Saturday your last day to register to vote

Published 12:19 am Monday, September 29, 2008

EVERETT — While enthusiasm is running high for November’s general election, it’s only partly reflected by the numbers of people who have registered to vote, state and county officials say.

Friday Oct. 4 is the deadline to register.

So far, a record number of people in Snohomish County have registered, but not by much, county Auditor Carolyn Weikel said.

The number on Friday stood at 353,801, “which I would have thought would be higher by now,” Weikel said.

This compares with 351,000 in 2004, she said.

Statewide, registration is lagging slightly behind 2004’s record of 3.5 million, said David Ammons, a spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of State.

About 70,000 more people have to register by Friday to break that record, he said.

“People are really excited about the election this year, but they need to get registered if they’re going to participate,” Secretary of State Sam Reed said.

The fact that the numbers aren’t higher could be because people are waiting until the last minute, Weikel said.

“We believe we’ll see our numbers increase significantly over the next week,” she said Friday.

Also, the state received a $6 million database in 2006 that’s better at culling out the no-longer-valid registrations of people who have moved out of state, died or were convicted of a felony, Ammons said.

People who have moved to the state recently can still register in person at the County Auditor’s Office through Oct. 20. People who moved to a new county must register by Oct. 4 to vote there, or they may order a ballot from their previous county, officials said.

The Office of the Secretary of State is predicting a turnout in November that would beat the state record by a nose.

The turnout record is 82 percent of registered voters, in 1960 and 2004, Ammons said. The office is projecting a turnout of just under 83 percent.

The presidential race, the gubernatorial race between Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi, and three initiatives are getting voters fired up, officials said.

Initiative 1000 would allow terminally ill people to choose physician-assisted suicide. Initiative 985, sponsored by Tim Eyman, aims to reduce traffic congestion by opening carpool lanes to all vehicles except during commuting hours, synchronizing traffic signals on city streets and clearing accidents faster from all roadways. Initiative 1029 would require more training for home health-care workers.

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.

How to register

• Go to www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/register.aspx and follow the instructions to register online or download a printable form to fill out and mail in. Instructions and the mailing address are listed on the Web page.
• Go to the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office at 3000 Rockefeller from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. For more information, call 425-388-3444.
• To verify your registration status, go to www1.co.snohomish.wa.us, type “vote” in the search window, and click on “Auditor Election/Voting Division.”

  More information on the election is available by clicking “My Vote” on the site listed above.