CAMANO ISLAND – Voter enthusiasm is not a problem in Island County.
Remembering that you live in a county way over there – across the water – instead of the one you drive through to get home, well, that’s another matter.
During the primary election, at least 45 Island County voters attempted to turn in their ballots at the Stanwood QFC drop-off spot, according to Snohomish County collections worker Betty Sehlke.
“They were very confused at the last election – very, very confused,” she said.
The collection point is meant to give Snohomish County voters a place to drop off their ballots.
Camano Island voters aren’t supposed to be turning in ballots at the closest available county, said Sehlke, 74.
In September, she said she had no problem sending them on their way – across the Stillaguamish River onto Camano Island.
And she wants everyone to know she’s prepared to do it again.
“We tell them that this is for Snohomish County collection only,” she said firmly.
So far, no Camano Island voters have tried to turn in their ballots at the Stanwood QFC, Sehlke said. She said she hopes it stays that way through Tuesday.
Island County is one of just five in the state that still use ballot booths. Even so, about 75 percent of Island County’s 44,099 voters use mail-in ballots, Island County Auditor Suzanne Sinclair said.
Snohomish County voters can drop off their ballots at 21 locations in their county before Election Day, including the one in Stanwood.
Island County voters have just two drop-off options: the Island County annex on Camano Island and the courthouse in Coupeville.
They can also vote on machines intended for disabled voters between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays at those spots.
On Election Day, Island County’s absentee voters looking to save a 39-cent stamp can drop off their ballots at any regular polling place in the county, Sinclair said.
In the meantime, elections officials are urging Camano Island voters to refrain from the urge to turn their ballots over to Snohomish County elections workers.
“We encourage Island County voters to drop off their ballots in Island County places,” Sinclair said.
If they can’t resist the urge to use Snohomish County’s drop-off spots, though, their misdirected ballots will still count, Island County Assistant Elections Administrator Michele Reagan said.
It will be more costly and time consuming, but Snohomish County will eventually mail Island County ballots to the Island County Auditor’s Office, she said.
That’s if voters can get past Sehlke, which seems doubtful.
During the primary, the veteran of 36 years of elections said she only accepted one Island County ballot, and that was with great reluctance.
Sehlke said the ballot was from a “real insistent” and “real mad” man who came in 10 minutes before closing.
“I wasn’t going to start a holy war,” she said.
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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