Election Reform: Mechanics of democracy

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD   10 April 2005

Everyone can debate how to avoid problems with elections. But there is one bottom line for local, state and national efforts: The mechanics of elections and the counting of votes must improve.

Behind all the explanations or excuses, there is one fundamental reality. Election failures strike at the heart of our system of government. The mistakes disenfranchise voters.

There is genuine reason for anger. The world saw Florida mess up the 2000 election in inexcusable ways that reflected poorly on the Republican governor, secretary of state and county offices run by Democrats. Democrats have reason to be angry at Ohio over inadequate preparation for the 2004 turnout, but Republicans have cause to be concerned there, too.

In Washington state, the problems under a Democratic county executive have been particularly notable, though few if any counties covered themselves in glory. People who care about democracy have every right to be infuriated.

Voters were disenfranchised in King County. The fact that the same thing happened in Florida, Ohio and other counties here exacerbates rather than excuses the injustice.

Perfection in the face of huge turnout may have been an unreasonable expectation. But does the King County elections office have some perverse fascination with a perfect record of significant mistakes in every election, large or small?

In 2003, the state Auditor's Office issued a report filled with recommendations to improve King County voting procedures. In an editorial beforehand, we wrote that an outside report was necessary because county administrative officials had eroded their own credibility and, without reforms, people could be disenfranchised again in 2004.

The recent finding of 93 unopened ballots documents the disenfranchisement of at least that many people for the tight 2004 governor's race and every other choice. On Monday, the King County Council approved a measure calling for Executive Ron Sims to take a series of steps to improve elections. Council members are close to formally asking for another outside review, perhaps by a major accounting firm or d?j? vu the state auditor.

Sims has been more intent on defending his elections director, Dean Logan, than he has been in accepting his own share of responsibility. After the amazing discovery of 93 ballots, Sims put out a statement expressing his "full faith and confidence" in Logan.

We have reservations about Republican calls for Logan's resignation. The party's talk of tighter voter registration rules reeks of willingness to disenfranchise large numbers of voters. And Republicans' suggestions that the county somehow engaged in political manipulation of the results are as offensive as they are ill-founded.

But Democratic King County Councilman Bob Ferguson sounds close to asking for a new elections director. Despite confidence in Logan's integrity, knowledge and dedication, Ferguson says he wants to hear from Logan about how the county will get better results. Amen.

Secretary of State Sam Reed a Republican who is fair-minded and nonpartisan in overseeing elections says King County has to make dramatic improvements. And the troubles far pre-date Logan's tenure of a year and a half or even Reed's 2000 election.

King County's disenfranchising of voters is wrong. It's a scandal in a landslide or a virtually tied governor's race; in a vote for port commissioner or president; in last November's big general election or a small upcoming special election (where at least eight people received envelopes that lacked a ballot).

The problems don't end at King County's borders. Reed is joining a bipartisan national commission, headed by former President Jimmy Carter and former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, to look at how well a 2002 federal voting law is working (hint: poorly).

In Olympia, the Legislature must complete work on Reed's package of election changes. Those include an earlier primary, allowing counties to conduct all-mail elections and regular reviews of each county's conduct of elections.

All elections offices have problems, not just in King County. But make no mistake. King County's serious problems demand dramatic improvements: to stop the embarrassments; to restore public faith; and, most of all, to quit stripping people of their right to vote.