 Nov. 8, 2005 Turnout strong as General Election nears final hoursVoters are turning out in strong numbers at polling places across King County as the 2005 General Election moves into its final hours. Although voter turnout is not yet known, it is reported to be significantly higher in many polling places, compared to the September Primary Election. Polls will close promptly at 8 p.m. tonight. Poll worker hotlines report few problems of voters failing to bring proper identification to their polling places, a sign that the public education efforts over the past several months have been successful. Strong poll worker training prior to the election has made for well prepared election workers, and polling places open and ready for early morning voters. "We take very seriously our responsibility to ensure that every voter who is registered in King County has the opportunity to vote and that every vote is accurately recorded," said Dean Logan, Director of Elections. "Toward that end, over the past several months we have upgraded security, tightened record-keeping procedures and significantly cleaned up the voter rolls. We hired additional oversight staff for the polling sites, and enhanced considerably the training for all 3,700 of our poll workers. We are absolutely committed to an election that is secure and accountable to the public." Although the election has proceeded smoothly in most areas, there has been fallout throughout the day as a result of the last minute challenges filed by the King County Republican Party that questioned the validity of 1,944 voter registrations. Many of the challenged voters were unable to come to the King County Elections Office during special hours on Saturday to clear their registrations. These voters were directed to fill out provisional ballots at their polling places today. "I urge every registered voter to mail in their ballot or come to their polling place and exercise their right to vote," said Logan. Challenged ballots will be set aside, pending a ruling on the validity of the registration by the county Canvassing Board. More than 140 of the original challenges have already been withdrawn by the Republican Party as faulty. The General Election is proceeding under the interested eyes of several citizen advisory groups tasked with providing some level of oversight over the elections process. Members of the Citizen Election Oversight Committee and the Election Center's professional election observers, both named by the King County Council and the newly created Turnaround Team created by King County Executive Ron Sims are participating in today's election by visiting polling places, touring the ballot processing and counting facilities. The first report on absentee ballot counts will be released tonight at around 8:15 p.m. A media briefing will take place at 9 p.m. at the Media Briefing Room, King County Administration Building, 2nd Floor, 500 Fourth Ave. Enter from Jefferson or James streets. Logan will provide a report on the early election returns and events of the day, and respond to media questions. |
Updated: Nov. 8, 2005
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