Transcript Document 7139278

Report to the
Metropolitan King County Council
February 14, 2005
Dean C. Logan, Director
King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services Division
“It is the policy of the State of
Washington to encourage every
eligible person to register to vote and
to participate fully in all elections,
and to protect the integrity of the
electoral process by providing equal
access to the process while guarding
against discrimination and fraud.”
Chapter 29A.04.205
Revised Code of Washington
Elections Timeline 2003-2006
July 2003 King County Council forms the
December 2003 Legislature cancels the
Citizens’ Election Oversight Committee
(CEOC) to improve performance and
accountability of elections
March 2004 Presidential Preference
Primary
February 2004 Special Election;
September 2003 Primary reviewed by
CEOC – no serious errors reported; Dean
Logan appointed Director – Records,
Elections and Licensing Services Division;
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finds
Washington’s blanket primary
unconstitutional
November 2003 General Election
reviewed by CEOC – no serious errors
reported; Bill Huennekens appointed
Superintendent of Elections, EMVR Project
Approved in 2004 Adopted Budget
Legislature adopts new top-two primary
system
March 2004 Special Election
April 2004 Special Election; Governor
vetoes top-two primary, signs in to law a
“Montana-style” partisan primary
May 2004 Special Election; CEOC Report
submitted to King County Council; Mock
Elections conducted using new Election
Management and Voter Registration
system prior to final conversion
Elections Timeline continued
June 2004 Elections converts to new
October 2004 Record number of new
Election Management and Voter
Registration system
registrations processed by King County
Elections
July 2004 Labor, Operations and
November 2004 General Elections is
Technology Committee reviews CEOC
report on elections; countywide list
maintenance and voter education mailing;
Seattle Monorail petition received and
signatures verified; Candidate Filing for fall
Elections
held – record turnout, record number of
absentees issued and counted; Manual
recount conducted for office of Governor;
Disability Accessible Voting Equipment
(DAVE) Project approved in 2005 Adopted
Budget
September 2004 New and complex
December 2004 Manual recount
primary replaces the blanket primary –
record turnout; Council reviews CEOC
report and passes motion in support of
recommendations
conducted in Governor’s race – close to
900,000 ballots hand counted
Elections Timeline continued
January 2005 King County Council
November 2005 General Election
redistricting plan adopted; Election contest
filed in close gubernatorial race; Tens of
thousands of documents provided in
response to 30+ public disclosure requests
January 2006 New Help America Vote
February 2005 Special Election date
April 2005 Special Election date
May 2005 Special Election date
June 2005 Voter registration mailing with
new Council District designations
September 2005 New “top-two” primary
to be implemented
Act election administration requirements
must be implemented
2004: Record Volumes - Historic Outcomes
“We have done many things
right. We have many more
things to do better. We need to
persevere, stay the course and
not adopt radical measures
when reasonable ones will make
the most difference.”
• Record setting voter
registration
• Record setting absentee
ballots issued
• Record number of absentee
ballots cast
• Record number of ballots
counted on Election Day
• Record voter turnout
• Historic new primary
• Historic close election
• First countywide manual
recount
Election Management and Voter
Registration System
“The county needs to acquire or build a voter registration
system designed for a jurisdiction of their size. The large
number of transactions and absentee ballots issued requires a
system with more capacity and the ability to handle their
volume and more efficient capture and storage of voter
signature images.”
Excerpt from review conducted by the Office of the Secretary of State
(February 2003)
Election Management and Voter
Registration System
• New election management and voter registration system installed and
implemented in June 2004
• New system replaces outdated legacy mainframe system that lacked
ability to manage growing voter registration transactions and absentee
voters
• Project completed on time and under budget; savings re-appropriated
for HAVA implementation project
• 2004 primary and General Election administered using the updated
technology and work flow systems
•Project plan and management serve as models in county’s technology
governance structure
Voting Rights Act – Minority Language
Compliance
• King County Elections Web site is recognized as one of the first
bilingual elections Web sites in the country.
• Since 2002, the number of voters requesting and using Chinese
language ballots and voting materials has progressively increased.
• King County Elections’ Minority
Language Coordinator is chosen to
participate in U.S. Department of State
teleconference to provide leaders in
China with expertise in their
developing electoral processes.
• External oversight provided by
Section 203 Coalition, Organization of
Chinese Americans.
The New Primary
“Voting in the new Primary…
easy as 1-2-3”
• Primary implemented in just 100 days
• Public engagement
• Outreach and education
• Stakeholder involvement
• Regional coordination
• Record turnout
Voter Outreach and Education
Vote Mobile – partnership with the
League of Women Voters brings voter
registration to communities across King
County
Speakers’ Bureau – more than 100
presentations reach out to 78,000 people
Transit and Cable Advertising –
saturates King County in primary and
General Election
Minority Community Outreach –
multi-lingual presentations educate firsttime voters
Record Setting Voter Registration
and Absentees
Leading up to the 2004 General
Election, King County
processed a record-breaking
138,729 new registrations, a 40
percent increase for the same
10-month period leading up to
the 2000 election.
Record Setting Voter Registration
and Absentees
The numbers of absentee ballots
issued in the General Election set a
new record at 646,468 issued. 160,000
more than in any previous election.
Record breaking firsts include:
• the number of absentee ballots
processed and tabulated on Election
Day -- 233,254
• the number of provisional ballots
issued -- more than 31,000
• the number of provisional ballots
validated and included in the final
returns -- more than 28,000; and
• an overall voter turnout of 83 percent
Manual Recount Procedures
• Nearly 900,000 ballots hand counted in King County in 16 days
• New, temporary facility set up to accommodate 400 bipartisan workers
and observers
• Eighty recount boards organized into teams of three – one designee
from the Democratic party, one designee from the Republican party and
a third member recruited from Elections’ seasonal work registry
• Multiple observer areas ensure open, fair and transparent proceedings
• Precinct counts are compared to the original and machine recount
totals and recounted until two independent counts matched
“It is hard to imagine a fairer and more meaningful opportunity to
observe. The procedure proposed by King County Records complies
with the WAC requirement.”
Washington State Republican Party petition in McDonald v.
Secretary of State (76321-6, December 7, 2004)
Military and Overseas Ballots
• Military and overseas citizens’ ballots were mailed on time by
Oct. 8, 2004.
• Once King County mails absentee ballots, the responsibility
shifts to the Post Office and Department of Defense.
• The U.S. Department of Defense, Federal Voting Assistance
Program coordinates with all branches of the armed services
to assist military and overseas voters in obtaining ballots and
voting.
• Voted ballots returned from outside the U.S. are valid and
counted as long as they are signed by the date of the election
and received prior to certification (15 days following a General
Election).
Reports of deceased voters casting
ballots
• The Washington State Department of Health, Office of Vital
Statistics is required to provide death notifications to the
counties on a regular basis to assist in removing deceased
voters from the rolls.
• By state law, voter registration files are closed 30 days prior
to an election for new registrations sent by mail, cancellations
and transfers.
• In 2004, 4,305 registrations were canceled in King County
based on notification that the voter was deceased.
• Forms for cancellation of a deceased voter are available at all
polling locations on Election Day for voters to complete if they
are aware of the death of another voter.
Reports of felons voting
• Election officials cannot remove a convicted felon from the
voter registration files without notification from the courts.
• State and federal laws compel election officials to add a new
voter to the registration files when a registration application is
received and includes the minimum required information and a
signature attesting to their qualifications to become a registered
voter.
• More than 600 registrations were canceled in 2004 based on
court notification of a felony conviction.
• The oath on the voter registration application, which must be
signed, includes the statement that the applicant is not currently
denied their civil rights as a result of a felony conviction.
Ballot Duplication and Enhancement
• Ballot duplications
and enhancements are
conducted by at least
two people in the
presence of political
party observers.
• A log is maintained of all duplications and enhancements to
ensure full accountability of all ballot handling.
• In the 2004 General
Election, 4,902 ballots
were duplicated and
55,177 ballots were
enhanced out of nearly
900,000 ballots cast.
Canvassing Board review of ballots
• The King County Canvassing Board reviewed more
than 1,600 ballots to determine voter intent.
• More than 95% of these decisions were unanimous.
• Determination was made in public meetings, on the
record and in the presence of political party observers.
Washington is a voter intent
state. Election laws give
deference to voter intent where it
can be determined over following
instructions on how to mark a
ballot.
Variance between ballots cast and voters
credited
The most common reasons people who voted may not
appear on the list of credited voters is:
• they cast a federal write-in ballot in accordance with provisions
of the Federal Voting Assistance Program (which includes nonregistered service personnel and overseas voters);
• they are participants in the state’s Address Confidentiality
Program (victims of domestic violence and stalking whose
information is secured from public record); or
• human error during the crediting process or when voters sign
the poll books.
Variance between ballots cast and
voters credited
• Variance from preliminary report = 3,539
• Further reconciliation efforts (1,018)
• Address Confidentiality Program ballots (69)
• Federal write-in ballots (251)
• Provisional ballots deposited in AccuVotes (348)
• Remaining variance attributed to administrative error = 1,853
1,853 variance / 899,199 = .002 x 100 = 0.2%
99.8 percent of all voters who cast ballots were credited
Past Year Variances
Other Counties Variance
2003 – 606 (99.84%)
Clark – 225 (99.86%)
2002 – 2,809 (99.5%)*
Spokane – 77 (99.97%)
2000 – 1,230 (99.85%)
Managing through Challenges
“...there is every indication that the King County
Records, Elections and Licensing Services Division
acted professionally and intended to act in the public’s
best interest under immense pressure and under
intense public scrutiny.”
“Armies of lawyers and poll watchers examine King
County’s every move, threatening litigation and more.
Under the circumstances, King County’s prudence is
understandable.”
Excerpt from King County Superior Court Opinion in Washington State Republican
Party v. Washington State Democratic Central Committee v. King County Records,
Elections and Licensing Services Division. (Case No. 04-2-36048-0 SEA; Nov.16, 2004)
Managing through Challenges
Absentee Ballots
• Duplicate Ballots
• Postal Handling Errors
• Print Quality Issues
• “No Signature on File” Ballots
• Ballots returned from the polls
Provisional Ballots
• 348 identified deposited in AccuVotes
• 252 later validated and credited
Legal Challenges
• Superior Court in King County – Democratic Party
• Superior Court in Pierce County – Republican Party
• State Supreme Court – Democratic & Republican Parties
Proposed Election Reform
We need meaningful, reasonable election
reform that includes:
• Moving the date of the primary – support
• Reimbursing counties for the state share of evenyear election costs – support
• Extending the time provided for certification of
election results – support
Proposed Election Reform continued
• Conducting certain elections
entirely by mail – support
• Canvassing and ballot
processing procedures –
support
• Requiring absentee ballots to
be returned by Election Day –
oppose
2005 Action Plan
Seizing the Moment and Moving Ahead
STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY
• single, secure location for all election activities and services
• capacity to conduct countywide vote-by-mail elections
• comprehensive training
facility
• fully functional
communications center
• ballot tracking and
accountability systems
• laboratory setting for
developing technology
• public viewing areas
“King County should reorganize
and consolidate key parts of its
elections operations in order to
reduce the potential for errors
and to gain efficiencies.”
Excerpt from the Citizens’ Election
Oversight Committee Report (May 2004)
Action Plan
Seizing the Moment and Moving Ahead
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AND CULTURAL CHANGE
• formalized staff training
• organizational accountability with benchmarks and production
standards
• improve work flow which includes updated and documented
procedures and policies
• analysis of reducing the number of precincts and consolidating
polling locations
• implementation of a revised Information Technology support
model with technical support directly in the Elections Section
Action Plan
Seizing the Moment and Moving Ahead
IMPLEMENT REMAINING PROVISIONS –
HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA)
• Disability Access Voting
Equipment (DAVE)
• Needs Assessment
• Demonstrations
• Implementation
• Development and
implementation of the
statewide voter registration
database
“The Elections Section should
create a formal training plan and
commit the resources
necessary to implement it. The
Election Section’s training must
ensure there is sufficient crosstraining of workers to ensure
smooth operations and better
teamwork.”
Excerpt from the Citizens’ Election
Oversight Committee Report (May 2004)
Action Plan
Seizing the Moment and Moving Ahead
MAINTAIN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PUBLIC
• Conduct focus groups to assess voter education, election
reform and security
• Re-establish speakers’ bureau to address concerns related to
the 2004 General Election
• Expand Web-based resources to enhance election transparency
• Continue external oversight – Citizens’ Election Oversight
Committee and coordination with other jurisdictions
Summary & Conclusion
New and recurring challenges ahead…
• Compliance with new federal laws calling for disability
access voting equipment in all polling locations
• Administration of another new primary system
• Implementation of the new council district redistricting plan
• Responding to changing public dynamics
• Implementing statewide election reform measures
“…this report should remain an active document – one which we refer
back to often to measure progress and as a reality check on its
relevance.”
Summary & Conclusion
“The citizens of King County have a right to expect high
quality performance in the conduct of our elections. We
cannot demand perfection; we know that there will be
breakdowns and errors in the future. But we can insist
that the Elections Section operate on a standard of
professionalism, expertise, accountability and
continuous improvement, and by the same token must
insist that our elected officials provide the resources
and organization required to achieve that standard.”
AFTERWARD, King County Citizens’ Election Oversight
Committee Report (May 2004)
For more information, contact
King County Elections at:
[email protected]
(206) 296-1540