Facing high election costs, the Snohomish County Council voted Jan. 4 to close its polling places and switch to all-mail elections starting in September.
In an anticipated 3-2 vote, the council’s new Democratic majority approved the change, endorsed by Democratic County Executive Aaron Reardon and Auditor Bob Terwilliger.
The move saves the county from buying $1 million in state-required paper audit equipment to go with its electronic voting machines.
Snohomish County becomes the 34th of the state’s 39 counties — and the most populous — to go to all-mail ballots.
“I think it is, in the long run, the right and correct decision for the county to make,” Terwilliger said.
However, the electronic voting machines — bought with much fanfare in 2002 for $5 million — will go out to pasture with a weak resale market and 11 years still due on the debt.
A debate over elections flew between County Council members on Jan. 4, with Democrats Kirke Sievers, Dave Gossett and Dave Somers outvoting Republicans Gary Nelson and John Koster.
“Stampeding everyone into all-mail ballots is a wrong decision and removes freedom of choice,” Nelson said.
Nelson, of Edmonds, said he defends poll voting because no one interprets or questions a vote that is cast electronically — unlike pen marks on absentee ballots. Nelson has served on the county canvassing board that reviews questionable ballots.
Koster said voting is a sacred right of citizens, and closing polls disenfranchises about 40 percent of the county’s registered voters.
“It’s a great insult to the citizens of this county to say they are not going to vote unless we make it easy or convenient,” Koster said.
Somers bristled. “We’re increasing choice,” he said.
Somers said he doesn’t like the electronic voting machines.
“I personally trust a room full of people more than I trust a machine,” he said.
Gossett, of Mountlake Terrace, said the majority of county voters already vote by absentee ballots, and “almost every county in the state has moved to vote by mail.”
“I think the electronic voting system is great,” Gossett said. “However, the circumstances we find ourselves in require us to change.”
Mail ballots have a careful system of signature verification, Terwilliger said. If the signature on the ballot doesn’t match records, voters are called and given a chance to update their file.
A statewide trend has seen more than two dozen counties switch to all-mail elections in the past year, after a state law was relaxed.
“Snohomish is the latest in a cascading series of counties that are going vote-by-mail,” said Nick Handy, state director of elections. “This time last year, there were six.”
Washington is second only to Oregon for its number of all-mail voters, he said.
Mail elections increase participation, Handy said.
“At home, (voters are) more likely to open it, vote it and mail it back than they are to get in a car and drive to a polling place,” he said.
With all-mail elections, the county also will save about $200,000 on hiring 600 to 800 poll workers and rent on 139 polling places.
On the other hand, the county pays about 40 or 50 people to handle ballots at election time, and will need to hire 15 or 20 more.
Tom Fitzpatrick, the county’s executive director, said voting is a fundamental right and should be encouraged.
Electronic machines were already losing ground. The percentage of registered absentee voters is 60 percent and growing, and was expected to reach 75 percent by 2008, county election officials said.
Of county ballots cast in the November election, 75 percent were by mail.
The 1,000 Sequoia Edge I voting machines the county bought in 2002 are already on the move. In mid-December, 285 were traded back to the vendor for 70 Edge II models, machines that accommodate disabled voters and have the new paper audit devices, said Carolyn Diepenbrock, county elections manager.
Another 25 machines will be sold to a Florida county.
The remaining machines will be shopped around or used for parts, Diepenbrock said.
Jeff Switzer is a reporter with The Herald in Everett.
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