Elections director on the hot seat
2005-04-05
by Dean A. Radford
Journal Reporter

The discovery of 93 absentee ballots that were overlooked in the 2004 election has prompted calls for county elections chief Dean Logan to resign and for a federal probe of his operations.

County Council Republicans Reagan Dunn on Saturday and Steve Hammond on Monday called for Logan, director of the Records, Elections and Licensing Services Division, to quit his $126,000-a-year job.

``I am asking that you resign your post and give over the operation of your department to someone who will be better able to manage it, who will be more forthright in admitting mistakes, and who will have the trust and confidence of the people,'' Dunn wrote in his letter to Logan.

Dunn also wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales signed by all six Republicans on the County Council that requests a federal investigation.

An initial batch of 48 uncounted ballots was found March 24 while elections workers were fulfilling a request by the state Republican Party to look for ballots cast by alleged felons.

For the next week, the search continued and Saturday Logan confirmed a final tally of 93 uncounted ballots.

``It's completely unacceptable to us,'' Bobbie Egan, a spokeswoman for the elections division, said Monday of the oversight.

Logan ordered a personnel investigation and reassigned workers at the county's Mail Ballot Operations Satellite to other duties.

He also asked elections officials, including Island County auditor Suzanne Sinclair, and others officials to investigate what happened to the ballots.

The latest problem comes on top of hundreds of lost, missed or uncounted ballots from the November general election.

Dunn's letter to Gonzales asks for a federal investigation into whether election errors ``were the result of unlawful efforts to undermine election system safeguards.''

Dunn, a former federal prosecutor, said it's likely the FBI will investigate first then, depending on what it finds, recommend criminal charges to a federal grand jury or civil charges to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Two council Democrats, Julia Patterson and Bob Ferguson of Seattle, also plan to ask for an independent audit of the elections division. They indicate they have the support of four other council members.

Ferguson said he's close ``to the tipping point'' of asking Logan to resign, too.

Patterson wants to know when Logan told the Executive's Office about the uncounted ballots, which will help her decide her opinion on Logan's future.

County Executive Ron Sims learned of the latest problem last Friday, the day before Logan's announcement.

Carolyn Duncan, Sims' spokeswoman, said procedures were followed in keeping Sims' staff informed about the situation.

In a statement issued Monday, Sims said he's satisfied with the actions Logan is taking in response to the uncounted ballots.

``I continue to have full faith and confidence in Director Dean Logan and believe the people of this county are best served by allowing him to finish the election reforms needed,'' he said.

Logan was appointed in July 2003 after his predecessor, former Auburn mayor Bob Roegner, took responsibility for the failure to mail out 1,800 absentee ballots on time in an election earlier in the year and quit.

Part of Logan's job was to restore the public's confidence in the division and fix procedural problems that had plagued it during the 2002 and 2003 elections.

``We are not covering anything up,'' Egan said in response to criticism that Logan didn't immediately announce the initial discovery of the ballots. Instead, she said, he wanted to continue the search and give a complete accounting, she said.

Logan is out of state and isn't available for comment.

The errors in the 2004 election have statewide implications with Christine Gregoire winning the governor's office by only 129 votes over Sammamish Republican Dino Rossi.

The state Republican Party has challenged the results of the manual recount.

Most of the 93 ballots uncovered last week were from suburban absentee voters, including the largest chunk, 40 ballots, in the Eastside's 41st Legislative District. Eleven ballots weren't counted in the 47th District in southeast King County.

Elections officials have listed the 93 ballots by precinct but not by the name of the voter, although that information is on the envelopes securing the actual ballot.

Egan, the elections spokeswoman, said the elections division won't do anything further with the ballots including counting them until ordered to do so by county attorneys or a court.

Any voter can call the elections office to ask whether his or her absentee ballot was counted in an election, she said.

The calls for probes and Logan's resignation come as the County Council on Monday approved on a 10-3 vote a motion asking Sims to act on a package of measures aimed at improving the county's elections procedures.

The reforms call for more safeguards in counting votes, consolidating election facilities and operations and increasing funds for training of election workers.

After much debate, the council also called for a pilot all-mail vote to determine how well it would work in King County.

WHAT WENT WRONG

County elections officials have acknowledged several mistakes in the counting of results of the 2004 general election, including:

* 735 absentee ballots weren't counted because elections workers couldn't find signatures for the voters. Later, 566 of the ballots were counted as part of a recount after signatures were verified.

* 348 provisional ballots were counted without first verifying signatures. Later, 242 were found to be valid. The total number has been revised upward to about 660.

* 22 ballots were found in the base units of voting equipment used at polling locations.

* Dozens of felons may have voted illegally because they have not had their voting rights reinstated.

* 93 ballots were found still in their envelopes in county archives.