Twenty Percent of King County Absentee Ballots Mishandled
Published Wed, Nov 15 2006 2:49 PM
Technorati Tags: Elections
The Seattle Times reports that slightly more than 20% of absentee ballots dropped off at polling stations on election night were improperly handled.
Out of 550 bags filled with absentee ballots, 116 were improperly sealed by poll workers on election night last week, King County election officials said Tuesday.
The canvassing board, which certifies elections, voted Tuesday to count most of the estimated 13,400 ballots. It also recommended the office change how it trains poll workers to secure absentee ballots dropped off at polling locations. The bags are supposed to be sealed at 8 p.m. to prevent ballots from being added after the polls close.
Officials said the bags could not be sealed in many cases because more voters than usual dropped off absentee ballots at polling places and all the ballots could not fit in the bags. But, the officials added, it was not unusual for such a high percentage of absentee-ballot bags to be returned without proper security seals in previous elections.
Board member Julia Patterson, who represents the Metropolitan King County Council, called the situation unacceptable.
"That indicates to me there are changes that need to be made to the process," she said.
That's an understatement. How about starting by rolling back the plan to move to all-mail balloting in King County that the King County Council voted to approve along party lines on June 19th? Time and time again King County proves to the world that it can't handle ballots correctly, and yet government officials call the system a "model to the rest of the nation and the world at large."
An absentee-ballot bag from Innis Arden Clubhouse in Shoreline was accidentally left in a polling inspector's car on election night and turned in a day later, the elections office reported Tuesday. The board is waiting for a statement by the poll judge before deciding how to handle the ballots.
Is this really the way you want your ballots to be handled? Is this a model for the rest of the world?
I don't think so. I think it's more proof that King County Elections can't be trusted.
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