Expect a long, slow election night in King County

IF any statewide contests are close Election Night, Tuesday will be a long night. Make that a long week.

Voters eager to learn who won a close gubernatorial race or a close 8th Congressional District race should blame antiquated state laws and outdated equipment in King County — all of which have the potential to make discovery of a winner frustrating.

The clear message to voters is be patient. Better to get it right than fast. Do not expect fast results in close contests.

As of Election Night, only 50 percent of the statewide vote will be processed. In King County, counting will be slower. The county is predicting ballot tallies of less than 40 percent by the very end of counting Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

King County ordered new ballot-counting equipment two years ago, in what seemed like plenty of time to achieve the federal certification required by state law. The federal Election Assistance Commission has not certified any new equipment anywhere in the country, including King County.

So an outdated system will churn results slowly, counting roughly 386,000 of 938,000 ballots expected to be cast Tuesday night, followed by another 90,000 a day over the next week or so. It could be days or weeks before the winner is known in some close races.

For those experiencing déjà vu, bet on anger and finger-wagging at the county. But both are somewhat misplaced. The federal certification system is frightfully slow. The federal lab certifying the county's new system was itself decertified, says Nick Handy, the state elections director.

Several factors crimp speedy reporting. Our state, unlike most states with mail balloting, requires that ballots be postmarked, not received, by Election Day. Our state does not allow ballots to be counted until 8 p.m. Election Night. It all leads to embarrassingly slow counting.

We are a high-tech state with slow equipment and a batch of laws that need to be updated. Until those changes are made, patience will be tested. Voters will be miffed.