“Strides have been made in the Elections Section, but there is still a lot of work that needs to take place to restore voter confidence,” said Councilmember Jane Hague, Vice-Chair of Council Affairs and the prime sponsor of the ordinance that restored the CEOC as a permanent committee. “The CEOC will continue to act as our eyes on elections—letting us know what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done.”

“Eight of the ten members of the ‘new’ committee have served on the previous CEOC’s, so this is a panel with a tremendous amount of experience in monitoring the work of the Elections Section,” said Council Chair Larry Phillips. “The CEOC has provided us with invaluable information in the past. I expect they will continue to an effective resource as we prepare to change the way we vote in King County.”

The members confirmed by the Council are:

Evelyn Arnold—Washington State Auditor’s Association
Arnold was elected Chelan County Auditor in 1990. She is a past President of the Washington State Association of County Auditors and has served on the Washington State Legislative Election Task Force.

A.J. Culver—Municipal League of King County
Culver was a member of the Issaquah City Council from 1972-79 and Mayor of Issaquah from 1982-89. He is a past president of the King County Suburban Cities Association and served on the old Metro Council. Culver currently serves on the Harborview Medical Center Board of Trustees and the Boundary Review Board of King County.

Paul Guppy—Washington Policy Center
Guppy is the Vice President for Research for the Policy Center, a nonpartisan, free-market, state-based think tank based in Seattle. Guppy joined the Center in 1998 after serving in Congress as Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Oklahoma Congressman Ernest Istook.

Ellen Hansen—Citizen Representative
Hansen is a past director of the King County Records and Elections Division. In 2003, Hansen was appointed as a special election consultant by the Council to review the Council Approves Appointments to Elections Oversight Committee.

Victor King—Representative of the Chinese-speaking Community
King County is required under the federal Voting Rights Act to provide ballots, voting material and language assistance to non-English-speaking communities that have reached a certain population threshold, a threshold which King County’s Chinese-speaking community has met. Victor King is a patent attorney with Speckman Law Group PLLC in Seattle and president of the Greater Seattle Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans. Before becoming an attorney, he worked for a number of years in biotechnology research.

Marilyn Knight—League of Women Voters of Washington
Knight is a former president and board member of the League of Women Voters of Washington and is currently co-chair of the League of Women Voters Election Reform Study for the State of Washington.

Sheryl Moss—Washington Secretary of State’s office
Moss is the manager for the Certification and Training Program in the State Elections Division. She filled in part of the position term for the Secretary of State’s office on the former elections oversight committee.

Gurine Nordby—King County Democratic Party
Nordby is a member of the King County Democrats Central Committee and serves as the Precinct Committee Officer Recruitment Vice-Chair for the 37th District Democrats. She assists in the recruitment of Democratic volunteers for all the King County polling locations.

Michael A. Snyder—Washington State Democratic Party
Snyder has worked as an independent consultant for several Democrats, including Governor Gary Locke, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and the Washington State Democrats. He worked as a legislative aide for Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds when she served in the Washington State House of Representatives.

Monica Tracey—King County Republican Party
Tracey is currently a real estate agent and serves on the Washington State Republican Party Executive Board. She has been a precinct committee officer for eighteen years and served the majority of the King County Republican Party position term for the former elections oversight committee.

The final three members of the CEOC are scheduled for confirmation in early October.

The Council created the original CEOC in 2003. That committee presented the Council a lengthy report and a series of recommendations in 2004 many of which were implemented by the Elections Director.

The panel was reactivated last year to review the 2004 general election, monitor elections in 2005, and make recommendations for improvements. In March 2006, the CEOC presented the Council with six “high priority” recommendations that included all vote-by mail elections, the consolidation of election facilities, improved management, communications and leadership and improved voter registration and security. The term of the second Committee expired on February 28, 2006.

In May, the council approved legislation making the CEOC an ongoing committee that will present an annual report to the Council on election activities for the previous year and make recommendations directed towards improving elections processes, performance and accountability.

Members of the committee are appointed by Chair of the Council and the Vice Chair of Council Affairs from nominations made by all Councilmembers. The committee consists of representatives from:

The representatives from the Secretary of State’s Office and the State Auditors Association are ex-officio, non-voting members of the Committee.

Under the ordinance the Council will re-evaluate the need for a continued CEOC in 2009. In that year the CEOC will send to the Council an evaluation of the effectiveness of the improvements made to the Elections Section and a recommendation on whether the Committee is still needed.