The ballot's in the mail
By RANDY TRICK Skagit Valley Herald   06 April 2005 

Skagit County moves to all-mail elections

Voting booths in Skagit County will soon go the way of electric typewriters and eight-track tape players.

Starting with the vote later this month on the rural library bond, direct democracy in Skagit County will be done entirely by mail.

The county commissioners Monday unanimously approved moving the county to all-mail elections, citing higher participation rates and a way to avoid concerns with electronic voting machines.

In the last election, about two thirds of votes in the county were cast through the mail, and the participation rate was about 70 percent among absentee voters, said Norma Brummett, the county auditor.

The commission's decision brings the county into line with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

The act requires states to their voting process. Citing concerns about electronic voting machines, the county commission opted for a mail-in system.
  
The federal law also created provisional ballots for voters whose eligibility was in question. The provisional ballots were first used in November.

From the onset, the vote-by-mail switch should save about $100,000 spent to train, pay and reimburse poll workers, Brummett said.

In upcoming elections, the county plans to establish 10 -off locations in the county that will be staffed by county election officials.

Brummett said some voters have expressed concerns about mail-only voting, especially after reports of uncounted and misplaced ballots in King County during the November 2004 election.

Voters seem to have two concerns, Brummett said. They want to know that their vote was counted and they want to know that the ballots are not being tampered with.
Brummett said voters can call the auditor's office to confirm that their votes were counted in past elections.

In terms of handling the ballots once they arrive at the auditor's office, Brummett said new technology should prevent any miscounts.

The county is waiting for the arrival of voting machines by Texas-based Hart InterCivic. The machines would take a digital photo of each ballot before counting. In cases where a ballot was disputed or voter intent was questioned, elections officials could enhance and examine the photo of the ballot, rather than the ballot itself.

The new process means that no election worker should ever have to make a mark on an original ballot, something that happened in King County and has concerned voters and the state's political parties.

Another problem that occurred in King County was that mail-in ballots were set aside because signatures on the envelopes did not match computer images of signatures on voter registration cards.

Usually, Brummett said, the only way to discover a problem with signatures in the computer is when election officials tally votes after an election.

If a signature on a mail-in envelope does not match the signature on file, the ballot is set aside. Different election officials compare the signatures. If there are still questions, the voter is asked to provide a new signature on file.

Brummett said that of about 53,000 Skagit County votes cast in November of 2004, only six had signature problems that required calling the voter or finding the original voter registration card.

Signatures change as people get older, Brummett said.