The Executive's reckless plan jeopardizes the presidential 2008 election! So many changes are too risky! Do not overhaul our elections at this time!
King County Council will discuss these plans July 9th and then vote July 16th (subject to change). Contact your county representatives to oppose this reckless plan.
| Executive | Ron Sims | 206-296-4040 | (email) |
| District 1 | Bob Ferguson | 206-296-1001 | (email) |
| District 2 | Larry Gossett | 206-296-1002 | (email) |
| District 3 | Kathy Lambert | 206-296-1003 | (email) |
| District 4 | Larry Phillips | 206-296-1004 | (email) |
| District 5 | Julia Patterson | 206-296-1005 | (email) |
| District 6 | Jane Hague | 206-296-1006 | (email) |
| District 7 | Peter von Reichbauer | 206-296-1007 | (email) |
| District 8 | Dow Constantine | 206-296-1008 | (email) |
| District 9 | Reagan Dunn | 206-296-1009 | (email) |
The Executive and King County Elections state that this reckless plan is needed to deliver faster election results on election night.
You cannot count ballots you have not yet received. Only 1/3rd of all mail ballots, 300,000 of 900,000, are ready for tabulation on election day.
Politicians, campaign consultants, and the media want early results. Voters want accurate results.
The Executive has also been told that our current tabulation system cannot accommodate the expected increase in mail ballots.
There are low-risk, low-cost workarounds. See recommendations below.
Mail ballots will be counted before election day. This creates the opportunity for "cheat peeks", allowing insiders to use early results to influence elections.
Diebold's new ballot tabulation equipment cannot be certified for use in time without bending or breaking the rules.
King County will be the first customer to use Diebold's new system.
Diebold's new DRS PS900 iM2 tabulator has not be tested with King County's folded mail ballots.
VoteHere's Mail-in Ballot Tracker, currently used in San Juan County, reported wildly inaccurate information, with answers that continued to change over time.
Computerized signature verification's false rejection rate will spuriously challenge 26% - 66% of all voter signatures, requiring human correction. One half of the voters who have their signatures challenged do not respond in time to have their votes counted.
Last Updated July 5th, 2007 2:05pm