Counties rush to fix state ballot mistake

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, October 4, 2005

OLYMPIA – A mistake by state elections officials is prompting some counties to reprint thousands of ballots, driving workers and printers into overtime and testing a deadline for getting ballots to overseas voters.

The error, in an advisory from the Secretary of State Office, caused some counties to print ballots with statewide initiatives in the wrong order, officials said Tuesday.

State elections director Nick Handy characterized the error as “very, very technical,” and advised county officials not to let corrections interfere with deadlines for delivering absentee ballots.

“If I were an auditor and I had a choice between having my ballot in the proper order and getting them out on time, I’d get them out on time,” Handy said.

State election officials and county election managers were scrambling to deal with the problem Tuesday afternoon, with the Nov. 8 general election only a month away.

Snohomish County elections manager Carolyn Diepenbrock said the error was not expected to delay the mailing of ballots. Costs may rise if the printer is forced to work extra hours to meet deadlines faced by counties that the firm contracts with, including Snohomish, Whatcom and Yakima counties.

Diepenbrock said the printer, K&H Integrated Print Solutions of Everett, made plates based on the original ballot design but had not started the printing process. A redesigned ballot was sent to the printer late Tuesday, she said.

Absentee ballots must be in the mail by Oct. 21, and elections officials usually try to have ballots to overseas and military voters 30 days before the general election.

Counties shouldn’t suffer financially from the mistake because the state pays administrative election costs in odd-numbered years, Handy said.

The error appears to be the only ripple of difficulty so far in this year’s elections, which are under increased scrutiny following problems uncovered during the extremely close 2004 governor’s race.

Herald writer Jerry Cornfield contributed to this report.