The Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously called for three separate panels to examine proposed plans for the security of King County’s election process.

“Citizens haven’t been shy about expressing their concerns regarding elections security and voting by mail—particularly the security of our voting equipment, software, and electronic security systems,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, prime sponsor of the motion. “This motion asks for independent computer, security, and elections experts to scrutinize our elections security plan in order to make a good plan even stronger. We need to assure voters that from start to finish, every step will be taken to protect their vote.”

“This is a natural extension of legislation we adopted asking the executive to submit for council review and approval proposals for the purchase of new election equipment and software,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson. “In exercising the Council’s oversight function, we can assure voters that their ballot, and the process to collect and count it, is safe.”

“Computer technology has opened a new avenue for electronic tampering and fraud. It makes sense to let experts with specialized knowledge take a look at how we’re trying to protect our election system,” said Councilmember Bob Ferguson. “Each panel will bring a unique perspective to the review and the result will be a thorough, comprehensive look at what will work and what we need to improve.”

“The Elections Section has worked hard to incorporate suggested improvements to ensure that we continue to have a safe, secure and reliable election process,” said Councilmember Dow Constantine. “This panel system will provide a high level of scrutiny as we weigh the purchase of new equipment and institute new election security measures.”

The motion approved by the Council calls for the formation of two separate panels to review the executive's proposals for purchasing new election equipment and software. The members of the panels would be experts in computer and election security and election officials. The motion also calls for a third panel, the King County Citizens' Election Oversight Committee (CEOC), to review the election equipment and software proposals from a security standpoint and solicit input from citizens on election security concerns. The CEOC presents an annual report to the Council on election activities and makes recommendations for improving elections processes, performance and accountability.

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system.
Type in “2007-0198”