principles

At King County Elections we PLEDGE that we will:

• Plan ahead and continuously improve our efficiency and our effectiveness;
• Listen and learn from the public and each other to facilitate open and timely communication;
• Educate the public and each other about election processes;
• Dedicate ourselves to democracy by conducting fair and impartial elections;
• Guide each other to fulfill our mission with excellence;
• Encourage everyone’s contribution for the success of our team.

About King County

Located on Puget Sound in Washington State, and covering 2,134 square miles, King County is nearly twice as large as the average county in the United States. With more than 1.8 million people, it also ranks as the 14th most populous county in the nation.