Metropolitan King County Council Chair Larry Phillips praised the bipartisan support behind today’s unanimous approval of legislation to reactivate the King County Citizens’ Elections Oversight Committee to review the last two county elections and to monitor the 2005 primary and general elections.

“Our citizens’ elections committee will play a crucial role in restoring public trust in elections,” said Phillips. “Last year, razor-thin margins exposed some weaknesses in our election system that must be repaired. Citizen oversight will ensure those repairs are conducted openly, with full public scrutiny, and ‘citizen-to-citizen’ communication. Our goal is to ensure King County elections will work, that residents will actively participate in future elections and, most importantly, vote.”

Members of the 13-member committee will be nominated by the Chair of the Council and the Chair of the Council’s Labor, Operations and Technology Committee. Where possible, the membership of the Committee will consist of those selected by the Council in 2003. Committee member will include representatives from:

• The Municipal League,
• The League of Women Voters,
• The King County and state Republican and Democratic Parties,
• A King County junior taxing district,
• An independent research and policy institute,
• The Washington State Auditors Association,
• The office of the Washington Secretary of State,
• The Chinese-speaking community,
• Two registered King County voters.

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

“This effort will complement our initiative to conduct an independent management audit of the Elections Division and the Executive’s appointment of a blue-ribbon Commission on Elections,” said Phillips, who co-sponsored the final draft of the ordinance with Councilmember Jane Hague, herself a former county elections manager. “Councilmember Hague’s leadership and experience with elections management proved invaluable in developing our final proposal and bipartisan passage.”

The panel—which will act independently of any other committee or group currently reviewing the Elections Division—will initially review the 2004 general election and the 2005 spring election to identify errors made and recommend measures to improve future elections, submitting their report to the Council by June 15, 2005. The panel will then monitor the 2005 primary and general elections and make recommendations to the Council on ways to improve the Elections Section by February 1, 2006.

Under the ordinance passed today, the Elections Oversight Committee would sunset on February 28, 2006, unless the Council acts to extend its service.

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system.
Type in “2005-0055”