The clear winner? Most likely, it'll be election reform

By LEWIS KAMB AND ANGELA GALLOWAY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERS  22 December 2004

The election's not over yet, but already there's talk of reform.

With the bizarre soap opera of an absurdly tight governor's race potentially hinging on a ruling from the state's highest court today, some lawmakers and others already are bandying proposals to change the way elections are run in the state.

The plans from working out election law vagaries to changing the procedure for choosing election supervisors are heralded by some as insurance against a repeat of this year's governor's race.

"You can say for sure that we're going to be passing elections reforms," Trova Hutchins, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Sam Reed, said yesterday.

Some predict the long delay in finding out who won the Nov. 2 election for governor will finally break the political logjam that has stalled perennial election-reform proposals before the Legislature.

"We ought to be prepared to put more time and money into working out these problems, and I think this election is proof of that," said state Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn. "I'd be extremely disappointed if the Senate and House don't agree to take this on."

The long, contentious wait for a governor has heightened awareness of voter signature snafus, late-to-materialize ballots, legal challenges and other problems, leading some to say now is the time for Washington election reform.

"We have uncovered a lot of worms that we didn't know existed. Now we do, so let's try to fix it as best we can," said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. "Finding some consistency and uniformity would be very helpful for any election, and certainly any close election."

Roach, chairwoman of the Senate elections committee, and Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed each plans to propose changes to the Legislature, which convenes in January.

  
  
Roach said she has at least six measures in mind. Reed plans to revive a previously rejected proposal to require that mail-in ballots be received by county auditors by Election Day, a more restrictive deadline than the current requirement that such ballots be post-marked by Election Day.

That requirement should be paired with one calling for absentee ballots to be mailed out earlier, "so people could take whatever time they need" to make choices, Reed said.

In Oregon, a state that exclusively votes by mail-in ballot, such a rule has worked "very well," Reed said, while acknowledging that the proposal will be a tough sell to some politicians.

Critics of such change have previously complained that it gives voters who choose absentee ballots less time to make their decisions. Also, some worry that voters would complain that they mailed their ballot but that the U.S. Postal Service failed to deliver it on time.

Kessler shares those concerns, but thinks lawmakers must seriously consider such a change this winter.

Reed noted absentee voters would still have the option of ping off their ballots at polling places on Election Day.

Critics of election changes argue that while the uncertainty vexes politicos, pundits, lobbyists and the news media, democracy has survived Washington's sometimes slow ballot-counting process. Although this year's is the tightest and most suspenseful governor's race in state history, Washington has seen plenty of nail-biting local and legislative contest.

"The citizenry, generally, I don't think they do care" about the delay, Reed said last month. "The feedback I'm getting is they find it kind of intriguing, dramatic and kind of fun."

And then there are others, he said, who wonder what's wrong with election officials that they can't get things figured out sooner.

One idea Roach will float is to have every Washington voter re-register to vote a move meant to and clean up voter rolls statewide. "Will it be expensive? Yes," she said. "But is it worthwhile? You bet. The key is, the public needs to have confidence in the system."

Roach also plans to propose that all county elections directors be elected. King County is now the only Washington county with an appointed elections director; in all other Washington counties, voters elect a county auditor to oversee elections.

"If there's someone who has been elected, I think the public will have more confidence that there hasn't been any bad intent," Roach said.

Republican Party leaders have suggested that the ballot controversies in King County, which strongly favored Gregoire, have been sullied by partisan politics a charge election officials and the county's Democratic executive have called ridiculous.

Dean Logan, King County's director of elections, counters that as an appointed director who doesn't have to run for office, "it allows me to operate in a more non-partisan and independent manner."

Still, Logan added that he intends to review this year's election and appoint committees to look for possible improvements.

"There certainly are a number of issues that have been brought to light in this recount and historic election," he said. "Obviously I'm supportive of reviewing potential reforms both operationally and from a policy standpoint."