Metropolitan King County Councilmembers today called for King County Elections’ 2006 Security Plan to be reviewed by experts, peers, and citizens prior to its adoption.

“I commend King County Elections for developing a modern, multi-layered security plan to ensure the safety and integrity of our elections,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, who raised the issue during today’s Committee of the Whole briefing. “But I want more assurance that the concerns I’ve heard from citizens about the security of our voting equipment, software, and electronic security systems are being fully addressed. It’s time to subject the plan to scrutiny from diverse perspectives such as computer security experts, elections professionals in other jurisdictions, and the citizens on our elections oversight committee. Independent reviews of our elections practices have been invaluable in the past for raising and addressing unforeseen issues. I’d like to enlist the same level of scrutiny to ensure we have the best possible elections security measures in place.”

“The County must work every day to earn the trust of King County voters,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson. “The next step requires that independent experts have the opportunity to thoroughly review the proposed security plan and that we respond to the warnings of experts and citizens who question the security of our elections systems.”

“A secure, yet transparent election process is the cornerstone of our democracy,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, chair of the Committee of the Whole. “I appreciate that this report has been developed and that Elections is continuing to improve security measures that will enhance the public's confidence in the accuracy of elections in King County.”

King County Elections developed the 2006 Security Plan in response to Motion 12299, sponsored by Councilmembers Patterson, Ferguson, and Phillips, which requested a plan “that addresses security related to facilities, personnel, electronic systems, and ballots.” An independent audit of King County Elections requested by the King County Council and conducted by The Elections Center in 2005 identified areas of concern in King County’s existing elections security practices.

At today’s briefing, members were told that the four areas highlighted in the Council’s motion are dealt with in the proposed plan, but that there are several areas of concern that the Council might want to address before approving the security plan. Those areas include the need for automatic, routine and random post election audits; the need for security criteria for the selection of voting systems; use of electronic, magnetic or color-coded identification badges for election staff and visitors; and expert assistance.