The committee formed to restore voter confidence in the election system told the Metropolitan King County Council at today’s Committee-of-the-Whole that many of the challenges facing the elections office have been corrected, but there is still room for improvement.

“We asked for this panel to be the voice of accountability for the voting public after three very serious mishaps disrupted the ability for people to vote,” said Councilmember Jane Hague, the prime sponsor of the ordinance that created the King County Citizens’ Elections Oversight Committee. “These recommendations, which are the result of a thorough and proactive process, will go a long way toward restoring voter confidence in the county election system.”

“Nothing in a democracy is more important than knowing your vote counts,” said County Council Chair Larry Phillips. “People need confidence that their absentee ballots will arrive on time, that King County ensures integrity in the electoral process and that issues and races will be decided fairly. The council has already implemented steps to ensure that past mistakes will not reoccur. The recommendations of the commission will build upon the improvements that have taken place since Dean Logan was appointed as head of the King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services Division (REALS).”

The 13-member panel included representatives from the Municipal League, League of Women Voters, the Washington Secretary of State, the King County Republican and Democratic Parties and a King County school district. There were also three citizen representatives. The committee was asked to monitor the 2003 primary and general elections and make recommendations on ways to improve the performance and accountability of REALS, and help restore voter confidence in the election system.

Among the panel's final recommendations:

• Elections should be recognized as a core function of County government and must be funded adequately to ensure public confidence.
• Election managers should have experience in working elections and management experience.
• In order to reduce potential errors, King County should consolidate key parts of the elections operation: all ballot processing should occur in a single facility.
• The Elections Section should create a formal training plan and commit the resources needed to implement them.
• There should be a security plan covering all election operations.
• Full background checks on all County employees and vendor representatives responsible for elections.

“It’s virtually impossible to be at 100 percent with the elections process” said A.J. Culver, Chair of the King County Citizens' Election Oversight Committee “But it’s important to public perception of the system how you handle the inevitable mistakes. You have to be able to say if there was an error what is being done to correct it and the corrections must be done in as open and transparent a way as possible.”

“Ensuring the safety of the ballot is a core function of county government,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, Chair of the Council’s Labor, Operations and Technology Committee. “These are a set of very common-sense recommendations that elevates and recognizes the importance of REALS.”

“We asked the committee to look at election problems from a fresh perspective,” said Councilmember Dow Constantine, past Chair of the Labor, Operations and Technology Committee. “Working under tight deadlines, they’ve presented the Council and the County with a set of solutions. We will continue to implement these recommendations to ensure that no one will ever have to question whether the ballot they cast is secure and will be accurately counted.”