In the wake of continuing concerns over the operations of the King County Elections Division, Metropolitan King County Councilmembers Julia Patterson and Bob Ferguson today announced their intention to introduce a motion calling for an independent audit of the Elections Division, a proposal that drew the immediate support of four other members.

“This Council has a long record of working with the Elections Division on needed reforms,” said Councilmember Patterson. “But the concerns about restoring voter confidence have been obscured by the politics and rhetoric surrounding the election. It’s time to have an independent organization, without ties to any group involved in the election, to assess what additional improvements should be made to improve the precision of our elections system.”

“Enough is enough,” said Councilmember Ferguson. “It’s time for an independent review of our Elections office, from the bottom up.”

“An independent audit will help us shape an overall strategy for reforming the election process,” said Council Chair Larry Phillips. “We need to regain public trust by targeting specific reforms to ensure the Elections Division practices full due diligence in future elections.”

The motion under consideration for introduction at a later date would direct the Executive to hire the services of a major accounting firm, management consulting firm, or an agency that has supervised similar audits to look into the operation of the Elections Division and the processes used to carry out elections in King County. The proposed audit would be independent of any other agency looking into the Elections Division, so that it would not interfere with reconstitution of a King County Election Oversight Committee.

“Taking a look at the elections process in King County with a fresh set of eyes can only help us find a solution to the challenges we have been facing in the Elections Division over the last few years,” said Councilmember Larry Gossett. “So many accusations have been made since November, I think this will be the only way to get recommendations that everyone will be able to live with.”

“We have made tremendous strides in the Elections Division in the past few years, but we must acknowledge that more can be done,” said Councilmember Dow Constantine. “An independent audit will confirm the improvements while showing where work still needs to be done to make the elections process as error-proof as humanly possible.”

“Asking for outside help is the right thing to do. We’re working to improve the bedrock of our democracy,” said Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds. “This is a necessary step to ensure that the emotion is taken out of this effort, returning election reform back to where it belongs, a clear effort to make sure that every legal vote is counted.”